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Veronica Ramos
STACC English 100
Professor Adler
November 26, 2014
Mexican Immigration
My topic is about immigrant culture, religion, and how it is that they crossed the border.
They are all talking about the ways Mexicans do what they do and how they are different from
Americans. Mexicans and their children are more likely to be into going to church than
Americans. American children are more into their culture than their parents. Children affiliated
with American culture more than their parents did, but parents and children affiliated similarly
with Mexican culture. I think this happens because children like to go by what they think is
right to do and at times they dont like the Mexican culture. I have a cousin who is from here but
everyone knows Spanish and my uncle and aunt tried teaching her and she doesnt want to learn
anything with like Mexican culture because she says we are born here and need to follow the
American culture because we are in American and not in Mexico. It gets me mad because our
family is Mexican and we are all going to keep following Mexican culture.
Most Mexican immigrants are catholic and get into church groups such as prayer groups
and other important groups. This article complements emerging research on immigrant civic
participation by examining how Catholic churches facilitate volunteer and political participation
among first-generation Mexican immigrants. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic data, it
identifies two reinforcing mechanisms that churches foster: small groups and organizational
links. Specifically, small groups, like prayer groups, provide immigrants with intimate contexts

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for building networks, learning skills and sharing resources. On the other hand, churches
cultivate links to secular organizations that sensitize immigrants to public debates and provide
opportunities for civic participation. Put simply, church-going immigrants take advantage of
broader civic opportunities because they gain resources and skills within small groups.
Implications for understanding immigrant religion and civic participation more broadly are
discussed. The culture of Mexicans is different. They have different perspectives as Americans
do. Some things might be the same but they have mostly different rules and we have ways of
doing things. For example, Americans like to have fancy parties with a bit of people and
Mexicans like to have big parties and have music and lots of things going on.
The last article I read was about how Mexicans have to get used to the United States life
style. This article critically examines the consumption experiences of Mexican immigrants in
the United States. An empirical model of Mexican immigrant consumer acculturation is derived
that consists of movement, translation, and adaptation processes leading to outcomes of
assimilation, maintenance, resistance, and segregation. By drawing attention to the ways in
which international movements of people, companies, and products intersect within existing
subcultural relations, this research provides a more satisfactory account of the complex dynamic
processes through which Mexican immigrants adapt to the consumer environment in the United
States. It is very sad to know that Mexicans are not allowed into the United States when some
all that want to come for is to have a better life. Imagine what they have to go through, walking
through desserts in the hot with no food or water at times the people that they cross the border
with leave them behind without caring if they are dying or not. Having lots of blisters on their
legs because of all the walking they do. Imagine yourself being in their place having to go
through everything they go through and not having anything to keep yourself hydrated. This

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topic is important to me because my family are immigrants and they had to go through the same
things those people are going through right now. It is really sad to see these kind of things are
going on in the borders. I would like to give all those people that are working hard to come to the
United States to work papers so they can have a place to keep their family and have something
for them to eat every day and not stay without anything in their table. I just want people to know
all the hard work us Mexicans do, the religion we have and our culture and what we do and be
more grateful and not just talk about us in a bad way. Not everyone talks bad about Mexicans but
this is for those who do, do it. Mexicans and Americans have two different life styles and I am
glad I am part of that because I think I am comfortable the way I am. Finally, this topic is a really
important topic for me because my family is Mexican and immigrants and I am glad this is our
topic.

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Work Cited
Mora, G. Cristina. "Religion And The Organizational Context Of Immigrant Civic Engagement:
Mexican Catholicism In The USA." Ethnic & Racial Studies 36.11 (2013): 1647-1665.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.

Nieri, Tanya, and Monica Bermudez-Parsai. "Gap Or Overlap? Parent-Child Acculturation

Differences In Mexican Immigrant Families." Hispanic Journal Of Behavioral Sciences
36.4 (2014): 413-434. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.

Pentildaloza, Lisa. "Atravesando Fronteras/Border Crossings: A Critical Ethnographic

Exploration Of The Consumer Acculturation Of Mexican Immigrants." Journal Of
Consumer Research 21.1 (1994): 32-54. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.