Anglais monde contemporain

                                                   AMC:

                                                 Calexico

Slide 1:

Calexico is a city and a port of entry located at the southern end of the Imperial Valley and is separated from the city of Mexicali in Mexico, by a reinforced steel fence. Founded in 1900, Calexico was once a tent town for the Imperial Land Company. The city’s name, like the one of Mexicali, is a combination of the names California and Mexico.

The motto of the city is “where California and Mexico meet”.

Slide 2:

The border between Calexico and Mexicali is one of the principal points of entry in the United States from Mexico.

In 2022, 11 396 976 people have crossed the border so 34536 people every day. Normally, the controls at the border are quick but when Donald trump became president, visa and passport controls were doubled so sometimes people must wait up to 3 hours while their passport and visa are checked. The problem is that people are crossing the border to work or to go to school so with those long control they must wake up very early in the morning.

Slide 3:

What is a maquiladora? A Maquiladora is a Mexican plant used by American company to reduce the cost of production of a product.

But what is the impact of the maquiladoras on the border?

The Maquiladoras have raised the exploitation of migrants that are stuck at the border.

There are over 124 maquiladoras along the 60 mile-long United States–Mexico border, providing employment for approximately one million workers and importing more than $51 billion in supplies into Mexico and the United States.

Slide 4:

Calexico! True Lives of the Borderlands is a book by Peter Laufer. Laufer is talking about how it was to stay in Calexico for a week when he was a kid.

He also explains us that he was introduce to Calexico by his mother who took him on a drive to northern Baja California.

Slide 5:

In Calexico, rent is expensive, and some people have to sleep outside in a tent.

If they want, they want to eat, they must wake up at 3 a.m. and to go into town to wait for the bus that drives them to fields around the Imperial Valley.

These workers provide $2 Calexico’s economy and if they can’t go to work, they can’t eat.

...