Transcript Border Crossing

Border Crossing
By: Maria Colleen Cruz
Mexico
Mexico City
Mexico: a brief History
• Before the Spanish invasion in
1519, Mexico was populated by a
large number of native groups
with very different social and
economic systems. In general the
tribes in the arid north were
relatively small groups of hunters
and gatherers who roamed
extensive areas of sparsely
vegetated deserts and steppes.
These people are often referred
to as Chichimecs, though they
were a mixture of several
linguistically distinctive cultural
groups.
• In the rest of the country the
natives were agriculturalists,
which allowed the support of
dense populations. Among these
were the Maya of the Yucatan,
Totonac, Huastec, Otomi,
Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Tlaxcalans,
Tarascans, and Aztecs. A number
of these groups developed high
civilizations with elaborate urban
centers used for religious,
political, and marketing
purposes. The Mayan cities of
Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and
Palenque, the Aztec capital of
Tenochtitlan, Tzintzuntzan of the
Tarastec, and Monte Alban of the
Zapotecs are examples of those.
Flag and Coat of Arms
Mexico’s Flag
Mexico's flag as it is today was adopted
in 1968, though a very similar flag had
been in use since 1821. Originally the
green represented independence, white
represented religion and red the union
of Americans and Europeans. During the
secularization of the country under
President Benito Juarez (serving from
1858 to 1872) the meanings of the
colors were adapted to represent hope
(green), unity (white) and the blood of
the national heroes (red).
Mexico’s Coat of Arms
Taken from an Aztec legend which recounts the way in
which the Aztecs came to choose the site where they
built their capital city of Tenochtitlan (where Mexico
City stands today). The Aztecs were a nomadic people
traveling from the north of the country. Their leader
was informed in a dream by their god of war, that they
were to settle in the place where they would find an
eagle on a prickly pear cactus holding a serpent. The
place where they saw this sight was quite inhospitable.
A swampy area in the center of three lakes, but this is
where they settled and built their capital of
Tenochtitlan.
Crossing our border
• Our illegal immigration numbers
are based on an estimated
twenty million illegal aliens
having been present in our nation
as of January 1, 2004.
• In a letter dated February 2004,
no less an authority than Arizona
Senator John McCain recognized
that Border Patrol apprehension
figures demonstrated that
"almost four million people
crossed our borders illegally
2002"– experts on the subject
agree that illegal crossings have
only increased since then.
• The Tucson sector Border Patrol
union local 2544 on the number
of illegal aliens in our nation:
"There are currently 15 to 20
million illegal aliens in this
country by many estimates, but
the real numbers could be much
higher and the numbers increase
every day because our borders
are not secure (no matter what
the politicians tell you - don't
believe them for a second)".
Currency
• 1 Mexican peso =
0.081508 U.S. dollars
• Mexican bills have many
anti-counterfeit
measures, including a
watermark, a foil strip,
textured paper and
holographic "confetti"
or striping