Neighborhood Context and Drug Use Among Mexican Americans on and off the U.S.–Mexico Border

While English proficiency enhances labor market outcomes, its role in minority-language regions remains largely unexplored. Employing the U.S.-Mexico border as a minority-language region, we analyze whether English skills differently affect the earnings and occupational sorting of Mexican Americans along the border relative to their non-border peers. We find comparable English deficiency earnings penalties for Mexican immigrants, suggesting that this group responds to English-specific regional wage gaps. U.S.-born men, however, have a larger earnings penalty along the border, possibly reflecting natives’ relative immobility owing to strong geographic preferences. Occupational sorting exercises give credence to this interpretation for native Mexican American females.

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Limited treatment accessibility: Implications for alcohol treatment disparities among Mexican Americans living in the U.S.-Mexico border region

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment ◽

10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108162 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 121 ◽

pp. 108162

Author(s):

Kara M.K. Bensley ◽

Katherine J. Karriker-Jaffe ◽

Cheryl Cherpitel ◽

Libo Li ◽

Lynn S. Wallisch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mexican Americans ◽

Alcohol Treatment ◽

Border Region ◽

Treatment Disparities ◽

Mexico Border ◽

The U.S

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The effect of cross-border mobility on alcohol and drug use among Mexican-American residents living at the U.S.–Mexico border

Addictive Behaviors ◽

10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.06.008 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 50 ◽

pp. 28-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Cheryl J. Cherpitel ◽

Yu Ye ◽

Sarah E. Zemore ◽

Jason Bond ◽

Guilherme Borges

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Mexican American ◽

Alcohol And Drug Use ◽

Cross Border ◽

Mexico Border ◽

The U.S

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The United States–Mexico Border

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.384 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

C. J. Alvarez

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Mexican Americans ◽

Local Level ◽

The United States ◽

Porous Membrane ◽

Mexico Border ◽

Scarce Water ◽

United States Mexico ◽

Established Firm ◽

The U.S

The region that today constitutes the United States–Mexico borderland has evolved through various systems of occupation over thousands of years. Beginning in time immemorial, the land was used and inhabited by ancient peoples whose cultures we can only understand through the archeological record and the beliefs of their living descendants. Spain, then Mexico and the United States after it, attempted to control the borderlands but failed when confronted with indigenous power, at least until the late 19th century when American capital and police established firm dominance. Since then, borderland residents have often fiercely contested this supremacy at the local level, but the borderland has also, due to the primacy of business, expressed deep harmonies and cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican federal governments. It is a majority minority zone in the United States, populated largely by Mexican Americans. The border is both a porous membrane across which tremendous wealth passes and a territory of interdiction in which noncitizens and smugglers are subject to unusually concentrated police attention. All of this exists within a particularly harsh ecosystem characterized by extreme heat and scarce water.

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Alcohol and Drug Use at the U.S.-Mexico Border – Does Cross-Border Mobility make a Difference?

Journal of Drug Abuse ◽

10.21767/2471-853x.100013 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 02 (01) ◽

Author(s):

Cheryl J Cherpitel

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Alcohol And Drug Use ◽

Cross Border ◽

Mexico Border ◽

The U.S

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Physical Activity in Older Mexican Americans Living in Two Cities on the U.S.-Mexico Border

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph15091820 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (9) ◽

pp. 1820 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gerardo Vasquez ◽

Jennifer Salinas ◽

Jennifer Molokwu ◽

Gurjeet Shokar ◽

Silvia Flores-Luevano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Mexican Americans ◽

El Paso ◽

Activity Levels ◽

Limited Information ◽

Urban Context ◽

Mexico Border ◽

Regular Doctor ◽

Fair Poor ◽

The U.S

Background: There is limited information on physical activity in marginalized older populations like that on the U.S.-Mexico border. This study aims to understand physical activity engagement among older Hispanics residing in two U.S.-Mexico Border counties. Methods: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to measure physical activity in El Paso and Cameron County, Texas. Physical activity levels were reported for vigorous, moderate, and walking met/mins. Adjusted and unadjusted modeling was conducted to determine county differences and sociodemographic covariates. Results: There were 784 participants and 92.9% were less than 65 years of age. El Paso participants reported a significantly greater natural log met/mins of vigorous (β = 1.34, p = 0.000) and walking (β = 0.331, p = 0.006). Significant sociodemographic covariates in El Paso for vigorous met/mins were gender (females β = −1.20, p = 0.003), having a regular doctor (β = −0.779, p = 0.029), and acculturation (β = 0.513, p = 0.019). Significant associations in Cameron County were having a regular doctor (β = −1.03, p = 0.000) and fair/poor health status (β = −0.475, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Level of physical activity may differ in older Hispanics by urban context on the U.S.-Mexico border. Future physical activity programs to promote physical activity should take context into consideration.

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Racializing American Authenticity: Mexican Americans’ Perceptions of the Foreign Other

Humanity & Society ◽

10.1177/0160597621993408 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 202-224

Author(s):

Angela J. Silva ◽

Aurelia Lorena Murga

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Mexican Americans ◽

The United States ◽

Mexican Descent ◽

Foreign Born ◽

Mexico Border ◽

White Racial Frame ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

The U.S

Anti-Mexican sentiment in the United States has long plagued the lives of people of Mexican descent. Since their incorporation, Mexican Americans have experienced processes of racialization as second-class citizens while a continuous anti-immigrant climate continues to impact them. This has influenced their use of a white racial frame resulting in their distancing of themselves from perceived foreign-ness. Drawing on 15 in-depth interviews with self-identified Mexican Americans along the U.S.-Mexico border, we find that divisions between the two nations have become embedded in the lived experiences of those residing in the borderland region. The themes raised by our respondents illustrate how Mexican Americans use notions of illegality, belonging to a nation, and the dangerous other to differentiate themselves from foreign-born Mexicans and the ways they address immigration. We argue that Mexican Americans living in a transnational border space navigate their everyday lives as racialized beings, resulting in their search for ways to situate themselves apart from the foreign other. We argue that the larger implications for understanding how Mexican Americans use the white racial frame is significant since their embedded ideas and beliefs are founded upon racist nativist differences that are used to create and support policies that target racialized others.

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