Conor Finn
Blog Number two
Professor Torres
In the early Seventeenth century Jamaicans, as well as many other nationalities, were being brought over to the American Colonies for slave labor. For hundreds of years this was the main immigration pattern for Jamaicans to come to the United States of America. Today Jamaicans can come into America for working opportunities, a better lifestyle, or higher wages. Unlike the early slave trade of Jamaicans, now they can live aside any American and be there equal. In this blog I will focus upon the issues of early Jamaican migration into the United States compared to the migration of Jamaicans today.
During the slave trade Jamaicans were brought over to work in plantations receiving no pay and harsh working conditions. However current Jamaicans coming to America for higher wages experience respectable working conditions. The issue of higher wages comes down to the American dollar being worth 94 times the Jamaican dollar. With this said it is easy to see why many Jamaicans come to work in the U.S. during the summer. Harsh immigration restrictions have long created problems for Jamaicans to move permanently into the States. “These laws include the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962 and the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952.”1
Although America as long been a oasis for migrant workers the economy in Jamaica is quietly growing. The tourism attractions in Jamaica are slowly keeping the migrant workers in the country, and helping build an ever stronger economy. The trip overseas to come here and work is a voyage that many still make for the higher wages and greater opportunity to excel in fields of work other than the tourism market.