Question

How did the Newlands National Reclamation Act contribute to an immigration problem?

a. It created new farmland near the Canadian border and Canadians crossed the border to work the farms.
b. Millions of acres were transformed from desert to farmland, with migrant workers fulfilling the need for labor.
c. It created new farmland in Mexico, and thus forced many Americans to migrate south in search of jobs.
d. It halted the development of farming for Mexico, so people came north to buy food.

Answer 1

Answer: B. Millions of acres were transformed from desert to farmland, with migrant workers fulfilling the need for labor.

After the passage of the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902, which encouraged irrigation projects for the arid lands of 20 states in the American west, Southwestern agriculture shifted from a ranch-based economy to seasonal commercial agriculture using migratory workers. This expansion could not have occurred without low-cost labor from Mexico.

The nature of employment in the Southwest in commercial agriculture, carried extreme consequences for the lives of Mexican immigrants. Many worked as migratory farm laborers and they tended to live in segregated neighborhoods, most of them were unskilled laborers.