In addition to working on farms or railroads, many Mexican migrants in the twentieth century also found work in the mines of Arizona and New Mexico. The work in these mines was grueling, and often the workers were exposed to great risk and harm for compensation that was not sustainable in the United States. Some immigrants found that they earned more working in the mines in Mexico’s mountains, but having spent their savings to migrate and earning only meager wages in the United States, they could not afford to go back. Others still thought that America held a great deal of promise for them if they continued to work, following the American dream in the hopes of moving up somehow.