Now to start off, the experience of immigrants has always been a difficult one, with one exception. Only one group of immigrants have ever had a positive experience with natives: the first Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 17th century. The natives in this case were Native Americans, and as we all know they didn't get the best end of the stick. When Anglo-Saxon Europeans settled, Native Americans were disrespectfully called Indians, murdered, and decimated by diseases brought to the "New World" by the Europeans. Since most of our textbooks are written with an Anglo-Saxon central viewpoint, the plight of the Native Americans is largely downplayed. As are the experiences of immigrant groups that came after the Anglo-Saxons. The Chinese, the Germans, the Irish (who were not considered white until later), and of course African Americans faced negative experiences that linger still today including discrimination in housing policy, forced, unpaid labor, and voter suppression. Although these groups are now seen as legitimate groups, as far as immigration policy goes, American society has another group of immigrants to scrutinize: Hispanics. And it is the plight of Hispanic immigrants that we will examine in this post.
Now some of you may wonder why there is renewed interest with immigration policy this year. The main reason is that the Republican party is looking to renew its image with Hispanic voters. After the 2012 presidential election, where Hispanics/Latinos voted for President Obama over Governor Romney in a 71% to 27% landslide. In an effort to push for immigration reform (which Democrats have supported for years because it was the right thing to do, not the thing to do to get votes) Republican Senators John McCain (a rare Republican who has been a long time immigration reformer), Jeff Flake, Marco Rubio, and Lindsey Graham worked with Democratic senators Dick Durbin, Michael Bennett, Bob Menendez, and Chuck Schumer to create a comprehensive bill to deal with our current immigration problem.
Now a lot of people criticize this bill because it contains "amnesty" and not enough "border security". Here's the thing, we do have a lot of undocumented immigrants, almost 12 million to be as precise as possible. Of those 12 million, the vast majority are contributing to their communities with hard work. Also, young adults who came here as children brought by their parents are facing roadblocks to jobs, driver's licenses, and college enrollment because they are not considered "legal" citizens, even though they have served in out military and pledged only to out flag. So why I ask, is it such a big deal to create a pathway to citizenship? These immigrants may be "taking jobs", but they are mostly the jobs that most white Americans look down on (roofing, landscaping, maid servicing, and working in fast food restaurants to name a few). Also, if the 12 million undocumented were to become citizens, they would contribute in the form of taxation, effectively cutting the deficit in half, something that Republicans against "amnesty" constantly push for.
As always, there is another side to the immigrant story. Like other immigrant groups, Latinos face extreme poverty in Mexico and other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. The bight light of opportunity that is America provides a sense of hope that they will be able to provide for their family and offer a better life for their children. Legal immigration takes money and can take up to 20 years. Would you live in poverty and watch your children suffer this long? Most would not. The new immigration bill gives hard working undocumented immigrants a chance to become "legal". Along with a pathway to citizenship, the bill allows for permanent residence for international university students who have received science, technology, engineering, or math degrees at colleges in the U.S., cracking down on businesses who pay immigrants under the table, and improving e-verify systems that employers can use.
This bill offers a comprehensive solution to an important moral and economic issue. When the U.S. closes its doors to immigrant populations, we become worse off. It has been the ideas of immigrants who have propelled us forward for centuries. The economy of the colonies was built on the backs of African immigrant slave labor, our railroads were built by the Chinese, the Germans and Irish built our canals, bridges, and skyscrapers in the Northeast, Jewish immigrants helped to build our financial sector, and Hispanics are helping to maintain housing construction in the recovering housing markets of the Southwest. Difference and diversity are key drivers of innovation and we must continue the melting pot tradition that has always been. So I challenge my readers to contact their Representatives in the Republican controlled house and ask them to vote on the Immigration bill that the Senate passed. Watch below for highlights of the immigration debate!
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This weeks short read is related to the comprehensive immigration bill mentioned above. "The Devil's Highway" by Luis Alberto Urrea is an interesting read about how backwards and broken immigration policy has been for the past few decades. In his book, Urrea explains the trials and tribulations faced by immigrants from Mexico to the U.S. in May 2001. The group became lost in the Southern U.S. desert and 14 of the men died from hyperthermia (the opposite of hypothermia). This book also does a great job at giving the immigrant's perspective on the dangerous crossing and the desperation that motivated their journey. I suggest this because it is a quick read, but also contains depth in human emotion and immigration policy. At 220 pages, you could probably finish in a week. So til next time, remember to think of our immigrants and the experiences that push or pull them to the U.S. And remember, investing in our immigrant populations will help us become a stronger and more structurally secure nation.
