Immigrants rally.Washington, DC. 2006Stephen Crowley/The New York TimesRecently I had a very heated conversation with a good friend of mine about immigration in the US. As many US-born citizens, my friend gets a little uneasy when it comes to this issue. He complains of the same things that unfortunately many people have come to believe, after being exposed to negative anti-immigrant attacks from mainstream media and racist groups, almost in a daily basis.
For some Americans, we immigrants are mostly bad people and we represent a negative impact to the US. I have heard this so many times: we come to the US to take advantage of the economy and the system, we take jobs that other Americans used to do, we don't pay taxes, we use social services and welfare, hospitals and schools, most of us don't want to get assimilated to the American way of living (as if there was one only culture here.) and we stick to our original languages. All of these assumptions may be true for very few, but they are totally false for most immigrants, especially Latin Americans.
According to my friend, undocumented immigrants will never get access to citizenship because the current broken system is working well for everyone, especially for the businesses who employ them. I dare to believe that's not the case.
I want to believe that an immigration reform in the US is possible, because I know this country can do better when it comes to human rights. I'm disgusted at the humanitarian crisis that this legal and political battle has created and worsened every day. I'm tired of learning about tragedies caused on the lives of millions of people, I'm angry and saddened when I hear stories of labor abuse, human trafficking mafias, broken families, years of individual efforts wasted, and people getting killed, tortures, abused.
Because I experienced myself the fact that the US is a better place to live and for people to enjoy liberties and rights and improve their lives; and because I believe in a better world for everyone; I'm certain that this immigration problem is a chance for the US to spread justice in the world, since a fair solution may serve as an example for other countries to follow. This is not a problem caused or affected by one country only, but it is an international phenomena that is occurring all over the planet.
And here I have to mention the responsibility of the US -not all American people- and its government policies, as being one of the reasons why other countries are poorer, and why immigrants are obligated to come here illegally.
Take the US economic and political policies in Latin America for example. People come to this country lured by better living standards, better paid jobs and a safer environment, but also escaping racism, violence, instability and oppression. Latin American local economies are destroyed by free trade policies, US-sponsored wars, dictatorships and fake democracies, where corrupted and racist elites maintain an abusive rule over the majority, who live in extreme poverty. Latin America is the most unfair region of the planet but it's the closest neighbor of the richest nation on Earth. How can that be possible?
Now, let's talk about the human aspect of immigration, because we are talking about people. I have met people who are undocumented: they were my students, my neighbors, my friends, people around me. Most of them are great human beings, not all but most of them I must say. For them to get here, each of them have a heart breaking story that I won't mention this time. Undocumented workers actually pay taxes through their jobs -- obtained many times with fake documents. Those deductions become billions of dollars that feed the federal government reserves but that money never returns to workers, since they lack of a real social security number.
Most of immigrants work really hard, way too much. They send a little money back home, but they spend almost all of their salary in the US. According to the IADB only 10% of salaries are sent back home as remittances. Most of those workers do jobs that were created by their own effort or while they helped create others. It is true that some employers like to hire an undocumented immigrant in order to abuse of their labor and that should be stop. But not a single immigrant has ever told me: I came here to take the jobs of others, it is not like that. After all, this is a country of capitalism where work is supposed to create richness for all.
I must admit that I could never keep up with all the sacrifices most immigrants have to endure to survive, in a nation that looks down at them after taking advantage of their effort. You know, I consider myself very lucky after my parents sacrificed themselves to give me a good education and information that most undocumented immigrants don't have. They are the poorest of the poor in their countries and some of them can't even read or write. Some people say "we can't take the poor of the world" and I agree partially. But poverty in the world is also a shared responsibility.
This is a great chance for the US to educate so many who were denied of that chance in their original countries. With education, people become not only productive workers but effectives agents of change in their own communities. When people overcome poverty, they tend to value life and social justice with pride and a sense of solidarity that they spread to others in their life time.
Yes, there are a lot of immigrants who lack of respect for the laws and get involved in crimes, I have also witnessed this. Most of the times that kind of behavior is caused by lack of morals, even low English proficiency, cultural differences, or simply because they were always delinquents. Most of those criminals actually came here by plane and not crossing the border illegally. Some were born here in reality. A friend who works in a non-profit that helps undocumented workers, tell me that about 70% of labor abuses occur among immigrants themselves --legal immigrants against undocumented ones.
Also many children of immigrants end up becoming delinquents, and they never feel they belong to a country that mistreats their parent so much. Ever working parents lack of time to raise them well and to look for their education, so a disfranchisement occurs very quickly among the youth. This happens with most poor communities in the US. An it's a chain of consequences and problems that this country can't afford to delay and ignore, because they worsen every time. The longer this crisis is ignored, the more critical will become.
I say, give immigrants a chance to become productive and participating citizens, after a process where everyone gets a chance to prove their hard work and a rightful character. Give undocumented immigrants access to pay for their fault, with work or money. Provide them with skills to learn the best of America: which to me is that sense of opportunity, and the certainty that your dreams can be achieved with your own effort and with the support of your community.
Invest on people, as the return value will be many times greater. Give them tools to help themselves and their new country. But also to help their homeland, that way they won't bring their friends and relatives here. Immigrants can promote progress in their first countries and spread justice and opportunities, as they were embraced by others here.
Also let's remember that this is not a problem of one racial group only. We Latin American immigrants are not one ethnic group and we aren't one united community. We are not Hispanics nor Latinos.
In reality we are mostly native indigenous peoples and afro descendants, and the mix of them with other heritages from all over the world. There are class divisions, racial tensions and political differences among immigrants. A lot of Americans might not like us simply because of the colors of our skin but they are not aware we are not just one ethnic background.
Some people like to spread fear, saying that we will be the "largest minority" in the US. That is plain stupid and bad intentioned. Immigrants can't even appoint our own leaders, or anyone who really represents us. Immigrants are not here to hate on whites, blacks or any other racial group. Hate is what anti-immigrant groups spread and that is just wrong.
Immigrants should eventually become proud Americans who are may also be proud of their original heritage. In the process of assimilation, immigrants must not continue racism and discrimination, as we know the horrible consequences of those mental diseases. A comprehensive immigration reform should then include education for people about values and fair laws that can improve their lives and help them building a fair and responsible nation. This would be a great investment for a better future for the US and the world.
Meanwhile, US foreign policies in the world should promote and push for development and progress in other countries. It's useless to tell people "don't come here" by building multi-billion dollars walls and installing high-tech security systems in the borders, while their communities are distroyed by unfair policies. People will not come here illegally unless they have a sense of a better future at home, which includes not just fair jobs, but also respect for human rights and democracy. Simple as that.
For now I feel very enthusiastic on the fact that in the current presidential elections in the US, both potential Democratic candidates support an immigration legal reform. Even the Republican candidate might support it. But the success or failure of this true revolution lays on the hands of the American people.
The candidates are talking about change, and as has always occurred when humanity takes big steps in history, a real change depends directly on the action of people, constituents, communities and the leaders of this great nation.
WHAT THE CANDIDATES ARE SAYING
This is what Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton think about undocumented immigrants, and what they would do if elected. Republican John McCain has supported also an immigration reform, but most likely he won't be elected.
