Highbrow Magazine - deportation https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/deportation en Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas Applies for Deferred Action https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4258-journalist-jose-antonio-vargas-applies-deferred-action <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/media" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Media</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 08/28/2014 - 10:56</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1vargas.jpg?itok=_TruCoIg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1vargas.jpg?itok=_TruCoIg" width="480" height="319" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>From <a href="http://asianjournal.com/news/jose-antonio-vargas-applies-for-deferred-action/">Asian Journal</a> and reprinted by our content partner New America Media</strong>:</p> <p> </p> <p>LOS ANGELES — Pulitzer Prize-winning Filipino American journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who is arguably the most visible undocumented immigrant in America right now, has joined 10 other fellow undocumented immigrants in applying for temporary relief from deportation proceedings under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.</p> <p> </p> <p>The 11 people applied for DACA as part of the “1 of 11 Million” campaign launched on Wednesday, August 20, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The campaign is spearheaded by Define American, an immigrant-led media and culture advocacy group that clamors for comprehensive immigration reform that leads to a pathway for legalization of the over 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.</p> <p> </p> <p>Define American, which was also founded by Vargas, recently said in a statement that 11 undocumented immigrants’ move to apply for deferred action was done in hopes of “sparking a conversation around the complexities of the immigration system in America.” The 11 DACA applicants represent a diverse set of complex immigration cases from across the United States, Defined American also said.</p> <p> </p> <p>Vargas recently made headlines when he was captured and detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities at the US-Mexico border town of McAllen, Texas. The 33-year old journalist was at McAllen to reach out to the unaccompanied undocumented minors detained in border patrol custody. When he tried to fly out of the border town via McAllen airport, he was apprehended by ICE, and was subsequently detained and questioned for eight hours. When he was released, Vargas announced in a statement that he was issued an order to appear before immigration court for removal proceedings.</p> <p> </p> <p>With the “1 of 11 Million” campaign, Vargas hopes that the government will grant him and his 10 fellow applicants a four-year temporary reprieve from deportation by executing prosecutorial discretion. “Deferred action is a temporary solution, so I wouldn’t be deported for four years. I can get a work permit,” said Vargas in a Balitang America report. “I have caused my grandmother a lot of stress, more stress than she deserves, so this will be some sort of peace of mind,” he added.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2vargas.jpg" style="height:625px; width:469px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Vargas is joined by fellow undocumented immigrants Erika Aldape (Mexico), Maria Guadalupe Arreola (Mexico), Felipe Jesus Diosdado (Mexico), Maria del Rosario Duarte Villanueva (Mexico), Michaela Graham (Germany), Noemi Romero (Mexico), Eduardo Samaniego (Mexico), Yestel Velasquez (Honduras), Aly Wane (Senegal), and Jong-Min You (South Korea).</p> <p> </p> <p>Samaniego, 22, told Balitang America that the proponents of the “1 of 11 Million” campaign hope that their actions would “humanize the debate on immigration.” “We speak about why we’re here, what our families are going through, why it is necessary to be relieved from deportation,” Samaniego was quoted as saying.</p> <p> </p> <p>President Barack Obama has recently expressed his intentions to use executive powers in providing a solution to America’s broken immigration system. Samaniego believes that Obama “has the power to take actions, the power to exercise prosecutorial discretion, and protect the 11 million from deportation.”</p> <p> </p> <p>For his part, Vargas emphasized the need for administrative relief. “Our families need urgent relief now, and here’s the key question – just how inclusive and humane will President Obama’s executive action can be? Who will be left out and why?” Vargas said to Balitang America.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>From <a href="http://asianjournal.com/news/jose-antonio-vargas-applies-for-deferred-action/">Asian Journal</a> and reprinted by our content partner New America Media</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jose-antonio-vargas" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jose antonio vargas</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/deportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">deportation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/illegal-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">illegal immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/undoucumented-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">undoucumented immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration reform</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/border-patrol" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">border patrol</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obama</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/washington-post" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Washington Post</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pulitzer-prize" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Pulitzer Prize</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mico Letargo</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Asian Journal; Wikipedia Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:56:07 +0000 tara 5138 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4258-journalist-jose-antonio-vargas-applies-deferred-action#comments The Immigration Chronicles: Life After ‘Diesel Therapy’ https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3762-immigration-chronicles-life-after-diesel-therapy <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 02/24/2014 - 09:51</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumimmigrationcheckpoint%20%28Jonathan%20mcintosh%20flickr%29.jpg?itok=FwfATciA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumimmigrationcheckpoint%20%28Jonathan%20mcintosh%20flickr%29.jpg?itok=FwfATciA" width="480" height="322" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/02/the-deportee-chronicles-life-after-diesel-therapy.php">Frontera NorteSur</a> and our content partner New America Media:</p> <p> </p> <p>Fernando Santos’ life these days doesn’t exactly fit his old nickname: “Drifter.” Instead of wandering the land, the former U.S. resident takes care of others who answer the call of the road at the budget hotel he manages in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.</p> <p> </p> <p>Santos’ digs are comfy, with a down-home atmosphere enlivened by paintings and photos of Frida Kahlo and Pancho Villa. The long table in the common room is a place where members of more than a dozen nationalities can swap war stories while taking in a few Coronas.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Every person who is traveling should consider themselves an ambassador,” Santos waxes philosophically. “I’d say 90 percent of the people who come here are good people, but then you have the oddballs.”</p> <p> </p> <p>An easy-going man with a stocky build and a ready laugh to boot, Santos says he could never imagine how his life would eventually turn out when he was a young man gangbanging on the streets of Los Angeles and Denver.</p> <p> </p> <p>Mexico-born, Santos was brought to the U.S. by his family when he was only four years old. Early in life, Santos became fatherless.</p> <p> </p> <p>Back in the late 1970s, while he was headed to the United States, Dad simply vanished in the northern Mexican border state of Tamaulipas. Time passed but the man never returned home. Family members eventually poked around the borderland searching for their loved one, only to be warned to “stop asking,” Santos recollects.</p> <p> </p> <p>He suspects that his old man, who liked playing cards and shooting pool, ran afoul of the wrong situation.</p> <p> </p> <p>The youngest of six children, four sisters and two brothers, Santos was raised by a suddenly single woman who struggled to maintain a family in the tough Los Angeles County city of Compton. The older brother “headed for the streets and I followed,” is how Santos describes his youthful years.</p> <p> </p> <p>“(Gang life) is what we saw. That’s what we did. There comes a point when you have to change your life, and that is what I did,” says a survivor who is now approaching the early stages of middle age.</p> <p> </p> <p>Yet before the changes came, Santos’ life took big institutional detours. First, he whittled away nine years in juvenile and adult correctional facilities. Later, he was funneled through the labyrinith of the U.S. immigration system.</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1998, Santos was slapped with a 48-month federal prison term for selling heroin to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent in Denver, Colorado. The sentencing judge, U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch, was the same one who presided over Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVie’s trial.</p> <p> </p> <p>The young Santos was shipped around between different federal prisons, including La Tuna near El Paso and El Reno, Oklahoma, in a shuffle he calls “diesel therapy.” The former inmate attributes gang associations to a two-year, sun-deprived stint in El Reno’s solitary lock-up, “That’s when you know who you are,” Santos says of the experience.</p> <p> </p> <p>Due to his immigration status, Santos was subjected to deportation proceedings prior to the end of the prison sentence. The DEA, he says, played the immigration card, urging the young prisoner to inform on his dope supplier in return for being allowed to stay in the U.S. Rejecting the snitching-for-citizenship deal, Santos took the rap on the chin. “Growing up on the streets, you don’t (snitch),” he says.</p> <p> </p> <p>Consequently, Santos underwent his first deportation. In 2002 the U.S. authorities transported the newly-released prisoner to the border of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, telling Santos to look south and "keep walking.” Ironically, Nuevo Laredo was the possible place where Santos’ father disappeared long ago.</p> <p> </p> <p>By the time Santos set foot on Mexican soil, Nuevo Laredo was if anything only a meaner place, with the war for the border city between the Sinaloa and Gulf drug cartels primed to explode.</p> <p> </p> <p>Finding Nuevo Laredo a hostile-looking town and not knowing anyone in the city, Santos immediately took a bus to Tijuana. There, he found willing coyotes, immigrant smugglers, who agreed to cross him over to the U.S. for $3,000, a task which was easily accomplished after calls were made to relatives on the U.S. side and a deal struck to deliver Santos in return for the money.</p> <p> </p> <p>Santos headed back to Denver, where his mother was living, landing a job in construction as a heavy equipment operator with a former employer who was unconcerned about the ex-con's legal hassles. “He didn’t care,” Santos says. “He knew I was a hard worker.”</p> <p> </p> <p>But Santos’ return didn’t last long. One day in 2003, he says he was arrested when he could not produce an i.d. during a traffic stop. The U.S. immigration authorities gave him two options: sign a voluntary deportation or contest it. When Santos leaned toward the former, he was surprised to hear officials’ reactions.</p> <p> </p> <p>“'Are you sure you want to get deported'?” he remembers officials saying. “'You don’t even sound Mexican'.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Although the child of Mexican immigrants is quite adept at speaking Spanish, he considers English his primary tongue: “I think in English.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Opting for voluntary deportation, Santos was sent to Mexico the second time courtesy of the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez borderland. He quickly hopped aboard a bus in Juarez for the Bajio region of central Mexico, where relatives lived.</p> <p> </p> <p>As Santos recalls, “It was cool. I had some money saved up. I had two cars. I decided I was done with (criminality).”</p> <p> </p> <p>Perhaps suprisingly, the 39-year-old expresses no bitterness or regrets about his expulsion from El Norte. “Everything I did was bad and I’m not crying.” Santos adds. “If you get in jail and get deported, you have no one else to blame. That’s why I keep a light attitude.”</p> <p> </p> <p>As the evening progresses, two women from Spain, Maria and Monica, sit down at the common table under the watchful eyes of Frida Kahlo.</p> <p> </p> <p>The talk turns to travels through Maya land, the economic disaster in Spain and the massive migration shifts around the globe. Jobs might be few and far between in Spain, but desperate migrants from sub-Saharan Africa continue arriving looking for whatever scraps of employment they can find in order to simply eat another day, the women say.</p> <p> </p> <p>Like the U.S.-Mexico border, the passage from Africa to Europe is deadly. In recent weeks, at least 27 African migrants were killed attempting to cross the sea between Morocco and Spain.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mexicoborder%20%28Tomas%20Castelazo%20Wiki%29.jpg" style="height:317px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Back to Fernando Santos’ story. After living a couple of years in his new Mexican home, Santos was invited by a relative to Canada. The old wanderlust back, he moved to London, Ontario, joining a handful of Mexicans in a medium-sized city that nevertheless had a growing Latino population, mainly Colombians and other immigrants from South and Central America.</p> <p> </p> <p>Santos later headed west, securing a good-paying job in Vancouver as a concrete finisher. In the interim, he met a Canadian woman, got married and had a son.</p> <p> </p> <p>But Santos’ U.S. past followed him to Canada. He applied for Canadian residency but was rejected. Undeterred, he tried again but was advised by his lawyer that the applicant’s chances would be better if he returned to Mexico during the time the petition was under consideration.</p> <p> </p> <p>As in the United States system, family separation was an immigrant’s lot. According to the prospective Canadian, the current immigration rules oblige his sponsoring wife to show at least six months’ worth of annual income earned while residing in Canada.</p> <p> </p> <p>Going on four years later, Santos still hasn't heard the decision on his application.</p> <p> </p> <p>“I’ve been waiting ever since,” he says with a sigh of resignation filling his voice. “They keep telling me they’re waiting for background checks.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Santos is pretty certain that his tatoos and U.S. criminal record are making the application a long, drawn-out ordeal. Yet again, he conveys no bad feelings. “I can understand why they are looking at me, and I think they are waiting to see if I give up,” he speculates.</p> <p> </p> <p>Though he is separated from his family, Santos carefully weighs his past, present and future. Looking back, Santos’ life fortunes resulted in a far different outcome than the fate of his brother, who was beaten to death with a bat in 1991, or of his cousin who was murdered, or of his old homeboys who are dead.</p> <p> </p> <p>“I’m here, and the people I grew up with aren’t. I consider myself very lucky,” he says. “In retrospect, I think it was good what happened to me, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been to Canada and had a son. Deportation has opened so many doors in itself. In a way it is going to sound crazy, but I am grateful I got deported.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Still, Santos acknowledges that the seemingly endless Canadian residency application process is taking its toll on family unity.</p> <p> </p> <p>The manager says he makes a decent salary by Mexican standards, but does not earn enough to support his family up north. Moreover, his wife, who works as a massage and physical therapist, is now scrambling after contract changes hit the Canadian health system last year.</p> <p> </p> <p>“She’s barely making ends meet,” Santos continues. “Right now, she’s working three jobs part-time trying to make ends meet, and that puts a lot of pressure.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Santos credits the daily phone calls made via the low-cost Magic Jack phone company for keeping the family together. “So far, it saves me a lot of money, and my relationship,” he chuckles.</p> <p> </p> <p>As the late winter days grow hotter, the good-natured, two-time deportee puts in long hours on the job, meets the youthful travelers of the world and dreams of being with a family in another land. In the blue waters of Banderas Bay below the hotel, other travelers are stirring. Soon, the great humpback whales will commence their long, migratory trek north to U.S. and Canadian waters.</p> <p> </p> <p>Fernando Santos, meanwhile, waits for that bureaucratic decision which will allow him to make a similar journey back home.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/02/the-deportee-chronicles-life-after-diesel-therapy.php">Frontera NorteSur</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/illegal-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">illegal immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/deportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">deportation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mexico-us-border" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mexico us border</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration reform</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration-laws" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration laws</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Kent Paterson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jonathan Mcintosh (Flickr); Tomas Castelazo (Flickr)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 24 Feb 2014 14:51:50 +0000 tara 4321 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3762-immigration-chronicles-life-after-diesel-therapy#comments One Small Step for the Associated Press, One Giant Leap for Media https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2351-one-small-step-associated-press-one-giant-leap-media <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/media" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Media</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 04/16/2013 - 13:10</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumAPstylebook.jpg?itok=HrMpXW7O"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumAPstylebook.jpg?itok=HrMpXW7O" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/04/ed-note-in-early-april.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Ed. Note:</strong> <em>In early April the Associated Press announced that it would no longer use the word “illegal” when referring to undocumented immigrants. The decision has been hailed by immigrant rights groups and others, who say the term is a pejorative that dehumanizes large swaths of the U.S. population, immigrant and native-born alike. Below, authors Andrew Lam, Helen Zia and Chitra Divakaruni offer their own views on the term “illegal” through the lens of the immigrant experience. </em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>My Americanization, A Love Story </strong></p> <p> <em>Andrew Lam</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> When the Cold War ended and refugees from Vietnam fled en masse, western countries agreed on a cutoff date for hopeful entries. Up until then, anyone who escaped from communist Vietnam was given automatic political refugee status.</p> <p>  </p> <p> After July 2, 1989, however, most were deemed “economic” migrants – or what we refer to as “illegal” -- and forcefully repatriated.</p> <p>  </p> <p> For one family, the sudden shift proved a cruel twist of fate.</p> <p>  </p> <p> They came in two boats. One – carrying the father and two sons -- reached Hong Kong before the cutoff date. The other – with the mother and two more sons -- came a few days after. They became “illegal immigrants” and were sent back to Vietnam.</p> <p>  </p> <p> That experience showed me how labels can hold out the promise of a future, or rob you of it. In America, the two boys grew to become an engineer and a doctor. The mother and her two sons in Vietnam, however, were forced to depend on relatives to get by. Neither boy went to school.</p> <p>  </p> <p> I think of them when I hear the word “illegal.” And I think of my own experience.</p> <p>  </p> <p> My family left Vietnam in the aftermath of war. We fled without passports, entering the Philippines illegally, without entry permits or visas. We later arrived in America.</p> <p>  </p> <p> My Americanization story is a love story, a success story. Had I not been granted a place here, I cannot think of where I might have ended up. Perhaps sent back to Vietnam to toil in the new economic zone set up for children of the bourgeois class.</p> <p>  </p> <p> I certainly would not be on a book tour around the United States, speaking of the Vietnamese American experience and the transformational power that comes with giving immigrants in this country a fighting chance.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>All Criminals from Mars Report to the INS!</strong></p> <p> <em>Helen Zia</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> There's a TV commercial I remember from my early childhood, more than half a century ago. It was a US government public service announcement, of all things -- a grainy, black-and-white cartoon ordering "aliens" to report their whereabouts or face dire consequences.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/llegalaliendemonstration%20%28BJ%20Hokanson%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 450px; height: 600px;" /></p> <p> The faces of the cartoon figures were featureless, almost inhuman, making it clear that an alien had more in common with a Martian than an American. That PSA appeared every year for most of my childhood, popping up while I watched Star Trek or the Three Stooges -- and I hated it.</p> <p>  </p> <p> There was something creepy, even shameful about the ad. Still, I didn't connect the faceless cartoon aliens to my mother and father, who were immigrants from China.</p> <p>  </p> <p> I was born in the US and therefore an American, thanks to Wong Kim Ark's lawsuit that was decided by the Supreme Court in 1898. But not my parents, they had not yet become naturalized Americans. It took me several years before I realized that the creepy "aliens" in the PSA were people like my mom and dad.</p> <p>  </p> <p> My parents never talked about this PSA with their children, nor did they ever tell us that they had once been threatened with deportation for overstaying their visas at the time of China's Communist revolution. Because they had some American-born infants, including this writer, the INS allowed them to stay.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But the stain of being "aliens" never washed away, especially during the austerity years of the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Suddenly the issue of "aliens" turned even uglier. An extremist, histrionic wind stuck the word "illegal" onto the word "alien," turning my Martian parents into something worse: "illegal aliens," criminals from Mars.</p> <p>  </p> <p> For the last three decades, these dehumanizing words have been applied to people like my parents. It's about time to call out this degrading language for what it is, and to return humanity back to those people, who, for whatever reason, are without documents. Now maybe some reasonable immigration policies can be made for human beings, not Martians.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>The Words That Hurt Us</strong></p> <p> <em>Chitra Divakaruni</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> I came to this country in the 1970s as the holder of a coveted “green card,” the official name of which was (and still remains) the Alien Registration Card. For years, every time I looked at that card, it made me cringe. I felt strange and un-American, of a different species. It took years of living around kind, helpful Americans for that term to stop stinging.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Thus it is with pleasure that I read of the Associated Press’s decision to drop the term “illegal immigrant” from its stylebook.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The term had several technical problems associated with it. It was an oxymoron (since an immigrant is a person who has entered a country legally); it was inaccurate (an action is illegal, not a person). But most of all, it was a term rife with prejudice. It lumped thousands of people into a single, negative category and made it easy for us to judge them as some kind of parasite feeding stealthily upon America’s bounty. It allowed us, through two brief words, to de-humanize them.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The term “illegal immigrant” harmed the people to whom it was applied, yes, but it harmed the rest of us, too, by promoting attitudes of superiority -- and racism. It is easy to turn such attitudes -- once condoned by law -- on anyone who looks different from us, by whom we feel threatened. It is easy to blame them for the troubles of the nation. Ultimately, this can only weaken America.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bios:</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> <em>Andrew Lam is an editor with New America Media and the author of three books, including his latest, </em>Birds of Paradise Lost<em>. Helen Zia, author of </em>Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People<em>, is an American journalist and scholar who has covered Asian American communities and social and political movements. Chitra Divakaruni is an award-winning author, poet and teacher. Her books include </em>The Mistress of Spices<em> and </em>Sister of My Heart<em>.</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong><em>Photos: New America Media; BJ Hokanson (Flickr, Creative Commons).</em></strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/associated-press" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">associated press</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ap" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ap</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/illegal" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">illegal</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/illegal-immigrant" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">illegal immigrant</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ap-removes-illegal" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ap removes illegal</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/media" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Media</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/us-media" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">us media</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/undocumented-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">undocumented immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/deportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">deportation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Andrew Lam, Helen Zia and Chitra Divakaruni</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:10:02 +0000 tara 2695 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2351-one-small-step-associated-press-one-giant-leap-media#comments Why Comprehensive Immigration Reform Should Matter to Every American https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2231-why-comprehensive-immigration-reform-should-matter-every-american <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 03/07/2013 - 12:50</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumimmigrationreform%20%28NAM%29_0.jpg?itok=T9Y_GWF4"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumimmigrationreform%20%28NAM%29_0.jpg?itok=T9Y_GWF4" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> There are  upwards of 11 million people living and working in the United States, in every state and city, who face the perpetual threat of physical exile from their lives and their homes, to be banished to a country they barely know or in which they can barely survive. The only crime most have committed was to cross an arbitrary confine seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Although their plight appears disconnected from ours, this threat involves every American who cares about their country and values their ancestral history. Today a critical apex, having stewed for decades, is upon us, where we must as a nation decide how we will confront the tremendously flawed and illusory North American immigration system.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The 2012 election exposed the serious fault lines fracturing the already disjointed Republican Party, piquing urgency surrounding immigration reform. Although many considered Mitt Romney a weak candidate, ultimately chosen for his supposed electability from a problematic field of primary candidates, President Obama had the baggage of four years in office with which to contend. Days and weeks before the election, prominent conservatives and Republicans expressed an imprudent confidence, positioning themselves for an even more unpleasant downfall. That Tuesday election evening NBC News declared Barack Obama winner at the early hour of 8:15 PM EST, even without Florida and its 29 electoral votes accounted for. When the final results came in days later, Florida pushed Barack Obama’s electoral vote count to a handy 332 over Mitt Romney’s 206.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In an shell-shocked state of defeat, stunned Republicans tried to make sense of the decisive blow, speculating if their failure was the result of an imperfect candidate, low turnout of their base, or even Chris Christie, New Jersey’s Republican governor who came under fire for “cozying up to Obama” after mega storm Sandy hit the northeast days before the election. However, upon analyzing exit polls it became clear the problem was more intransigent than just a mediocre candidate or poor messaging. The electoral failure of 2012 was rooted in cold-hard facts and figures, with the potential to render the Republican Party irrelevant in every election cycle for the foreseeable future.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In the abject words of Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, "Obama wins because it's not a traditional America anymore. The white establishment is the minority.” Disregarding the brutish use of the word “traditional,” O’Reilly’s underlying statement rings true. National exit polls showed 72 percent of voters were non-Hispanic whites, the lowest percentage since 1972. The cumbersome fact for Republicans is that the Americans the GOP has historically relied on for votes represent a dwindling share of the electorate, while the voters making up “The Obama Coalition,” comprised mostly of blacks, Hispanics, Asians, professionals, the highly educated, singles, women, seculars, and members of the Millennial generation, represent an increasing share.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Exit polls also showed that 10 percent of the electorate in 2012 was Hispanic, compared with 9 percent in 2008 and 8 percent in 2004. Those numbers take on even more significance when combined with the certain results. In 2004, George W. Bush won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote, in 2008, John McCain won 31 percent. In 2012, Mitt Romney won a paltry 27 percent, while Obama walked away with 71 percent, a margin that undoubtedly helped propel the President to victory, particularly by increasing his share of Hispanic voters in key swing states like Colorado and Nevada. Even more disconcerting for the GOP were the results of the Asian-American vote. Americans identifying as Asian grew by 45.6 percent from 2000-2010, four times faster than the total US population. Asians are in fact the <a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/tara/My%20Documents/cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57456481-503544/asian-americans-a-fast-growing-group-in-key-states-">fastest growing immigrant group</a> in the United States, and in 2012 President Obama won a whopping 76 percent of Asian voters.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The prospect of political irrelevancy prompted a harried descent into serious discussion of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). Even hardline conservatives with aggressive stances on immigration, like pundit Sean Hannity and House Speaker John Boehner, <a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/tara/My%20Documents/washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/11/08/sean-hannity-ive-evolved-on-immigration">“evolved</a>” after the electoral shellacking and publicly expressed support for some sort of comprehensive overhaul. Whether their statements are rooted in genuine concern or simply a hasty recognition of political necessity is unclear, but immigration has become front and center of the legislative priorities of Barack Obama’s second term and the 113<sup>th</sup> Congress.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumobamabiden%20%28White%20House%20dot%20Gov%29_0.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 335px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Although CIR headlines are only recently a mainstream staple of the news cycle, efforts to accomplish CIR have been ongoing for decades, gaining momentum in committees and then typically burning out, with any bona fide investment in the issue transient at best. The political gridlock that has attenuated the importance of CIR has significant economic, political, and human stakes. Wrought with overburdened courts, detestable conditions in immigrant-detention centers, draconian family-unification policies, human rights crises, massive security expenditures, and significant administrative delays, the immigration crisis encompasses a vast and multifaceted policy matrix. This is not to mention the millions of people in the United States without proper documents, living every day in a vague incurable state of limbo.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 signed by Ronald Reagan is the first major piece of modern legislation dealing with illegal immigration. </strong>The bill was meant to tighten border security and crack down on employers hiring undocumented immigrants while offering amnesty. <a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/tara/My%20Documents/npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128303672">Three million immigrants were legalized</a>, but that did not, however, reduce rates of illegal immigration nor create a framework to deal with it going forward. Under the law, employers who hire undocumented workers are subject to civil penalties of $250 to $10,000 for each of those employees. </p> <p>  </p> <p> What the act did not provide, however, was any realistic means of enforcing the requirements for employers, which is why they were and are rarely penalized. Such punishment is considered economically disruptive, and the demand for cheap labor during the economic boom in the 1990s further discouraged enforcement of the provisions. The law also did not provide secure means by which businesses could verify the legal status of their employees. Instead, it listed dozens of documents that could be used, most of them easily falsified. The 1986 Act is an example of the sheer negligence and ineffectiveness the federal government has displayed in handling immigration throughout multiple administrations. Policies have eschewed any practical means of stipulation or implementation, fomenting massive loopholes that only aggravate underlying cyclical problems, like the exploitation of workers.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Under President Clinton, most reform was aimed at reducing the flow of immigration amid intensifying anti-immigrant sentiment among Americans, with no accomplishment of any meaningful reform. Operation Gatekeeper, a 1994 Border Patrol policy virtually unknown by the American public, was enacted early on in the Clinton administration. The policy concentrated patrol agents and added fencing along populated areas of the southern border, intentionally forcing migrants to cross through hostile and treacherous terrain that increased the incidence of injury and death. Human and immigrant rights groups argue that policies like Operation Gatekeeper have essentially legislated fatalities, <a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/tara/My%20Documents/aclu.org/immigrant-rights/us-mexico-border-crossing-deaths-are-humanitarian-crisis-according-report-aclu-and">creating a human rights crisis</a>, while doing nothing to address the root problem of illegal immigration. Since Operation Gatekeeper went into effect in 1994, an estimated 5,600 migrants have died while attempting unauthorized border crossings.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The events of 9/11 gave way to increasing distrust of foreigners and frustration with inaction surrounding illegal immigration. Increased nativism and fear-mongering fed efforts to figuratively and literally place a “band aid” at the border, or create a highly sophisticated system of technology and manpower that appeases xenophobes but does little to remedy the crux of the issue.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Vitriol towards illegal immigration also began to take form in vigilantism post-9/11. A militia known as the “Minutemen” founded in 2004 has staked out across a 23-mile stretch of border in Arizona attempting to block migrants from crossing. Many use binoculars and night-vision goggles, while others are armed with guns. Organizers call their effort a “peaceful protest over the government’s failure to secure its borders.” What the vigilantes and many other anti-immigrant groups fail to realize is that there are millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States who do not enter through the southern border. Although Mexicans and Latin Americans make up the bulk of the undocumented population, it is poor information and stereotyping that has promulgated widespread ignorance of who in America is undocumented. In fact, studies show that up to 40 percent of undocumented people in America entered legally, and remain here on expired visas.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Unlike many thorny policy issues, immigration reform has the unique history of fairly consistent bipartisan support. The comprehensive bill introduced in 2005 by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) was evidence of both sides of the aisle coming together. However, their bill could not be reconciled with a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101643.html">tough enforcement-only House version</a> supported by the right wing. It has often been a small but powerful fringe, appealing to the darkest prejudices of their constituents, that has opposed any and all comprehensive immigration reform.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumMarcoRubio%20%28NAM%29_0.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 335px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> President George W. Bush attempted to work on CIR again in 2007, but was stymied by hardline law and order conservatives. The compromise called for the biggest overhaul of immigration in more than two decades, but the Senate, forming blocs that didn’t always align with party affiliation, could never unite on the legislation’s central provisions.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Perhaps one of George W. Bush’s lasting legacies as a president will be his hawkish foreign policy. What many fail to realize is, in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush waged war on our very own border with Mexico. Urging Congress to provide additional funds for border security and committed to deploying 6,000 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_of_the_United_States" title="National Guard of the United States">National Guard</a> troops as well as thousands of Border Patrol agents to the border, Bush’s border militarization efforts were unparalleled. In 2006, he signed the Secure Fence Act, which built 700 miles of physical barriers along the border. Additionally, the law authorized more vehicle barriers, checkpoints, and lighting as well as increased the use of advanced technology like cameras, satellites, and unmanned aerial vehicles to reinforce infrastructure. Retreating from his original objective of comprehensive reform, President Bush relinquished the plight of immigrants, and only added fuel to the nativist fire.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Regardless of acceleration of enforcement-centered policies, the number of illegal immigrants taking residence in this country has increased steadily from 3.5 million in 1990, to 8.4 million in 2000, to 11.2 million in 2010. Although tougher border security is partly responsible for slowing the influx of undocumented immigrants, statistics show that despite physical obstacles at the border, scores of migrants have found alternate routes. For people whose options are grim in their home nations, an incredibly dangerous migration is often worth the risk if it means a chance at evading a life of utter despondency and despair.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Despite some efforts at piecemeal reform, the Obama administration has largely been considered by immigrant right groups to be a massive disappointment. Obama came into office promising to secure the borders, address illegal immigration, and get a comprehensive reform bill passed. The president couldn’t advance any legislation in Congress and by the second year of his first term, Obama had essentially given up and shelved the issue. Even more disappointing to CIR advocates, a recent <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/enforcementpillars.pdf">a Migration Policy Report</a> found that the Obama Administration spent almost $18 billion on immigration enforcement in 2012. That's more than what it spent on the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives combined. The nearly 430,000 people detained each year for an immigration-related crime is significantly larger than the entire population currently serving sentences for all federal crimes. Meanwhile, the President has deported over 1 million people, at a rate higher than any other administration. Advocates and activists bemoan these statistics, as they indicate complacency with an institutionalized system of anguish for already-struggling immigrants that obfuscate any sustainable policy moves.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In 2010 the Obama administration was <a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/tara/My%20Documents/huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/18/dream-act-vote-senate_n_798631.html">unable to pass the DREAM Act</a>, a bill that would provide relief to undocumented people who were brought to the United States at a young age. However, in a gesture highly symbolic to America’s immigrant communities, the president issued an Executive Order in June 2012 placing a moratorium on deportations of undocumented immigrants under the age of 30 who were brought to the country as children. It was not quite the DREAM Act, but it was a huge step in the right direction, and likely helped cement Hispanic support for the President in the 2012 election.</p> <p>  </p> <p> There is reason for activists to remain optimistic going into President Obama’s second term. Following an unprecedentedly liberal inauguration speech outlining an assertive progressive agenda, President Obama gave a powerful speech in the end of January reclaiming the demand for immigration reform as the next logical step in the American story. He reframed the debate over immigration as one of American values, history, and identity. Obama responded directly to conservative criticisms, recasting the idea of granting of citizenship as not a capitulation to lawbreakers, but as an act of mercy and compassion entrenched in American tradition, and something that has made the country stronger. Obama also alluded to previous waves of diligent immigrants who “built this country hand by hand, brick by brick,” a couched rebuttal to the conservative argument that legalizing undocumented immigrants will create a class of Americans forever dependent on government welfare programs, and by proxy the Democratic Party.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumimmigrationcheckpoint%20%28Jonathan%20mcintosh%20flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 402px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> The plan outlined <a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/tara/My%20Documents/whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/29/fact-sheet-fixing-our-broken-immigration-system-so-everyone-plays-rules">on the White House website</a> contains four major components, including strengthening border security; cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers; earned citizenship; and streamlining legal immigration. The concept of “earned citizenship” is controversial and responsible for stalled reform in the past, so its execution must be handled with care.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Following Obama’s speech, a bipartisan group of senators known as the "Gang of Eight," presented their plan, which also offers a path to citizenship. Although bipartisan attempts at a path to citizenship are not novel, this time around there is a more expansive and diverse coalition backing the measure. The group is made up of Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John McCain (R-AZ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Both President Obama and the Gang of 8 will hold undocumented immigrants seeking citizenship to certain responsibilities, including passing a national security and criminal background checks, paying taxes, and learning English. The framework has drawn praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a key business lobby, and the AFL-CIO union. The tension between business leaders and union leaders has thwarted reform in the past, so their mutual consensus will be crucial to the legislative process.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The senators’ announcement comes as a bipartisan group of House members is also working on an immigration proposal. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) said that they “basically have an agreement.” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) also appears to have recalibrated his rhetoric surrounding immigration, recently to support provisions of the DREAM Act, which he previously voted against, an inference that he intends to cooperate with looming comprehensive reform.</p> <p> President Obama appeared resolute to accomplish immigration reform in his State of the Union speech on February 12<sup>th</sup> saying, “If you send me a bill, I will sign it.” The weekend following the State of the Union, a copy of the White House’s draft immigration proposal was leaked. Predictably, Republicans like Marco Rubio with political gains to be made by publicly defying the President, rebuffed the plan. Rubio, who has been anointed “The Republican Savior” by <em>TIME</em> magazine, issued a statement saying that if the president's eventual proposal follows the draft described in the leak, it "would be dead on arrival in Congress.” This dramatic and reflexive statement comes despite the fact that the leaked draft was just that, a draft. President Obama called the lack of CIR “the biggest regret” of his first term, and he is likely trying to send a message to the legislative branch that he does not want CIR to become another legacy of a<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/congress-unproductive_n_2371387.html"> “do-nothing” Congress.</a></p> <p> According to <em>USA Today</em>, the leaked proposal creates a “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” visa that puts undocumented immigrants on a path to legal permanent residency within eight years if they pass a background check, pay a fine and back taxes, learn English and wait in line (just like the earned citizenship requirements in the Gang of 8’s plan). It also expands security funding and requires business owners to check the legal status of new employees. Republicans complain the draft omits any provisions involving future flow of immigration. Spokespeople for the White House emphasize that there is still time for bipartisan agreement, but the President will simply not stand for inaction this time around.</p> <p> Republican complaints with the draft do speak to a central caveat of the bill yet to be fleshed out, whether undocumented immigrants would have to wait to begin acquiring citizenship until the U.S. border with Mexico is secure. The Senate bipartisan plan makes a pathway to citizenship conditional on border security first, while Obama's immigration proposals do not. However, it is incredibly difficult to explicitly define how secure the border really is. President Obama has followed through with almost all of the border security that the Bush administration had requested. Violent crime in border cities has also <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/04/violent-crimes-drop-overall-in-us-border-cities/1681821/">dropped steadily</a> in recent years. However, it is tricky to gauge exactly how any policies have contributed to border security, and it will be crucial to define the parameters that make for a “secure border.” Immigration activists fear that Republicans will obstruct passage of a bill by placing unreasonable and out-of-reach constraints on the border security clause. Supporters of reform are insistent upon addressing root problems of immigration, rather than continuing to invest and pour resources into what has become a never-ending cycle.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Illegal (and legal) immigration from Mexico is at <a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/23/net-migration-from-mexico-falls-to-zero-and-perhaps-less/" title="Open Web Site">a historic low</a>, something border security proponents should be comforted by. Although draconian security measures have escalated over the last several decades, there’s another arguably more compelling explanation for the decline in illegal immigration. The phenomenon is likely less a result of border security than it is of economics. What drives immigration from Mexico and Latin America is the drastic imbalance of social and economic opportunity among the nations. In the past several years, with the U.S. economy struggling, that disparity has grown less glaring, and illegal immigration is now at a net 0.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Protracted recession should not be lauded as an ideal border-control strategy. It is a reminder that mass migration is driven by economics, which is why such issues with Canada are virtually nonexistent. A huge component often left out of the immigration discussion is the idea that in order to control immigration we must address its economic roots. Putting undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship, regulating immigration flows to suit the needs of industry and agriculture, and finally holding employers fully accountable for the legal status of their employees are the most effective border-safety strategies the U.S. could put in place.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Thus, the true triumph of immigration reform isn’t contingent on first “securing the border.” What must be accomplished first is a system that ensures the legal status of workers, with a regulated supply of migrants and strident penalties for employers who violate the law. The notion that the border can be made fully secure by law enforcement and technology alone is a farce perpetuated by the imaginations of misguided groups like the Minutemen. If we want to secure the border, Congress and the President must first secure Comprehensive Immigration Reform.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Pitching immigration reform to many white, conservative Americans, who would be largely responsible for pushing a candidate through a presidential primary in 2016, is a delicate dance for Republicans like Rubio who recognize the demographic gravity of the times. Even Mitt Romney was praised in the 2012 primaries by the GOP base for his hardline opposition to immigration reform and use of incendiary terms like “self-deportation.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> As a response to concerns that immigrants detract from the economy, weighing down already frail social services and “stealing jobs” from “real” Americans, policymakers must appeal to studies that show CIR would in fact boost the economy. Although immigrants are usually associated with menial labor, studies show the industrious spirit of 19<sup>th</sup> century immigrants engrained in textbooks and oral history still holds true for today’s newcomers.</p> <p>  </p> <p> A 2012 study by the <a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/tara/My%20Documents/nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/immigrants-and-small-business.html?_r=0">Fiscal Policy Institute</a>, “found that there were 900,000 immigrants among small-business owners in the United States, about 18 percent of the total, ” a higher percentage than the total immigrant share of the population, which is 13 percent. Hamilton Place Strategies, a Washington research group, argued in a recent paper that low-skilled immigrant workers in agriculture also boost the economy by increasing work for Americans in other sectors, such as transportation and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/sectors/industries/overview?industryCode=93&amp;lc=int_mb_1001">marketing</a>.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Any objection to immigration reform is likely a relic of a prejudiced and provincial attitude about those who are different from us. This attitude has oppressed and challenged every wave of immigrants entering the United States since our inception, and it is one that no longer resonates. The American Dream prescribes this nation as a beacon of hope, presenting opportunity and freedom for anyone willing to work for it. To continually punish people who have sought that opportunity is directly antagonistic to our very most fundamental ideals and values. There is no justice in keeping millions of hardworking people in perpetual fear and uncertainty, there is no justice in destroying families, there is no justice in denying opportunity to people who treasure the American Dream.</p> <p>  </p> <p> American policymakers have a historic opportunity to answer for the mistakes and inertia of the past. The only remaining barrier is the cowardice of politicians, who cower to xenophobia and grandstand for political gamesmanship. "Can we leave 11 million people in the shadows forever?" John McCain asked at a recent conference in Washington, "The people that wash our dishes, cut our lawns, take care of our children -- is it right to leave them in the shadows forever? I don't think so."</p> <p>  </p> <p> As evidenced by the results of the 2012 election, immigration reform is not only politically practical and economically logical; it is a reflection of our ideals as a country. Almost every American can trace their roots back to an immigration story, and it is high time we value today’s newcomers with the same respect as the men and women who sacrificed so much to leave their homes and build this great nation.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong><br /> <em>Gabrielle Acierno is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: New America Media; Whitehouse.gov; Jonathan Mcintosh, Boss Tweed (flickr, Creative Commons).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/comprehensive-immigration-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">comprehensive immigration reform</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cir" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cir</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/marco-rubio" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">marco rubio</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/republicans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Republicans</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/democrats" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Democrats</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/illegal-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">illegal immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/deportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">deportation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigrant-detentions" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigrant detentions</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ins" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ins</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Gabrielle Acierno </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:50:34 +0000 tara 2473 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2231-why-comprehensive-immigration-reform-should-matter-every-american#comments ‘Show Me Your Papers’ Enforcement Looms Over Immigrants in Arizona https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1596-show-me-your-papers-enforcement-looms-over-immigrants-arizona <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 09/25/2012 - 14:50</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumpolicerearviewmirror%20%28NAM%29.jpg?itok=TGDRRH1I"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumpolicerearviewmirror%20%28NAM%29.jpg?itok=TGDRRH1I" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2012/09/immigrants-prepare-for-increased-threats-under-show-me-your-papers-enforcement.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Emma Cervantes spends most of her time driving all over town to clean houses when she is not ensuring that everything is going well at the flower shop she owns with her six children.</p> <p>  </p> <p> She used to worry about them being pulled over by police and asked for their papers. But now, while they are protected from deportation under President Obama’s deferred action plan, she is the one at risk with the “show me your papers” provision in the state’s harsh anti-illegal immigration law, SB 1070, going into effect.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Before, I didn’t worry too much about going everywhere, but now that they want us to show our papers, I’ll go out less,” said the 59-year-old woman from Puebla, Mexico. “I won’t be locked inside (sic), but I’ll take more precaution.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> On September 18, over the pleas of civil rights groups, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton lifted an injunction on the “papers please” provision, siding with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.</p> <p>  </p> <p> This means, police in Arizona now are required to inquire about a person’s immigration status if they have reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally. Police could face lawsuits if they fail to enforce the law to the fullest extent.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Concerned that the federal district court might refuse to block the provision that they feel could lead to racial profiling, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) filed an appeal last week with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to enjoin enforcement of that harsh provision.</p> <p>  </p> <p> NILC General Counsel Linton Joaquin said that civil rights groups will continue their efforts to block this provision.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Those efforts include calling the hotline, 1-855-737-7386, if someone believes he or she was the target of racial profiling during a traffic stop.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The biggest question mark on how this portion of the law will impact immigrants like Cervantes depends on the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).</p> <p>  </p> <p> “As we’ve previously emphasized, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials in Arizona have been directed not to respond to requests from state and local police officers for assistance in enforcing immigration laws unless the individual or individuals in question meet DHS’ enforcement priorities,” said Amber Cargile, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in a statement. “Those priorities include convicted criminals, individuals who have previously been removed from the United States and recent border crossers.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> ICE still will respond to phone calls from local police inquiring about a person’s immigration status.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “We hope that immigration fulfills what it has promised, and that if we don’t have a criminal record, it would let us stay here,” Cervantes said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumsb1070.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 335px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> For immigrants like her, these concerns are not new. Police have been increasingly cooperating with immigration authorities in Arizona since 2007 through agreements under 287(g) signed with Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office that allowed law enforcement agencies to check the immigration status of those suspected to be undocumented. Those agreements were rescinded this past June.</p> <p>  </p> <p> For the last four years. advocates for civil rights have been documenting the impact of these “SB1070-like” enforcement policies in Arizona, leading to both a Department of Justice (DOJ) and civil rights lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “There already is racial profiling in Arizona. There’s already been abuses to some extent with Sheriff Arpaio and the kind of enforcement he has engaged in which might have been a model for the way SB 1070 was enforced,” noted Joaquin.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Arpaio hasn’t been the only one contributing to the deportation of a number of people from Arizona. Undocumented immigrants who are turned over to immigration officials after they are arrested for a serious crime or for something as minor as driving without a license could be deported under the federal Secure Communities program.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Carlos Garcia, director of PUENTE, a pro-immigrant group, said this provision of SB 1070 doesn’t change much for agencies like Phoenix Police who have already worked closely in cooperation with immigration.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “We’ll continue to ask Obama to put an end to programs like Secure Communities,” said García who anticipates there will be more acts of civil disobedience to protest against SB 1070, “There’s no other choice but for us to push to be the ones to make a change.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Phoenix Police Chief Daniel García had said in the past that his officers will not engage in racial profiling and would enforce the law while respecting civil rights. But in a statement issued late yesterday, his department said officers were ready to enforce the law.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “An officer shall make a reasonable attempt to contact the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine the detained person’s immigration status,” said the statement, “unless the detainee has presumptive identification, it would hinder an investigation, or it would not be practicable to do so. “</p> <p>  </p> <p> Attorney’s like Linton feel there’s no way around it because of provisions in the law that have been in effect for the last two years that allow citizens to sue a police department if they don’t believe the law is being enforced to its fullest extent.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It’s going to promote racial profiling; it’s going to lead inevitably for people being detained for extra time because of immigration verification status,” he said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law on April 23, 2010 and issued an executive order requiring police agencies to get training that would prevent racial profiling.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It is not enough that SB 1070 be enforced. It must be enforced efficiently, effectively and in harmony with the Constitution and civil rights. I have full faith and confidence that Arizona’s State and local law enforcement officers are prepared for this task,” said Brewer in a statement. She called the “show me your papers” provision the “heart of the law.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Back in July 2010, Judge Bolton blocked that portion of SB 1070, along with four other provisions, following a request from the DOJ that contented that these parts of the law were pre-empted by federal law. Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Bolton, partially, and ordered her to lift the injunction on the “show me your papers” provision.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The justices, however, did leave the door open for a different challenge to the law that was picked up by civil rights groups.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Cervantes worries about these detentions and wonders how police will find enough time to do other things to ensure the community is safe as they wait for ICE to verify a person’s status.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “There’s too many of us,” she said. “God willing, we’ll turn invisible for the police.”</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2012/09/immigrants-prepare-for-increased-threats-under-show-me-your-papers-enforcement.php">New America Media</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/arizona" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Arizona</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sb1070" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">SB1070</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration-law" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration law</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/show-me-your-papers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">show me your papers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aclu" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ACLU</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/illegal-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">illegal immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/deportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">deportation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sheriff-arpaio" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sheriff Arpaio</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Valeria Fernandez</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:50:04 +0000 tara 1617 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1596-show-me-your-papers-enforcement-looms-over-immigrants-arizona#comments