August 2010
Becoming Bicultural
A monthly column on Hispanic Heritage and Culture by
Richard CampbellAuthor of "Two Eagles in the Sun"
This dilemma chases a solution
Have you heard about a soldier in the Civil War who dressed in a Union jacket and Confederate pants? He dodged bullets from both sides! Discussing immigration objectively is similar to that plight. Understand, though, that this article will describe the issue’s sheer complexity and various viewpoints, but not necessarily my own, which are still in flux.
What a mess! America was built on immigration. Yet undocumented immigrants over recent years have numbered in the millions. Unfortunately, our outdated immigration system has a backlog of 1.1 million in processing legal immigrants for green cards, with a waiting period of three years.
Increasing violence. Over the past 15 years, about 5,600 individuals have perished crossing northern Mexico’s scorching deserts. Surviving border crossers plod across U.S. ranches, where some litter trash, break into houses, steal, tear down fences and release animals. Ranchers want privacy. And recently, a rancher was shot and killed. More gang members, drug runners and ordinary criminals are joining the flow. Terrorists remain a concern.
A quiet detail. Is the real problem immigration per se? Immigrants from Uzbekistan do not stir up the same passions! The problem seems to be immigrants from the South — not Argentina but Mexico. This Mexican Hispanic issue cannot be overlooked. Some U.S. citizens just fear that traditional white, Anglo-Saxon culture gets overwhelmed by any other large ethnic group.
Against all illegal immigration. Here’s one attitude: fear over the loss of American jobs to immigrants, the increasingly dangerous immigrant crime and drug violence, resentment over tax money paying for undocumented immigrants overloading our hospitals and schools, and adding more poor people to high poverty rolls. Furthermore, some think that in a nation of law, lawbreakers are criminals and deserve prosecution. That’s why many support the deportation of 12 million to 15 million illegals.
For reasonable immigration. This side favors deportation of criminals but also thinks new people add consumers to our economy. These workers will pay taxes, buy property, open bank accounts and rent housing. America needs those with higher skills and professional expertise but also needs workers willing to toil in meat-processing plants, on construction sites, in car washes, in agriculture and in restaurants. In fact, America needs immigrant labor to keep the economy running. Problem: many business interests vigorously fight reform because they want cheap labor.
Fortunately, concerned people on both sides of the border place water jugs along known routes and establish shelters for exhausted travelers. They assist immigrants who seek sanctuary because of danger at home. They feel compassion toward those who risk danger and death en route. Read Sonia Nazario’s eye-opening “Enrique’s Journey.” These are moral and religious issues.
And the future? Some surprising new statistics have appeared:
• The annual flow of people into the U.S. has been decreasing — from 800,000 in 2000–2004 down to 500,000 in 2005–2008, a decline expected to continue.
• According to Newsweek, the World Bank finds that Mexico’s birthrate has declined from 6.7 children per woman in 1970 to 2.1 today.
• Therefore, fewer new workers will need Mexican jobs, thus placing less stress on the Mexican economy.
• By 2015, retiring American baby boomers will create more job vacancies. Says a professor at USC, “I wouldn’t be surprised if [even] Arizona starts pleading for Mexican workers. … The potential here is to totally reverse attitudes toward Mexican immigration.”
So what can we do?
• Control the border with stronger Border Patrol, more fence, army troops, federal I.D. cards and land mines?
• Give amnesty and make citizenship available for 12–15 million immigrants already here?
• Simplify steps toward citizenship and reduce the fees?
• Set up a guest worker program?
• Enforce existing laws to fine employers who hire undocumented workers?
• Grant driver’s licenses to immigrants?
• Use local police to find and profile illegal immigrants?
• Continue free access to our hospitals and schools?
• Deny citizenship to babies born in the States with undocumented parents?
• Deport lawbreakers, even when breaking up families?
• Will we eventually need less-stringent immigration-reform legislation?
• Will furor over the recent Arizona law make Congressional legislation politically impossible at this time?
Will this dilemma ever catch a solution? Will Congress ever make changes that might threaten political careers? Will anyone agree to compromise? Will Americans ever support the possible over the perfect? Can Americans ever debate without demonizing? Answer all these questions and you solve the problem. Meanwhile, the chase goes on.
Richard Campbell lives in Albuquerque.
His “Two Eagles in the Sun” is available at the Bookery, Barnes & Noble and twoeaglespress.com.
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Copyright 2010 by Cristo Rey Communications.