Illegal Immigration Final Parenthesis.docx

Illegal Immigration Final Parenthesis.docx

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IllegalImmigrationFinalParenthesis

MichelleEby

ProfessorHurst

ENG313

3Apr.2009

CrossingtheLine

Theagentswereverycareful.Iftheyalarmedtheworkers,panicwouldbreakoutandpeoplewouldrunfromthelines.Thecompanywouldn’tgettheirproductoutfortheday.Soquietly,onebyone,companysupervisorspulledthefatedworkersoffthelines.Theworkers,bemused,putdowntheirequipmentandfollowedtoaroominwhichtheagentswaited,readytoputtheminhandcuffsandtransportthemtodetentionareasfarfromtheirhomes.Tokeeppeoplefrombecomingsuspicious,otherworkerswerecalledrandomlyforotherreasonsandthensentbacktothelines.Itwasalldoneverycarefully.Noonefiguredoutwhatwasgoingonuntilpeopledidn’tcomeback.

SoundslikesomethingthattookplaceinNaziGermanyortheSovietUniondoesn’tit?

Butno,thistruestorytookplaceintheUnitedStates,attheSmithfieldFoodsporkslaughterhouseinTarHeel,NorthCarolina（Bacon12-13）.TheworkersbeingpulledoffthelineswereillegalLatinoimmigrantswhohadbeenturnedinbytheirsupervisorstotheImmigrationandNaturalizationService（INS）,orwhattheworkerscalllamigra.TheyweresenttojailsasfarawayasGeorgia.

Illegalimmigrationisacomplicatedtopicandonethatinspiresverylittleneutrality.Mostpeoplehaveanautomaticnegativereaction,whichiscompletelynatural.Wedon’tliketothinkofourbordersbeinginvadedbyafloodofforeignersoutto“steal”ourjobsoroverpopulateouralreadyoverpopulatedareas.Eventhelanguageweusereflectsthisreaction.Prefacinganythingwiththeword“illegal”isunlikelytogeneratepositiveemotions.Idonotaimtodisagreewiththeseconcernedpeople;Ido,however,wishtomaintainthatillegalimmigrationisafarmorecomplexissuethanmanypeoplerealizeandthatmostofoursolutionsthusfarhave,ifanything,donemoreharmthangood.

WehearalotaboutthethreatofillegalimmigrationandtheBorderPatrolfromtheUnitedStates’pointofview,so,forthesakeofperspective,let’slookattheLatin-Americansideoftheissue.

PovertyrunsrampantinsouthernMexico,particularlyinthestateofOaxaca,fromwhichasurprisinglylargepercentageoftheimmigrantscome.Globalizationhashitthisfarmingstatehard.Itsprimaryproductiscorn,buttheUnitedStatesalsogrowscornanddoessowithfarmoreefficiencyandsuccessthanitssouthernneighbor.SincetheNorthAmericanFreeTradeAgreement,TheUnitedStateshasbeensellingitscheapercorntoMexico,thusleavingverylittlemarketforOaxacaandothercorn-growingMexicanstates（Bacon25）.

Moreover,itisn’tjustthecornfarmerswhoaresuffering.Evenpeoplecompletelyunrelatedtothefarmingprofession,liketeachers,experiencegravepoverty.Theaverageteacherearns$220（2200pesos）everytwoweeks,muchofwhichgoestowardpurchasingthingslikechalkandpencilsandcurriculumfortheirstudents（astheteacherisexpectedtopurchasethesethingsoutofpocket）.Iftheteachersprotest,orstrikeforbetterwages,thegovernmentpersecutesthem（Bacon27）,regardlessofthefactthatMexico’sConstitutionguarantees“elderechodeasociarseoreunirsepacíficamenteconcualquierobjetolícito…”（ConstituciónArt.9o）ortherighttoassociateorassemblepeacefullywithanylawfulobjective.

ForthepeopleofOaxacaandmanyotherareasinMexico,CentralAmerica,andSouthAmerica,migrationisnotsimplyamatterofbetteropportunity—itisamatterofsurvival.Theresimplyisnotenoughmoneyorfoodwheretheylive.Andhonestly,tothem,workingillegallyintheUnitedStatesdoesn’tseemlikeabigdeal.Mostofthesedesperateimmigrantsarenotlookingtocommitcrimesorworkthesystemtogetfreemoney.Theyonlywanttowork,perhapsfindsomefieldorfactorywheretheycanearnmoreinadaythantheywouldearninaweekbackinMexico,evenatbelowminimumwage.Itlikelydoesn’tevenoccurtothemthattheyarestealingjobs,andmostcan’tfigureoutwhytheU.S.governmentissoagainstthem.Iftheydothinkaboutit,they’relikely,ifanything,tothinkthey’redoingAmericaafavorbyworkingforlessthaneveryoneelse.AnarticlewrittenbytheConsulGeneralofMexicoinLosAngelespointsoutthat,sinceimmigrantworkersarepaidlessthanthenativesatalllevelsofeducationandknowledgeandarestillequallyproductive,theycontributesignificantlytotheU.S.economy（specificallytheCaliforniaeconomyduringaspecifictimeperiod,accordingtothearticle）（Osuna928）.BeingmoreinformedabouttheU.S.economythantheaverageMexican,hedoesrecognizeandacknowledgethattheimmigrantstakinglow-payingjobscanbeabitofaproblemforlow-skillednativeworkersinareasofhighimmigration,buthedoesn’tseehowithasanegativeeffectontheeconomyoverall（Osuna929）.

Moreover,theUnitedStateshasalwaysbeenportrayedasthelandofopportunity,wherethestreetsarepavedingoldandeveryoneiswell-fedandcomfortable.Onelikelywouldnotconsideritaseriouscrimetokeeploosechangedroppedbyamillionaire,especiallyifoneisdesperateformoney.Theimmigrantsknowitisacrime,ofcourse,buttheyhavetheirfamiliestothinkof,thefutureoftheirchildrentoprovidefor,andintheirminds,crossingaborderanddoinglegitimateworkforlesspaythaneveryoneelsecouldnotpossiblycausetroubleforarichcountrylikelosEstadosUnidos.Itismoreagamethananythingelse—getpastlamigraandyou’rehomefree（or,moreaccurately,freefromhome）.Theextremestheygotoinordertodosoareameasureoftheirdesperation.

Interestingly,ourheightenedbordersecurityhashadverylittleeffectonthelevelofillegalimmigration,andvirtuallynoneonhowoftentheimmigrantsareapprehendedbeforecrossing（Corneliusfig.5）.ThisisbecausefightingillegalimmigrationislikefightingtheBorgonStarTrek.Fornon-Trekkiereaders,theBorgarealienswho,forreasonsfartoocomplicatedtotaketimetoexplain,haveanalmostendlesscapacitytoadapttoweaponsusedagainstthem,thusrenderingsaidweaponsineffective.Theprotagonistshavetocontinuouslyupdatetheirbattlegearinanever-endingcycle.Whenweimplementnewmethodstostopimmigrants,theyfindnewwaysofgettingaroundourmethods.AperfectexampleofthisphenomenonisthefencethatiscurrentlybeingbuiltalongtheTexasborder,describedinarecentABCNewsreport.Itdoesvirtuallynothing.Immigrantsclimboveritorcomeunderitorcutholesinit（Stosselpar.12-13）.Whatgoodisafenceifyoucancutholesinit?

Evenwherethefenceisimpenetrable,immigrantsstillfindwaysaroundit.Theycancrossatanareathatisn’tfenced,ofwhichtherearemany,orswimaroundintheoceanortheRioGrande,apracticefromwhichtheoldterm“wetback”originated.Eveniftheyarecaughtanddeported,theywillkeepcomingbackuntiltheysucceed.Theycanalsoenterlegallywithvisitorpermitsortouristvisasandsimplyoverstaytheirwelcome.Recordsshowthatalmosthalfofallillegalimmigrants,andaboutaquarterofthosefromMexicoandCentralAmerica,enterbythismethod（“Modes”par.5）.

However,ourheightenedbordersecurityhasmadethetrekacrossthebordermuchmoreriskyforillegalimmigrants.Theyarejustaseagerandwillingtocrossastheyalwayswere,perhapsmoresoaseconomichardshipspreadsthroughouttheworld;however,thetripisnowfarmoreexpensiveandfarmoredangerous.Yearsago,ifyouwantedtomigrateillegallyfromMexicotoAmerica,andwantedyourpassagetobefairlyrisk-free,youwouldhireasmuggler,orcoyote.Thesedays,youareinsanenottohireacoyote（Corneliuspar.11）.Thebusinessofactuallybeingacoyotehasalsochangedandbecomemoreorganized,andpriceshaveskyrocketed.Inthelasttenyears,thepricetohireacoyotehasgonefromabout$750tonearly$2000（Corneliusfig.10）,bothbecausetheprocessismoreexpensiveandbecausetheirservicesareinhigherdemand.Ontheupside（fortheimmigrants,atleast）,usingacoyotealmostguaranteesyoursuccessingettingpastlamigra（Corneliuspar.13）.

However,lamigraisnottheonlythingtheimmigrantshavetogetpast.Withsomanyurbanareasbeingconstantlypatrolledand/orwalledoffbytheINS,immigrantsoftenhavetotravelthroughareaswherethelanditselfisagainstthem.TemperaturesintheSonoradesertcanreachthetripledigits,andareaswherewatercanbefoundarefewandfarbetween（nottomentionthefactthattheBorderPatroltypicallywatchestheseareasinordertocatchthirstyimmigrants[Urrea91]）.TheDevil’sHighwaytellsthestoryofagroupoftwenty-sixmenfromMexicowhotriedtocrossthedesertandgotlost.Twelvesurvived（Urrea,insidefrontcover）.

Butwhatofthosewhodogetthrough?

ManypeoplepointtoAmerica’shistoricaltendencytowelcomewithopenarmspeoplefromallovertheworld,especiallythosecomingfromimpossiblesituations.Afterall,thesymbolofourcountry,theStatueofLiberty,reads,

Givemeyourtired,yourpoor,

Yourhuddledmassesyearningtobreathefree,

Thewretchedrefuseofyourteemingshore.

Sendthese,thehomeless,tempest-tossedtome.

Iliftmylampbesidethegoldendoor.

Thesepeoplearguethatwehavearesponsibilityasafortunatecountrytoaidthosewhoarelessfortunate.Iagreewiththem,atleastinprinciple.Theproblemismorethatwedonotactuallyhaveverymuchtoofferthetiredandpoor,asidefromhandouts,whichisnotwhatmostofthemwant.Theywantjobs,andwehavefewtogivethem.Thus,regardlessofthedesperationanddeterminationofthesestarvingandimpoverishedLatinAmericans,theUnitedStatesis