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| Immigration: Re-living Operation Wetback |
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There are several issues causing consternation during the current immigration debates. Presidents Bush and Fox were scheduled to discuss the issue prior to 9/11. It appeared that there had been aspirations to seek out common ground and perhaps come to some terms and agreements with an issue that has divided the two countries since at least the mid 1800’s.
After 9/11, the doors to rational conversations about comprehensive immigration policy, agreed upon by the leaders of both nations, seem to have been shut tight with impassable locks.
Legislative paranoids must have summoned an antiquated policy, “Operation Wetback”, to revisit as it pondered policy considerations. This anachronistic policy seems to have been reconstructed for the new millennium; spearheaded by mean spirited legislators; many of whom are offspring of immigrants themselves and have lost their consciencia.
Old stereotypes did not disappear, particularly about Mexicans and farm labor that had been characterized throughout history. In Mario García’s Rueben Salazar: Border Correspondent: Selected Writings, 1955-1970, he states that one of those stereotypes created by mass media had to do with the physical stature of farmworkers, many of whom were Mexicanos. As he states, “Mexicans are physically and biologically different and so can do stoop labor easily”. Agricultural lobbyists and farmers have perpetually pushed for immigration policy and guest worker programs that would allow Mexicanos to continue to pick the crops.
Following 9/11 a set of new stereotypes were created. One of those typecasts was that terrorists had snuck into American society via the Mexican border; therefore, leading the public to believe that Mexico is a gateway for terrorists.
The media in its conventional frenzy jumped on the band wagon and exacerbated this panic. Brown people became victims of irrational fears as attacks and insults towards this group intensified. An example of this was printed in a newspaper article where great revolutionary Pancho Villa was accused of being the first terrorist in a contentious event during the Mexican Revolution.
Acts perpetrated by Mexicanos, especially heinous crimes have and continue to receive national and/or statewide attention. They have been magnified by the media, over generalized and used by politicians to justify the development of public polices aimed at repatriation against Mexicano undocumented workers.
Political junkies like Tom Tancredo and Richard Lamm used 9/11 to create other stereotypes about the destruction of western culture and civilization by Mexicanos. Tancredo “advised Bush to send troops to the Border.”
What should the United States of América do with the 12 million plus undocumented workers that live and thrive in this country? Do undocumented workers contribute more
to the economy than they take out? Are they assets or deficits? Do immigrants displace American workers? Should those who are currently in the United States of America be offered amnesty?
Data skewed on both sides of the equation has been presented. The heads of the state’s Regulatory Agencies argued that expenditures utilized for immigrants had almost been offset by revenues. It was break even analysis.
Some of the crops in Colorado’s fields were not harvested this year. Americans did not show up in droves to pick the crops even at $10 an hour. The crops simply rotted in the fields; perhaps a metaphor for what is happening with Colorado’s social fabric.
Seldom is media and public attention given to the 26,000 immigrants in our armed forces (Conde, 2006). Mexicanos and other types of Latino Americanos are good enough to fight and die for this country but not good enough to be granted citizenship status.
Policy makers on top of the hill have introduced legislation that includes the carrying of mandatory photo identification cards. To some degree, this has backfired as all citizens are hassled for identification, including the offspring of some of the initiators of this policy.
The question of amnesty has raised many eyebrows. Webster’s dictionary defines amnesty as “the act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals.” At the core of the debate is whether or not “illegal aliens” should be let set scot-free from any punishment for having come into America illegally.
There are many who would rather continue the historical exploitation of the undocumented worker, shaping legislation that keeps them as slaves in a modern day capitalistic economy.
Others believe that western culture is being diluted and are fearful of absorbing more brown people in American society. Current immigration policy is aimed at quelling the anxiety of losing political control, not over the borders, but the irrational thought of immigrants taking over América.
When the ashes dissipated, Americans had been frightened into believing that México was an enemy.
Colorado policemen have taken on the characteristics of the military, that is, INS agents, performing overt operations intended to capture undocumented workers as if they were animals. Surveillance increased in many industries as raids are being conducted. Children and families are being abandoned as their loved ones are being repatriated back to México. Via fiat, governments can be sued if they provide services to immigrants.
Recent data presented in the Rocky Mountain News indicates that about 61% of Coloradoans would like to provide some type of strategies for immigrants to become citizens. One of the provisions is the learning of the English language. As in the past, one has to wonder if resources will be provided to accomplish this awesome objective.
The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act was revisited. This policy was designed to punish employers that employed undocumented workers; however, the policy failed miserably. It appears that those without the resources to defend themselves become the hunted.
Another provision of current proposed legislation is the building of a 730 mile fence, dividing the two countries. A comrade living in Arizona stated in a chuckling manner, “Show me a 20 foot fence and I’ll show you someone with a 21 foot ladder.” Incidentally, it is estimated that the cost for this fence would be $6.6 billion dollars.
Minutemen have become vigilantes whose mission has become to protect the Mexican border. They are aided and abided by National guardsmen that have been sent to the border to protect it from the onslaught.
I was at a conference in México on the evening that President Bush announced that the United States of América was going to further militarize the border, building a 730 mile wall. Ironically, the title of the conference was, “American Nonprofits and Mexican Civil Society: Building Bridges.”
As I stepped up to the podium to speak to my Mexicano colleagues, it dawned on me that for 20 minutes, I might be able to convince some of our neighbors to the south that there were Americans who were sympathetic towards the creation of humane immigration policy, pushing diligently for humane legislation. I informed them folks of all color participated in the May 1st marches and demonstrations.
Contradictions have a way of becoming even more lopsided as policy makers become myopic in their views. ¡Que sigue la lucha!
Dr. Ramon Del Castillo, Ph.D. is an Independent Journalist
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