Guest Column
The Immigration Debate: What has Been Missing
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Chismes de Mi Gallinero:
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The Immigration Debate: What has Been Missing
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By Julio C. Calderon
- June 1, 2007
- Then there is the issue of blame. Who’s fault is it for this problem? Answer is easy…it’s the fault of those who drafted our constitution. They created this nation where all men and women are created equal, and provided a country where those who yearn to be free can do so; they created a nation where dreams, and accomplishing those dreams, are limited only by their own imagination and will to succeed.
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- Julio C. Calderon is a free lance writer, former television news reporter and past National/state President of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA). Comments can be sent to latsac2000@aol.com.
Some people in these United States are intent on repeating history. I have been refraining from writing about the “I” issue, meaning immigration, however, after listening to radio talk from Limbaugh to Hannity, and to reading about the national debate, I have to jump in. There is panic in the land over the possibility of approximately 12-million immigrants becoming citizens, and must, therefore, do something ‘about them’ now. We tried that once. Remember the Japanese Americans during World War II? Hitler also tried getting rid ‘of them.” Remember the 1930’s when even Mexican Americans were rounded up and deported as an answer to the great depression?
There are flaws in the thinking driving the national panic.
A small portion of the 12-million law-breaking-immigrants given amnesty and a path to citizenship, will ever file to become citizens. The cards they receive to allow them to work and live freely in these United States will be enough for the greater majority of these folks. The cards will vastly improve their quality of life.
Limbaugh believes that this is ploy to build the Democrat Party into a super majority party over Republicans. My guess is that very few that do become citizens will register to vote, and those that do register during a registration drive won’t even vote. We have been trying to register Mexican Americans, and getting them to the polls with minimal success, since 1960 when the Mexican American Political Association was created in California. I don’t see that trend changing with this new batch of folks.
The ones most affected by providing illegals cards will be the “coyotes” who depend on illegals who go home and try to come back across the border. The cards will allow these folks to go home during the off-season and return freely.
Some people complain about providing their children with health care and an education. The danger to our country is in not providing health care to these kids. Kids don’t ask for documentation from other kids they play with, so imagine your children playing with a child with chicken pox or measles or tuberculosis for lack of health care. Who foots the bill during a pandemic of one or more of these diseases?
So how can the states get back the money they spend on health care for these immigrants…try tapping into the more than 450-billion dollars held in the Social Security’s account where money goes to that is collected from social security numbers that don’t match with names. These are more than likely collected on phony social security numbers…and most likely from undocumented workers.
We are told that the illegals take away job opportunities from our own teenagers. Teenagers today, for the most part, don’t want jobs. They get their money from mom or dad; they get their car from mom or dad; and mom or dad pay for their car insurance…for the most part. And, mom and dad still have to pay to have their yards done by someone else…for the most part.
Mexicans, for the most past, are extremely loyal to their country…and, for the most part, are very conservative. We, those of us Mexican Americans who have chosen to toil in the Republican fields, have heard Republicans refrain: “Mexicans share the same values as Republicans; family, work ethics, religious values, etc.” I can’t tell how often I have been asked by Republican candidates; “How do I get the Hispanic vote?” So I ask them who the Hispanic leaders are in their district. “I’m not sure,” is their response. OK, so I ask them, which are the Hispanic organizations in your district. “I don’t know,” is the response.
These candidates are looking for a house Mexican who can deliver the Hispanic vote to them, without them having to walk a predominantly Hispanic district, or have to face their questions at a Hispanic organization’s convention. So, I tell these candidates how to get a large portion of the Hispanic vote…work for it! Mr. Limbaugh fears massive Democrat registrations, the fact is, that many to those who register will also register Republican.
When President Ronald Reagan died a small rally was staged in downtown Fresno, California. A Mexican American was interviewed and asked why he was there. He told them to honor Mr. Reagan because of his amnesty this Mexican is now a Mexican American.
What has been missing from the national debate has been the economics of immigration. Thus far, only the costs of undocumented people have been debated. In 1982 there were, according to the U. S. Census, 233,975 Hispanic owned businesses in the U.S., the number in 2002’s census was 1,573,464. The largest jump came between 1986 and 1992. The number in 1987 was 422,373 and 771,708 in 1992. These were the years following President Reagan’s amnesty.
Yes, I could do a little research into crime statistics and the like, but all of that has been regurgitated over and over again. Crime has increased, but so has the Hispanic population. These statistics have also increased among the non-Hispanic population as it too has grown.
The dramatic growth of Hispanic businesses and those of Asians are testaments to the American Spirit and the freedoms available in this great nation that opens opportunities for people to change their station in life.
When Mr. Reagan gave illegal immigrants amnesty many of these men and women sought to leave the low-paying, back-breaking jobs. They educated their children, and those with the entrepreneurial spirit started businesses. According to various studies into the Hispanic business community, most of these businesses were started in their homes. Kind-of reminds you of the likes of Hewlett and Packard, doesn’t it.
During the mini-depressions when other businesses wilted and closed their doors, Hispanic businesses continued to flourish and grow. They did so without government loans or bail-outs, they relied on their survival skills…the same skills that got them through harsh desert crossings and years of living in fear of capture and deportation.
Technically, everyone in these United States illegally are law breakers, however, the victims of this particular crime are the undocumented themselves mostly because of the abusive lives they are forced to live. Those who have committed crimes and are in our prisons are a very small percentage of the whole of them, the greater majority lead quiet lives so as not to come out of the shadows.
What we can expect when President George W. signs whatever immigration bill finally emerges from the congressional sausage factory is more of the same. We can expect most to stay in the lower economic strata; those who will move on to better paying jobs with better working conditions; and, those who will move beyond the middle classes. It’s the nature of the immigrant meeting the American dream unfettered. We all have the right to succeed and the right to be failures.
Critics lament the assimilation factor. Critics state that today’s Hispanic immigrant doesn’t assimilate like those of generations past. Fact of the matter is that they do assimilate, they just don’t abandon their languages and traditions, but as generations come the language of our parents go into the past…quickly making us pochos (a non-complimentary term used by Mexicans to describe a Mexican American.)
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