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Immigration has always been a very controversial topic; and now more than ever since the presidential elections. Disputes between the candidates were an everyday headliner; many about immigration. Apparently the two final candidates seemed to agree in providing citizenship to the already illegal residents in the USA, so long as we don’t call it “amnesty”. At the same time they both seemed to agree to putting an end to more illegal immigrants coming in. This new “amnesty” would be accomplished with the help of the Mexican government. Yet even a well organized immigration policy would only take us so far in answering some of the most important questions that have been raised through immigration debates: What does it mean to be an American? How do we piece together all our parts into a whole?
“The percentage of immigrants (including those unlawfully present) in the U.S has been increasing in these last years. At 12.6 percent, it is now higher than at any point since the mid 19920s. The number (an estimated 37.9 million) is bigger than at any previous time in history.” (Close) It’s very amusing for me to see how the immigration regulations have come a long way from what the 1920s. In the 1920s the American people were extremely worried not just about the amount of immigrants coming in, but of the number of the “wrong” sort of immigrants. Harvard University climatologist Robert de Courcy Ward wrote in Scientific Monthly in 1922: "If we want the American race to continue to be … of the same stock as that which originally settled the United States, wrote our Constitution, and established our democratic institutions … easily assimilable, literate, of a high grade intelligence, then the country should limit immigrants to the ethnic proportions of those present in the 1910 Census." (Cose) The USA’s approach to immigration based on ethnicity set quotas has changed its focus from ethnic purity to reuniting families; as of 1965. During this period of time, the civil rights movement were in full swing, catching the attention of many, leading to the changes we now see today. That was a major improvement but yet it wasn’t perfection.
Even though we aren’t retro ceding to the 1920s when Americans were worried about inferior races polluting the American bloodstream, we are once again wondering if we have one too many of the “wrong sort” of new immigrants. Now the new critics not only complain about the newcomers, but also about their lack and refusal to assimilate into this society. They claim that not only can they not, but that they choose not to fit in as the generations of previous immigrants once did. Congressman Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican said on Fox News that Bush's plan to give some illegal immigrants a way to work their way to citizenship is "not fair" to those who have "been waiting for years outside the country to come in.” “I hope to God that we do not, in fact, pass anything in the House that resembles anything that is coming out of the Senate or that they were even talking about. ... The card for employers -- great idea. All for it. Putting the troops on the border -- great idea. All for it. But what absolutely bugs me, when the president starts talking about this false dichotomy ... where it's either round up and deport 12 million people or give them amnesty -- no, no. There is another way to do it. And that is, in fact, to make sure that they can't get jobs and, through attrition, millions will go home." (CNN)
That sort of thinking can do us wrong; for not only would our economy would be affected if in fact millions of illegal immigrants were to leave the country; but also questions about the very foundations of this nation would come into question. What ever happened to our right to pursuit happiness? Are those “aliens” denied this right for the mere reason of not being documented? Do they not have a say in what will ultimately shape their futures? These and many more questions are left unanswered since immigrants cannot vote and are at the mercy of whatever is decided and passed in the senate and congress.
The new wave of resentment towards immigrants has grown out of proportion lately, to the point of becoming hatred and of discriminating based on ethnicity. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has been known to deport many based on their belief of that individual being illegal derived by their appearance and not their legal status. Nobody seems to be doing much about it, everyone just sort of allows these kind of incidents to go by unquestioned; one of these people was Thomas Warziniack, who was mistaken for an illegal Russian immigrant solely based on his accent and last name. In fact he is a Minnesota born citizen, who grew up in Georgia. Another of these mistaken US citizens is Pedro Guzman. “Pedro Guzman, a mentally disabled U.S. citizen who was born in Los Angeles, was serving a 120-day sentence for trespassing last year when he was shipped off to Mexico. Guzman was found three months later trying to return home. Although federal government attorneys have acknowledged that Guzman was a citizen, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said Thursday that her agency still questions the validity of his birth certificate.” (McClatchy) This clearly demonstrates how our government is being prejudice, if not racist. Acts like these ignite not only controversy, but also hate.
Numerous times in the past we have been witnesses to what occurs when we as a nation exclude people based on ethnic and racial inferiority. And yet we have not yet learned our lesson; we are still incapable of bridging the gap between newcomers and the “American way,” we can’t manage to make assimilation work for everyone. There’s more to requiring people to learn the English language or to adopt American costumes; those things pretty much happen on their own. We should be asking more questions about assimilation, about how to make sure that people, once foreigners, don’t remain marginalized within the borders.
This question holds more importance than what happens with illegal workers, or how to best secure the border. It is a question that affects, not only the new wave of immigrants, but the ones that have been here for several generations and still continue to be strangers in this land. This land that is famous and praised for being the land of opportunities. The land of opportunities that now sees too many new faces, too many different cultures all intertwining and can’t seem to accept them so [it] is now closing it’s borders. This can’t be fair, not for the immigrants who are here to do nothing else but work, and for those who are trying to come in and are being shot down in the desserts; hunted like prey. It cannot be fair for the many that died trying to reach America, and nor can it be fair for the children of those who are here illegally and are trying to get a job and are being denied one on the simple fact of being undocumented. We as a nation need to do more than just close the borders, we need to integrate those whom we are already living amongst.
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That is not dead which can eternal lie // And with strange aeons even death may die.
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