Thursday, July 29, 2010

DEBATE DE INMIGRACIÓN




En el 29 de octubre de 2009, me habló en un panel con los estudiantes que representaron LULAC de UNT. El tema fue la reforma migratoria.
¿Qué coño....? Un momento por favor.
¡Ah, mi computadora es la escritura en español! Ja, ja, ja, ja…
Me gustaría seguir escribiendo esto en español (un idioma muy bonito y útil para aprender por el camino), pero los gringos no entenderían lo que estoy tratando de expresar aquí. Estoy seguro de que podría escribir esta obra en español, pero... Prefiero no intentarlo.
Vamos a poner de nuevo a la lengua inglés. Dame un momento para hacer los cambios.
Establecer el idioma a inglés
Uno…. Dos…. Tres….
El zorro café rapído saltó por encima de los perros vagos.
Hmmmm… un MAS momento por favor…..
(SMASH! SMASH!)
One…. Two… Three…
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs.
When in doubt, most problems can be solved with a wrench.
On October 29, 2009, I spoke on a panel with students that represented LULAC of UNT. The topic was immigration reform, specifically the DREAM Act.

In April, Arizona passed Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (AKA: Arizona SB 1070). The controversial aspect of this law was the requiring of citizens in Arizona to carry some form of identification proving their citizenship. If a person is unable to prove their citizenship to a law enforcement officer, that person can be arrested and face deportation.

This law clearly targets undocumented citizens. The term racial profiling has been claimed. Now, profiling is done all the time. For example: in a murder investigation, who are the FIRST people questioned? It is people that knew the victim. Statistics have proven that it is someone that knew the victim in a violent crime. That is an example of good profiling. (Enough of the DOINK DOINK!)
Now racial profiling is basing your investigation on perceived stereotypes. What countries of origin is a STEROTYPICAL undocumented worker from?
México, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panamá, Honduras…
That may be true along the US-Mexico border, but what about along the West Coast in places like Portland and Seattle? There is probably a large population of undocumented workers from Asia. In the Northeast, it is probably a mixture of Eastern Europeans, Africans, and Middle East. How do they get over here? Human smuggling, but there probably aren’t as large as a population because we are insulated by two oceans unlike with Mexico we share a common border.

You understand my reasoning… Immigration is not limited to one group of people. After all, we are a nation of immigrants. My mom’s family has been in this country since arriving at Ellis Island in 1905. The Becker family left Germany because they were seeking better opportunities here in the United States. I can only imagine the prejudices they faced with speaking German and having a strong Catholic background.

Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty is this line from Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

No state can establish its own immigration policy. Immigration policy is the job of the federal government, not the state government. Which is worse: having one agency with a united immigration policy OR creating 50 smaller government agencies with different immigration policies?
Last time I checked the United States State Department issued me my passport. They are our representative branch to other countries by establishing relationships through our embassies overseas. I did not receive my passport from the State of Texas. Nor does Texas have any diplomats assigned to foreign countries.
Many states (including Texas) are considering a similar law on the books. Such laws in place would grossly violate the United States Constitution, specifically the 14th Amendment. Even Arizona was considering putting in a provision that any children born IN THIS COUNTRY to undocumented citizens, that child is not a US Citizen. Once again… a violation of the 14th Amendment.
It is clear that AZ SB 1070 is backed by “Birther” and “Tenther” conspiracies. Want a better example of a document backed by these nuts? Read the Texas Republican Party platform.
Even though yesterday a federal judge blocked parts of AZ SB 1070 from taking effect, this debate over immigration reform is not over with. This is going to be hot button issue. It is going to play not only a factor in the upcoming mid terms, but in future elections over the next 10 years. This is in part due to the growing Latino population, and their issues becoming an influential part of our political debate.
I do not have a solution to Immigration Reform at this time. I feel that I need to do some more research on this topic. This will be something to follow closely.

No comments: