"Hispanic people" as Illegal Immigrants in the US
It really saddens me whenever I read or hear about illegal immigrants.
I've been living in Madrid for almost a year and I've been able to notice the increasing waves of Subsaharians that try to reach Europe from Spain. Hundreds of Africans have died at the borders of the Spanish Autonomous cities in the north of Africa Ceuta and Melilla. And still, today hundreds reach the Canary Islands with hope.
What do the get? : In the short time they get to spend in their “dream destination”, Europe, they get a few cookies and abuse from police officers, verbal and physical. Oh, and they also get deported, illegally sent back to their countries.
I can't even begin to understand how they must feel, after probably years of saving money to take the chance to get to Europe, some have been travelling for months in horrible conditions, and finally getting where they wanted and being brutally abused, illegally sent back to the countries they're running away from and ignored by people who could actually do something to help improve their life conditions.
Amnistía Internacional just published a report that points out Spain's wrong ways with immigrants, which involve racism and police abuse.
Immigration is not a new phenomenon, but it has certainly changed. Most people emigrate from their countries today because they need to. The world keeps polarizing and it's turning immigration into a very problematic subject, with the countries receiving immigrants turning more and more xenophobic and sending them back and the countries where the people are emigrating from doing pretty much nothing (or at least OBVIOUSLY not enough) to make life conditions better there so that people can hope to improve their future without having to leave.
When you hear an African immigrant tell his/her story, it gives you the feeling they pretty much have no choice: they're on the edge of life and death. By trying to overtake the fence that keeps them in Africa, they know there's a good possibility they might get shot and killed, but they also know that if that doesn't end their lives, the desffert (= poverty and isolation) will.
Latin America's situation is very bad, but how can you compare anything to Africa? Still, some Latin-American people live in Latin-Africa (I know I'm turning “Africa” into a synonym of poverty and that that's not nearly right, but it's just to make it easier for me to explain what I'm trying to say). Finding no other way to provide for their families, thousands of Latin American men and women try to reach the Latin Americans’ “Europe”: the USA. They sometimes travel from South America all the way to Mexico, like animals, and then, they also have a desert to go through before reaching their destiny. It’s a long difficult journey.
If you can find police officers abusing their power in Europe, can you imagine how it must be like in the US? I don’t mean to exaggerate, but the US is the country that preaches about human rights and democracy but often manages to prove to the world it’s actually the most dangerous abuser of those “principles” (let’s not forget countries like China and Arabia Saudi that are also on the black list). If they go around the world abusing their power outside their own borders (i.e. Irak, Guantanamo Bay…) with the risk that the International Society could someday ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING about it, I guess no one can imagine how it must be inside their country. Well, I know who can: Illegal “Hispanic” Immigrants, and of course, the rest of the minorities excluded and discriminated by the system. They know for sure.
It’s almost ironic how this country is treating immigrants. First of all, illegal immigrants contribute to their country’s economy millions of dollars every year. They’re usually very hard workers who make it even more profitable for the farmers who hire them without giving them any kind of Social Security. That’s convenient. What isn’t convenient anymore is the immigrants aspiring to more dignifying life conditions.
It must be very confusing to live in a country that stands up for all kinds of ethic and moral values, and then violates them so.
Second of all, this country was built by immigrants who were also running away from hunger, poverty, power abuse, exclusion, persecution, even slavery…you would think this would reflect on the way their country was built, but then again…you would be wrong.
At first, the country was open to anyone wishing to make a new start. BUT when the first immigration laws were passed, they sought to exclude all nonwhites (African, Asiatic, Latin…). After a while, they also discouraged immigration from eastern and southern Europe. Then, after World War II, they declared people of all races could be eligible for immigration into the United States. But of course, under this law, ideology became a criterion for admission.
Then, the Immigration Act of 1965 represented a major reform of all previous immigration laws. It abolished quotas that discriminated against nationalities, but it substituted an overall limit of 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. By limiting the number of immigrants from Latin America, the Immigration Act of 1965 touched a serious illegal immigration problem. In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which was designed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants from Latin America by imposing sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrant workers. In 1990, the Immigration Act increased the number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States by nearly 40 percent. Finally, in 1996, Congress passed three bills, including the 1996 Immigration Act that will affect not only immigration control, as many previous laws sought to, but also immigrants' rights in the United States, TODAY.
The amended version of the Immigration bill benefits fewer immigrants than the original bill. Instead of 325,000 non-farm guest workers a year, the Senate bill now admits 200,000 annually. It builds higher walls, with new money for 370 miles of double-layer fences and 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the border, report The Sun News.
It also rejects certain populations. A new, three-tier legalization scheme will block an estimated 1.8 million illegal immigrants from becoming legal residents because they have been in the United States for less than two years. Immigrants will pay new $750 fees, plus $100 per family member, when seeking legal status under the bill's provisions.
Right now there's a big decision being made in the US Senate to pass the Immigration Bill which mainly concerns Latin American people. Last December, a project that converted the entry and presence of undocumented people in the country a crime. The xenophobia is more visible each day.
I'm Guatemalan. I read the most known Guatemalan newspaper everyday, and MUST say that I couldn't be more impressed about the lack of solidarity on this important subject. There are over one million Guatemalans living in the US, mostly undocumented. Who watches over them? Is anyone EVER going to do something to protect them? Or are all Latin American presidents going to take Fox’s position as Pontius Pilate and wash their hands on the subject?
This is a very big problem. The world needs to talk about it and find solutions to help the actual immigrants live better and also work on improving life in the "Third World" countries so that people won’t have to immigrate to be able to survive. Nobody should have to go through what "illegal immigrants" go through all over the world. Let's keep in mind it's not their fault, it's the world's structure that needs to be modified.
And if moral values are not enough for governments to decide to DO SOMETHING about the situation of the third world countries, maybe the fact that their situation is no longer dangerous for them only, but it’s becoming dangerous for their developed countries too (terrorism, organized crime…), will give them the push they need. But it really shouldn’t have to.
I’m sad. But hope never dies…
I've been living in Madrid for almost a year and I've been able to notice the increasing waves of Subsaharians that try to reach Europe from Spain. Hundreds of Africans have died at the borders of the Spanish Autonomous cities in the north of Africa Ceuta and Melilla. And still, today hundreds reach the Canary Islands with hope.
What do the get? : In the short time they get to spend in their “dream destination”, Europe, they get a few cookies and abuse from police officers, verbal and physical. Oh, and they also get deported, illegally sent back to their countries.
I can't even begin to understand how they must feel, after probably years of saving money to take the chance to get to Europe, some have been travelling for months in horrible conditions, and finally getting where they wanted and being brutally abused, illegally sent back to the countries they're running away from and ignored by people who could actually do something to help improve their life conditions.
Amnistía Internacional just published a report that points out Spain's wrong ways with immigrants, which involve racism and police abuse.
Immigration is not a new phenomenon, but it has certainly changed. Most people emigrate from their countries today because they need to. The world keeps polarizing and it's turning immigration into a very problematic subject, with the countries receiving immigrants turning more and more xenophobic and sending them back and the countries where the people are emigrating from doing pretty much nothing (or at least OBVIOUSLY not enough) to make life conditions better there so that people can hope to improve their future without having to leave.
When you hear an African immigrant tell his/her story, it gives you the feeling they pretty much have no choice: they're on the edge of life and death. By trying to overtake the fence that keeps them in Africa, they know there's a good possibility they might get shot and killed, but they also know that if that doesn't end their lives, the desffert (= poverty and isolation) will.
Latin America's situation is very bad, but how can you compare anything to Africa? Still, some Latin-American people live in Latin-Africa (I know I'm turning “Africa” into a synonym of poverty and that that's not nearly right, but it's just to make it easier for me to explain what I'm trying to say). Finding no other way to provide for their families, thousands of Latin American men and women try to reach the Latin Americans’ “Europe”: the USA. They sometimes travel from South America all the way to Mexico, like animals, and then, they also have a desert to go through before reaching their destiny. It’s a long difficult journey.
If you can find police officers abusing their power in Europe, can you imagine how it must be like in the US? I don’t mean to exaggerate, but the US is the country that preaches about human rights and democracy but often manages to prove to the world it’s actually the most dangerous abuser of those “principles” (let’s not forget countries like China and Arabia Saudi that are also on the black list). If they go around the world abusing their power outside their own borders (i.e. Irak, Guantanamo Bay…) with the risk that the International Society could someday ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING about it, I guess no one can imagine how it must be inside their country. Well, I know who can: Illegal “Hispanic” Immigrants, and of course, the rest of the minorities excluded and discriminated by the system. They know for sure.
It’s almost ironic how this country is treating immigrants. First of all, illegal immigrants contribute to their country’s economy millions of dollars every year. They’re usually very hard workers who make it even more profitable for the farmers who hire them without giving them any kind of Social Security. That’s convenient. What isn’t convenient anymore is the immigrants aspiring to more dignifying life conditions.
It must be very confusing to live in a country that stands up for all kinds of ethic and moral values, and then violates them so.
Second of all, this country was built by immigrants who were also running away from hunger, poverty, power abuse, exclusion, persecution, even slavery…you would think this would reflect on the way their country was built, but then again…you would be wrong.
At first, the country was open to anyone wishing to make a new start. BUT when the first immigration laws were passed, they sought to exclude all nonwhites (African, Asiatic, Latin…). After a while, they also discouraged immigration from eastern and southern Europe. Then, after World War II, they declared people of all races could be eligible for immigration into the United States. But of course, under this law, ideology became a criterion for admission.
Then, the Immigration Act of 1965 represented a major reform of all previous immigration laws. It abolished quotas that discriminated against nationalities, but it substituted an overall limit of 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. By limiting the number of immigrants from Latin America, the Immigration Act of 1965 touched a serious illegal immigration problem. In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which was designed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants from Latin America by imposing sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrant workers. In 1990, the Immigration Act increased the number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States by nearly 40 percent. Finally, in 1996, Congress passed three bills, including the 1996 Immigration Act that will affect not only immigration control, as many previous laws sought to, but also immigrants' rights in the United States, TODAY.
The amended version of the Immigration bill benefits fewer immigrants than the original bill. Instead of 325,000 non-farm guest workers a year, the Senate bill now admits 200,000 annually. It builds higher walls, with new money for 370 miles of double-layer fences and 500 miles of vehicle barriers along the border, report The Sun News.
It also rejects certain populations. A new, three-tier legalization scheme will block an estimated 1.8 million illegal immigrants from becoming legal residents because they have been in the United States for less than two years. Immigrants will pay new $750 fees, plus $100 per family member, when seeking legal status under the bill's provisions.
Right now there's a big decision being made in the US Senate to pass the Immigration Bill which mainly concerns Latin American people. Last December, a project that converted the entry and presence of undocumented people in the country a crime. The xenophobia is more visible each day.
I'm Guatemalan. I read the most known Guatemalan newspaper everyday, and MUST say that I couldn't be more impressed about the lack of solidarity on this important subject. There are over one million Guatemalans living in the US, mostly undocumented. Who watches over them? Is anyone EVER going to do something to protect them? Or are all Latin American presidents going to take Fox’s position as Pontius Pilate and wash their hands on the subject?
This is a very big problem. The world needs to talk about it and find solutions to help the actual immigrants live better and also work on improving life in the "Third World" countries so that people won’t have to immigrate to be able to survive. Nobody should have to go through what "illegal immigrants" go through all over the world. Let's keep in mind it's not their fault, it's the world's structure that needs to be modified.
And if moral values are not enough for governments to decide to DO SOMETHING about the situation of the third world countries, maybe the fact that their situation is no longer dangerous for them only, but it’s becoming dangerous for their developed countries too (terrorism, organized crime…), will give them the push they need. But it really shouldn’t have to.
I’m sad. But hope never dies…
rocio - 25. May, 05:40
