My Personal View of Immigration
Every day, there are countless of hopeful immigrants who attempt to defy the dessert's dangers and the sun's merciless rays to be reunited with their families, or come to the United States for the very first time in hopes of creating a better life for themselves and their families. This project serves as the perfect opportunity for me to bring awareness of how the borders marginalize humanity. My motivation to focus on border enforcement lifestyle and immigration through a Latin American perspective came from my own life experiences. I have been crossing the border ever since I can remember and I immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve. This came as a culture shock to me, the education system was completely different, and I did not speak, much less write English very well. I had to work very hard and sacrifice a lot to get to where I am now. I am certain that this is the case for most immigrants coming to the United States from all around the world. This is why I found a deep connection and interest in our course even though we mostly focused on the Italian history of immigration.
There are borders everywhere and in order to understand the complex nature of them, we must examine the interactions that occur at the border on a daily basis between CBP officers and border populations. Almost my entire family is composed of immigrants and my grandpa's immigration story is, in particular, an interesting one. This is why I chose to share his story with you all. However, before I do so it is important to understand that the American economy work is based on immigrant labor. A significant number of immigrants come to the United States and they work the jobs that natives will not do for cheap labor without any resources, without anyone taking care of them, and with no access to health care. Therefore, to say that immigrants are hurting the economy in this country is absurd. This country thrives because of the labor of immigrants. If it was not for the labor of immigrants I do not think that any native will do the job that immigrants do. Furthermore, the myth that immigrant populations affect schools and classrooms is preposterous. Instead, it diversifies school populations and shows the culture that it is. This country was built on immigration, it did not come to be what it currently is out of nowhere. This country has stolen land, it comes from immigrants. European immigrants came to this country and often people forget the history of how this country was founded. How natives were killed, raped, and women were taken into slavery. There is a history behind the United States of America that is often overlooked which leads to false accusations against diaspora from all over the world when the truth of the matter is that this country thrives off of immigrant labor.
The current presidential administration has issued executive orders that have called for unprecedented border enforcement through “extreme” vetting procedures, heightened immigrant crackdowns, and mass deportations. These practices could lead to not only an increase in even more negative interactions between U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and cross-border commuters but also transform the border into what the American Civil Liberties Union calls “a constitutional gray zone.”
People often think of the border as a cage or a fortress serving as a space that disconnects populations and even though this is the dismal truth, we must keep in mind that the border is meant to be crossed. Each border crossing represents an interaction with the state, shaping cross-border commuters’ perspectives of the U.S. and their notions of trust in the U.S. government. The San Ysidro port of entry is the most crossed border in the Western Hemisphere, today more than 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians cross daily into the U.S. But this area is a space where there is a lot of insecurity as well due to the current administration. Some people are used to negative behavior from Customs and Border Protection officers that they do not even notice the maltreatment, it is “normal” behavior to them. CBP officers abuse their power, especially now with the current administration, citizens are concerned about whether officers are receiving adequate training on how to treat individuals of different races. Students appear to be the most affected by negative border interactions which can lead to poor academic performance and health. Also, individuals who experience more negative perceptions of border enforcement will feel alienated from American society and report lower levels of political efficacy and trust in U.S. government. With the growing population of Latinx in the U.S. today, where does this leave our democracy?
This is an issue of inclusion, lack of mindfulness for diversity, and a lack of understanding for the cross-border population. What do we mean by citizenship? Who is really allowed to participate in this so-called “democracy”? With the current administration talking about building a wall, how is this going to help at all for people to integrate themselves into U.S. society? This important and increasingly mobile group of Latinos holds trans-border identities that often blur traditional notions of citizenship, whereby U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens alike integrate socially and politically in the United States.
My grandfather's immigration story is one of hard work and sacrifice. He left his hometown at a young age and immigrated to the United States in search of what every immigrant comes to the U.S. for, the American Dream. Just like Vicenzo and Ciro from the film Rocco and His Brothers, my grandfather adjusted smoothly and embraced northern life unproblematically. However, unlike the novel Christ in Concrete in which the family never made it to the American Dream but was instead thwarted by a crisis and forced to give up on their dreams, my grandfather was able to take advantage of the job opportunities that this country offered at the time while working towards the American Dream to such an extent that he returned to his hometown and established a ranch of his own.
Reflection:
My initial intentions for this project were something completely different from what my final project came to be. After looking at other classmates' projects I became inspired to explore my grandfather's immigration story instead of my own. I do not mean to say that sharing my own story is not important, but there will always be time for that as opposed to learning more about a loving relative of older age. Digging deeper into my grandfather's life history and connecting it to what was learned in class not only serves as more quality knowledge for myself and where I come from, but it provides an opportunity to discover and build a family treasure that I would otherwise not do in the little spare time that I might come across with. I really enjoyed interviewing my grandfather and creating this project because I learned new information about my family history that I did not know. I was also able to further research topics that are of my interest and apply them to my own life experience. Finally, I would like to give a special thanks to professor Clo for all of your enthusiasm and effort throughout the semester. This class definitely broke the boundaries and succeeded in becoming more than the typical college course.
Works Cited
Solis Arauz, Francisco. Personal video interview. 15 December 2018.
Di Donato, Pietro. Christ In Concrete. 1939.
Visconti, Luchino. Rocco and His Brothers. 1960.
Transfronterizo Alliance Student Organization, SDSU. "Estefania Castaneda Perez: Transborder (In)Securities". YouTube, commentary by Vanessa Falcon, 16 Jan. 2018.
CGTN America. "Migrant Caravan Continues Long Journey Across Mexico". BorderAngels, commentary by The Heat, 25 Oct. 2018.