immigrants working much harder than Americans
An article from Alternet
They're Not Illegal, They're Heroes: Why Immigrants Are Right to Chase the American Dream
We shouldn't condemn individuals for trying to seek a better life here. More often than not, they're working harder than us.
May 7, 2010 |
We need to stop calling undocumented immigrants in the United States “illegal”. A more appropriate term is: New American Heroes.
Why are undocumented immigrants heroes?
Millions of Americans, immigrants and citizens, work incredibly hard every single day in ridiculously low paying jobs that are the life-blood of our economy but are barely life-sustaining in return. I think every person who gets up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night to work one or two or even three jobs so they can pay the rent and put food on the table are heroes. But as hard as it is for every low-wage worker in the United States (and increasingly, middle class folks too) undocumented immigrants face additional, greater obstacles. These undocumented immigrants are heroes, too.
I certainly don’t have what it would take to survive if I was forced to flee my home country because of economic or political insecurity, travel thousands of miles in sometimes life-threatening conditions, move to somewhere where I probably don’t know anyone and don’t speak the language, and do the most thankless and backbreaking jobs like picking vegetables in the 100 degree sun or washing pots in a restaurant — all to help my family survive. I think that is heroic.
But whether we’re talking about undocumented immigrants in low-wage jobs or middle class immigrants who overstayed their visas, as a nation we have always believed that the pursuit of the American dream is heroic. Given that the rest of the world has long paid the price for sustaining the American dream (in terms of natural resources, cheap labor, wars, etc.), it’s only fair that immigrants should in turn hope to share in that dream. Through our cultural dominance of the globe, we repeatedly hold up the American dream as an ideal to which everyone should aspire — and, we tell the world, one in which everyone is included. It’s only fair that others should want in.
Some argue that all makes sense but still, why can’t all immigrants just take the legal path to the American dream? Because, increasingly, there isn’t one. Two very important facts have changed in the last decade that significantly impact the immigration equation.
First, in 1994, NAFTA was passed. Now, true, Mexico signed it — but it was largely under the coercion of big international business interests. The result was the devastation of Mexico’s economy by larger corporations in the US that flooded their market with cheaper products. A lot of that was corn, which we subsidize with our tax dollars here — and that artificially cheap corn imported into Mexico drastically undercut local farmers. Folks who had been surviving for generations as farmers and local business people are now seriously struggling.
Second, two years later, the United States passed a harsh immigration reform law that, ostensibly, made it much harder for immigrants already here (and with proper papers) to get citizenship AND made it harder for migrants from certain countries — especially Mexico and Central America — to come here in the first place.
They're Not Illegal, They're Heroes: Why Immigrants Are Right to Chase the American Dream
We shouldn't condemn individuals for trying to seek a better life here. More often than not, they're working harder than us.
May 7, 2010 |
We need to stop calling undocumented immigrants in the United States “illegal”. A more appropriate term is: New American Heroes.
Why are undocumented immigrants heroes?
Millions of Americans, immigrants and citizens, work incredibly hard every single day in ridiculously low paying jobs that are the life-blood of our economy but are barely life-sustaining in return. I think every person who gets up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night to work one or two or even three jobs so they can pay the rent and put food on the table are heroes. But as hard as it is for every low-wage worker in the United States (and increasingly, middle class folks too) undocumented immigrants face additional, greater obstacles. These undocumented immigrants are heroes, too.
I certainly don’t have what it would take to survive if I was forced to flee my home country because of economic or political insecurity, travel thousands of miles in sometimes life-threatening conditions, move to somewhere where I probably don’t know anyone and don’t speak the language, and do the most thankless and backbreaking jobs like picking vegetables in the 100 degree sun or washing pots in a restaurant — all to help my family survive. I think that is heroic.
But whether we’re talking about undocumented immigrants in low-wage jobs or middle class immigrants who overstayed their visas, as a nation we have always believed that the pursuit of the American dream is heroic. Given that the rest of the world has long paid the price for sustaining the American dream (in terms of natural resources, cheap labor, wars, etc.), it’s only fair that immigrants should in turn hope to share in that dream. Through our cultural dominance of the globe, we repeatedly hold up the American dream as an ideal to which everyone should aspire — and, we tell the world, one in which everyone is included. It’s only fair that others should want in.
Some argue that all makes sense but still, why can’t all immigrants just take the legal path to the American dream? Because, increasingly, there isn’t one. Two very important facts have changed in the last decade that significantly impact the immigration equation.
First, in 1994, NAFTA was passed. Now, true, Mexico signed it — but it was largely under the coercion of big international business interests. The result was the devastation of Mexico’s economy by larger corporations in the US that flooded their market with cheaper products. A lot of that was corn, which we subsidize with our tax dollars here — and that artificially cheap corn imported into Mexico drastically undercut local farmers. Folks who had been surviving for generations as farmers and local business people are now seriously struggling.
Second, two years later, the United States passed a harsh immigration reform law that, ostensibly, made it much harder for immigrants already here (and with proper papers) to get citizenship AND made it harder for migrants from certain countries — especially Mexico and Central America — to come here in the first place.
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