Sep
8
River of resentment: Illegal immigration in the U.S.
Today’s entry is a guest post by Ryan, a professional translator who works in California. He also has a blog about different aspects of language and language learning at www.thelinguistblogger.wordpress.com.
A few months ago my wife and I were visiting some friends of ours. The husband is Chilean and the wife is Argentina and they are both undocumented workers. They are also good people who have four rowdy boys. The husband was unemployed for a few months and they got behind on the rent. The property manager, who was known for being a racist, liar and cheat, wanted to get rid of them. Even though they had paid their debt and the husband had found another job the manager had the court issue them an eviction order instead of receiving their monthly rent. The landlord’s lawyer tried to charge them excessive late fees in addition to the price of his own legal services but they maintained that they had already paid what they owed and that there was no reason to pay all of those extra fees. Every time they got a letter from the lawyer they were charged more and more.
Since things were getting sticky I advised my friends to get legal services, which they tried to do to no avail. No one would take their case because, even though it was easy to settle, they were living and working in the U.S. illegally. In the midst of his frustration my friend said, “When they want you to work in their restaurants or in their fields they don’t ask for papers but when I need something they say they can’t help because I don’t have papers.” That was the first time that I had realized how hypocritical the American community was regarding illegal immigration.
If they truly wanted to, Americans could considerably minimize illegal immigration. The maximum penalty for housing or contracting undocumented workers, or conspiring to commit such a crime, is a fee of ten thousand dollars or five years in prison. It is no secret where most undocumented residents work and it would be extremely easy for the police to find them and, consequently, their employers and landlords. Accusing and convicting these employers and landlords wouldn’t be very difficult either. After imprisoning 1% of these people, or charging every last cent of the ten thousand dollars, most of the rest of them would throw out their undocumented tenants and workers without the law having to lift a finger. If the undocumented workers have nowhere to work or live in the USA then it is doubtful that they will stay or that thousands will keep coming every year.
It’s true that there would be other complications and that a number of undocumented residents would say in the country, however, I think that if this law against the landlords and employers of undocumented workers were actually enforced then illegal immigration would not be the hot button issue that it currently is. Then why is it more controversial than ever? Why are the people of Arizona, Texas, New México, Virginia and other states so angry at the immigrants instead of being angry with their leaders who they themselves elected?
The main reason is ignorance. Most Americans do not know that these laws exist or that they are very rarely enforced. They don’t know that the reasonable price of agricultural products, restaurants, hotels and many other things is due to the fact that there are undocumented workers who break their backs every day working for minimum wage or even less. They don’t recognize that a big percentage of the soldiers who protect them are the sons of immigrants. They don’t realize that most of these immigrants are just like their great-grandparents: simple country folk that are looking for a better life. This ignorance directs great resentment towards a people who do not wish to change the traditions, language or culture of the USA or plague its streets with drugs and gang violence.
A contributing factor to a lot of this ignorance is monolingualism. After getting married to me, my wife found herself in the company of Hispanics much more often than before. One of these Hispanics was our neighbor Antonio. He was an elderly Mexican gentleman who got up every morning at 4:00 to work in a slate factory. Antonio and his wife were some of the best neighbors that we’ve had. Through me, or using the dozen words she knows in Spanish, my wife was able to get to know him a bit. One day she commented that, Antonio is just like any other American of his age group. He likes to spend time with his grandkids, have barbeques with his family and take care of his lawn. This comment might not seem profound but it is good example of my wife’s surprise, which is similar to that of other monolingual Americans when they realize that a Mexican can be the same as an American.
I remember the first time that I went to a supermarket in the US after living in the beautiful Chilean Republic for a couple of years. All my life, up until that time, I had wondered what the heck those Mexicans were saying. I had always assumed that they probably were saying things that they didn’t want the White Devil to know. These were some of the stupid attitudes left over from my childhood. I felt completely ridiculous moving closer to a Mexican mother and her children, pretending that I was interested in buying some canned food, so that I could understand her secret words of conspiracy: ¡Mira que subió el precio de los frijoles! (Would you look at that?! The price of beans has gone up!) If more Americans spoke Spanish they would realize that these Hispanics are not invaders and that when they speak Spanish they say pretty much the same thing as Americans say in English.
If this problem comes from ignorance which, in part, comes from being monolingual, then bilingualism seems like a great solution. Other than being able to speak to your neighbor, your co-worker, your in-laws, your waiter and with farm and construction workers, it would be good for Americans to learn Spanish because Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are right next door. It’s in everyone’s best interest for neighbors to be on friendly terms. The Andes and the Southern Cone are also beautiful places that Americans could visit, particularly while it is so expensive to go to Europe.
(Speaking of Europe, we can’t forget Spain. I once asked a very immature question to an Argentine professor of mine: What’s so great about Spain? Her eyes got as big as saucers and half-shouted that, Spain is a living museum!)
What do you think? Would the Americans calm down a bit if more of them were bilingual? Should Americans learn Spanish or should they focus more on languages like Mandarin Chinese and Arabic since those languages are spoken in countries which have a much greater economic and/or sociopolitical influence on U.S. interests?
Visit Ryan’s blogThe Linguist Blogger.
What part of illegal is the poster conveniently forgetting here? If those people had come here legally, there wouldn’t have been a problem. Undocumented = Illegal. Illegal = not supposed to be here. If you want to help the illegal immigration problem, then turn in their old landlord and old employer. Stop waiting for “the authorities” to find out some other way; take some responsibility yourself. Help fine those people hiring illegals. How is learning another language going to change the fact that a person broke the law to live here? I have friends that jumped through all the hoops and immigrated legally; they’re possibly more upset. Why are your friends and neighbors any more special? If your friends want to be “legal” when they get here, tell them to start from Cuba.
[...] first post as a guest writer for Voices en Español is in English here and in Spanish here. It deals with the immigration controversy in the USA and how monolingual [...]
Christian: If you sincerely want to do something about these “lawbreakers” who are coming to “your” country then don’t stay in another hotel in America until the problem is solved. Don’t go to another fast food restaurant either. Don’t buy tomatoes, lettuce, peaches, strawberries or any other hand picked fruit unless they are imported. The same goes for beef and pork. Don’t do any of those things because when you do, you make illegal immigration profitable and as long as it is profitable it will continue in the USA. To believe anything else is naïve.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that these workers did something illegal and so do they. They see it as illegal as jaywalking and find it hard to understand why getting up in the morning, working in the fields, for American bosses, and coming home and watching soccer games and playing with their kids is so offensive. My point is not to excuse all illegal residents but to point out that White America doesn’t understand the problem and is wrong to put all of the blame on the workers. Speaking Spanish won’t solve the problem but it will help us understand it better. This is something I that I believe has real value.
“Help find those hiring illegals.” Christian, do you honestly think that this is any secret? Do you really think they “the authorities” need any help finding these people? Everyone knows that it’s the hotels, the farmers, the slaughter houses, the fast food chains and the construction companies, just to name a few. I don’t mean to be vulgar but blaming the immigration problem completely on the undocumented workers is like blaming prostitution completely on the whores or blaming the drug problem completely on Colombia or blaming underage drinking completely on stores that sell liquor. It’s only half the problem and as long as we continue to deal with half the problem we will never find a real solution.
While I am sure the comment posted by Christian is a reflection of how many of us who were either born naturally in the United States or came here through the legal channels feels, I have to say that my views on the topic of llegal immigration have changed dramatically in just this past year. First of all, I have worked with dozens of undocumented workers in my career. While I agree that there are plenty who take advantage of the system this country abides by, the majority of those I work with are hard working individuals who are here in this country seeking to make a better life for themselves, or in many cases, for the family they have left behind in Central or South America who they send the majority of there minimum wage income to. They struggle to make ends meet by working two or in some cases three jobs, sleeping only a few hours a night so that someday they can return to their family, or possibly bring their family here and provide for them. I understand that so many legal immigrants have gone through the so called hoops in order to pay their dues and become natuarlized citizens, but unfortunately, there are those who feel so desperate either to escape their native country or to help their families, they do whatever is necessary to survive.
For personal reasons, I won’t go into great detail why the topic of illegal immigration currently hits so close to home, but I certainly agree that the ability to speak more than one language is a skill and a talent we should all posses. No, it will not change the status of illegal immigration, nor will it change the feelings of those who resent those who are here illegally, however I feel it enriches us all as a people to be able to communicate with one another regardless of where we are from. I have been trying desperately to improve my Spanish for about three or four months now and while I still have a long way to go, I feel much better about my ability and hope to continue to progress to the point where I can carry on full conversations with any other fluent Spanish speaker. Will being bilingual make the worlds problems go away? Of course not, but nothing was ever solved through silence either. Let’s give it a shot.
Now that my first comment is off my chest, I can say the following… I don’t have a problem with illegals as people. I’m sure I’ve met a few and possibly worked with a few in the past. I do have a problem when people try to use the “poor ‘undocumented’ worker” card. And the term “White America” is just degrading; this has nothing to do with race. It is all about personal responsibility. And while jaywalking certainly isn’t the same as breaking a Federal law by illegally crossing our nation’s borders, please don’t think that I have a cold heart regarding the situation. So, for the sake of illegal immigrants, there should be some sort of guest worker program. By using that program we won’t have the issue mentioned in the original post, again, if personal responsibility was taken.
While some may call me naive, and the media loves to exploit the whole parent/child separation deal. When the plant in Iowa was raided, the next day a whole line of Americans were waiting to apply for a job.
Regarding being bilingual, I say the more knowledge the better. I’ve always loved the Spanish language and have studied it on and off since I was in high school, so many years ago. And THAT is why we are here on this web site, correct?
I am honestly impressed by the last two comments and am glad to see that there are people that understand that this is a three dimensional issue that is misunderstood by many. I think that all nations should have the right to say who can and cannot enter their borders and that the illegal residents should have to pay a price and that some type of worker’s program should be implemented. I have an uncle who is an immigration lawyer in San Diego and he’s been saying the same thing to me for over a decade: We don’t need a wall; we don’t need new laws, we just need to enforce the laws we already have.
As Christian so aptly reminded us, this blog is about learning Spanish. I truly believe that bilingual Americans are better equipped to handle this problem than their monolingual neighbors. I’d like to echo what James said: It won’t solve the problem but silence never solved anything so let’s give it a shot! I’m sold on the idea Hispanic culture has positive things to add to America just like the Italians, Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, English, Scotts, etc. added something positive to America. The world is getting too small for anyone to remain monolingual and that Spanish is a rich and colorful language that gives us access to a delightful people.
Thanks for your post Ryan and your responses to the comments. I’m right with you in what you say. I don’t support them being here illegally but at the same time, as James said, I sympathize with them wanting to better their lot– it’s hard for me to separate these 2 issues. I have a good friend who was brought here illegally as a child and then forced to suffer the consequences (ie, jumping thru all the hops to become documented), but after all is said and done, I’m sure she’s had a much better life & education (has an MA!) thanks to the risk her parents took. I like Christian’s idea of a guest worker program (because it’s certainly not “fair” that I was born here and someone else was born into poverty- why not allow them opportunity to better themselves?), and your point as to “enforcing the laws we already have” and dealing with those who are hiring the undocumented in addition to addressing the immigrants themselves is very poignant.
As far as language goes, I’ve been planning to post my thoughts on this very subject of language-learning and how it relates to immigration so you’ll just have to visit my blog next week or better yet, subscribe to my Translation Tuesday newsletter.
P.S. I’ve been to your blog, and appreciated your post on raising biligual children, as I’m attempting to do the same!
Accomodate them by learning Spanish? LMAO It’s time we ceased being Mexico’s safety valve. Those of us that truly understand what is at stake will never give up the fight for our liberty. Please continue with your rhetoric, it helps open the eyes of those in America who are uneducated to the truth.
“In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American…
There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile…We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Sam: I invite you to reread the article. It seems to me that you’ve read only certain parts and ignored others. My point in encouraging others to know Spanish is not to accommodate the illegal Hispanic residents but to understand the issue better. That is just one of the many benefits of learning Spanish. The point of the article is that Americans need to stop putting all of the blame on Hispanics. They wouldn’t come here if we didn’t give them jobs. Period. You have neighbors, friends and maybe even relatives who employ these undocumented workers. Long ago these people you know sent a message to Mexico: If you can get here, we have a job for you. When they stop giving jobs to the illegal workers the flow of illegal residents will decrease significantly. Would you go to your job if they didn’t pay you?
If you aren’t just whining and would actually like to change the situation then I repeat to you the same the invitation I made in another comment… don’t stay in another hotel in America until the problem (illegal immigration) is solved. Don’t go to another fast food restaurant either. Don’t buy tomatoes, lettuce, peaches, strawberries or any other hand picked fruit unless they are imported. The same goes for beef and pork. Don’t do any of those things because when you do, you make illegal immigration profitable and as long as it is profitable it will continue in the USA. To believe anything else is naïve.
Your Teddy Roosevelt quote is pertinent. The problem is, however, that we are trying to fix too many of the 21st century’s problems with 19th century solutions. Hispanics integrate into society as fully and as quickly as other immigrant groups. Do you really think that your Dutch/Swedish/French/Italian/German/Polish/etc. great-grandfather spoke English without a thick accent and making bad grammar mistakes? If you do then you’re fooling yourself. Most kids who grow up in the USA in a Spanish speaking household are only receptive bilinguals (meaning they understand Spanish but can’t speak it) and almost all of them prefer the English language and America to the Spanish language and Mexico. The reason it seems that they don’t learn is because new waves of Hispanics keep coming. Most Hispanics speak English as well as your great-great grandparents did but prefer to speak their native language when they are among themselves, just like your great grandparents.
The legal issues have been obscured here. Should people be able to communicate in more than one language? Yes. Are illegal immigrants bad people? Not necessarily - but the first thing they did once they set foot in the US was break the law by doing so.
I have to say that I know a few families who came here from Peru legally years ago and have been trying to get their families here her for the last 20 years. They are doctors, stock brokers, financial analysts, etc. They have thought about smuggling them across but have decided against it because IT IS ILLEGAL and they don’t want to break the law. They want a better life too, but they are waiting in line just as countless others have done, just as my grandparents did at Ellis Island and just as our law dictates. They did not jump to the front of the line or sneak in the back door.
My friends are of Peruvian decent and they get very angry about the lack of prosecution, attention and deportation of illegal immigrants. The argument that these are people are just looking for a better opportunity and are doing jobs at an illegal wage that make the US affordable is BS as an excuse for lack of enforcement of illegal immigration laws.
The problem is bigger than just the illegals. Of course, there are opportunists capitalizing off the situation and they are just as guilty, as you mentioned. That doesn’t make coming here illegally OK any more than it make jaywalking legal. It’s still against the law and punishable.
I have nothing against immigrants. Just come here legally, pay your taxes, work your way up and attain all that you came here to attain - legally. I am just wondering when all these illegals are going to figure out the real American way, that you don’t have to work in order to get food, housing, healthcare and money. That’s when the fun begins - then who will do those jobs that only illegals do now?