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My Opinion
After spending the summer in Tecún Umán and further studying border issues through a seminar at Notre Dame, my position on immigration issues has become a complicated one. While less migrants passed through Casa del Migrante in Tecún Umán during my time there than there had been in the past, the numbers of young men migrating were still high. I personally do not see how Central Americans can effectively improve their economies when such a large number of possible members from the working class feel they are forced to migrate for job opportunities. I saw several generations of men leaving their families, either temporarily or permanently, for El Norte, and the implications of that alone to me are huge. While fathers may be sending home money from the United States and Mexico to support their families, their children grow up without a central figure present in the household. At times, seeing the separation of families was extremely difficult. One of the few women that came to the shelter arrived sobbing with her husband. She had to say goodbye to her mother, who did not want her to leave with her husband, but the husband’s inability to find job opportunities had forced them to migrate. Seeing situations like this one made me feel as though migration for economic purposes, though necessary in the short term, simply cannot be a permanent solution to the economic problems of Central America. Likewise, the dangers migrants face on their journeys make it incredibly difficult for me to fully understand why they make the decisions they have to make. While I do not think that the United States should welcome anyone and everyone who wants a job into the country, I do think that some immigration reform is needed to reduce the risks that desperate migrants face in their quest for a better life. I do not believe that increasing the perimeter of the wall along the border will stop migrants from coming into the United States from Mexico, but rather cause them to do so in more dangerous ways.
Given the damage that the United States has already done to many of the countries in Central America by supplying corrupt governments with weapons and funding during their armed conflicts, I believe they need to take some responsibility in regards to the impoverished migrants that look for refuge in this country. While I am no expert in how exactly to go about improving the economies in Central America, I do think that until job opportunities can be acquired in these countries, people will continue migrating north out of necessity. Thus, I think it would be more useful for the United States to aim plans at devising ways to improve economic opportunities in Mexico and Central America than it is to continue building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. In the meantime, refuges like Casa del Migrante will continue to be necessary for providing migrants with the information that they need to travel most safely on a journey they feel they are forced to make.
Given the damage that the United States has already done to many of the countries in Central America by supplying corrupt governments with weapons and funding during their armed conflicts, I believe they need to take some responsibility in regards to the impoverished migrants that look for refuge in this country. While I am no expert in how exactly to go about improving the economies in Central America, I do think that until job opportunities can be acquired in these countries, people will continue migrating north out of necessity. Thus, I think it would be more useful for the United States to aim plans at devising ways to improve economic opportunities in Mexico and Central America than it is to continue building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. In the meantime, refuges like Casa del Migrante will continue to be necessary for providing migrants with the information that they need to travel most safely on a journey they feel they are forced to make.
A Stance Opposing Illegal Immigration
The following is an excerpt I received from my Aunt Jean, who is strongly opposed to illegal immigration, while I was working at Casa del Migrante. It was a response to an email I sent to my family updating them on my observations of migration.
"Many people do suffer in their home countries, and many families half expect their adult sons to make an effort to immigrate illegally to the US in the hopes that they will arrive safely, get a job and send home money to assist with the financial situation in the home country. The journey is difficult and many of the places along the way have corrupt governments, police, etc. that take advantage of these people.
I'm also glad to hear that you are becoming more aware of the problems illegals have when they arrive in the US, including the fact that getting a job is difficult and sometimes requires working in dangerous conditions. Still, after tourism, the second major source of income in Mexico is money sent home from people here in the US. Not manufacturing, or other forms of productive labor. This puts the governments of poorer countries in a bad position, because they don't want to stop the flow of illegal immigration to the US. It's one of their major sources of income for the country. La Migra do make some effort with illegal immigration, but you will find that most of their effort are concentrated on people who they believe intend to stay in that country (for example, the Honduran who intends to stay in Guatemala because the living situation is even worse in Honduras). In Costa Rica, the immigration authorities are very "hard core" because Costa Rica is trying to market itself as an "eco-tourism" destination, in a country with a high literacy rate and a low crime rate. Costa Rica's main immigration issues are with El Salvadorans who immigrate there, but are a tax on the economy because they tend to be illiterate and unable to contribute to the economy the way the Costa Rican government wants them to. Costa Rica immediately deports anyone who is illegal. In the U.S., very few people are deported who are not criminal illegal aliens or who are caught up in an immigration "sting" operation of a business who is knowingly employing illegal aliens.
There are all kinds of other issues that go along with illegal immigration in the US, including the fact that the US doesn't not know the criminal background of any of the immigrants (most developing countries do not have good records of anyone's criminal background. When they do have records, they are rarely maintained electronically). They arrive starving, as you know, and often ill with communicable diseases which they then spread to others while living in "encampments" or while waiting with others for work on the street corners. They have zero form of health care and they need to work for the money, so they end up finally going to the emergency room only when they are already seriously ill. I understand that is often the case for poor American citizens, too, but it's really important to focus on the poor in our own country before taking care of the world, especially when other countries are not discouraging their own citizens from illegally immigrating to the US, knowing that they are dumping many problems on us, but hoping that the illegal immigrant can work and send back money before disaster strikes financially, legally or otherwise for these guys.
Also, there is a huge problem in the US with human trafficking of women for illegal immigrants. Many of these guys are living literally outside in encampments throughout the US. There is one up the street from my house. The guys work at a farm near our house and live in a canyon literally less than a quarter of a mile from our house. If they are lucky and don't feel like they need to send every penny home, they might live in a small apartment with ten other men. They haven't seen their wives or girlfriends in months, are living in crappy conditions and have a crappy life in general. So when a coyote brings the occasional female to the encampments or apartments, the coyote basically pimps the girl out to everybody there. Nice. It's like this huge domino effect of problems wrought by illegal immigration that could arguably be fixed if the home countries did more to take care of their own citizens, rather than depending on them as a source of income for their citizens.
Anyway, I am glad you are getting to see this stuff first hand. I do have a set point of view on this issue, but it was definitely developed over time and had a LOT to do with working on public safety issues, including gang and criminal illegal alien issues. My final straw was when a criminal illegal alien killed one of my LA County Sheriff Deputies during a routine traffic stop and then fled across the border to Mexico, where his gang set him up tending one of their marijuana farms in Mexico. Mexico and the US knew exactly where this guy was and what he had done, but the Mexican authorities refused to even arrest him for three years. After they did arrest him, it took an additional two years to get him extradited to the US because in California, the only punishments available to someone convicted of murdering a cop are the death penalty and life in prison. Mexico at the time would not extradite their nationals to the US for crimes where the possible punishment COULD be the death penalty (not that they would necessarily receive the death penalty, just that they COULD receive it). It eventually took a change in the Mexican Supreme Court's view (and a lot of pressure from the Bush administration and particularly the DA in LA County) to get this guy extradited just so that he could be tried in the US for the crime. Mexico actually offered to try the guy down there for the murder, but the maximum time he could get was something like 10 years under their law and because of the crappy bookkeeping down there, it is quite common for gangs to pay someone else to serve a gang members' time for them in prison.
This criminal had been deported multiple times and had a very violent record. He kept coming back because he wanted to be with his criminal gang member pals. He had zero intention of doing anything legal to make money here in the US. That's the kind of person who could easily be going through your house down there and you would never know it, or a rapist, or a child molester, or someone who was basically kicked out of their town for any reason and now figures he'll come to the US and try it here because he can't go back home. I understand that that is not the normal circumstance for the people who come through your doors, but there is nothing to prevent it, either."
"Many people do suffer in their home countries, and many families half expect their adult sons to make an effort to immigrate illegally to the US in the hopes that they will arrive safely, get a job and send home money to assist with the financial situation in the home country. The journey is difficult and many of the places along the way have corrupt governments, police, etc. that take advantage of these people.
I'm also glad to hear that you are becoming more aware of the problems illegals have when they arrive in the US, including the fact that getting a job is difficult and sometimes requires working in dangerous conditions. Still, after tourism, the second major source of income in Mexico is money sent home from people here in the US. Not manufacturing, or other forms of productive labor. This puts the governments of poorer countries in a bad position, because they don't want to stop the flow of illegal immigration to the US. It's one of their major sources of income for the country. La Migra do make some effort with illegal immigration, but you will find that most of their effort are concentrated on people who they believe intend to stay in that country (for example, the Honduran who intends to stay in Guatemala because the living situation is even worse in Honduras). In Costa Rica, the immigration authorities are very "hard core" because Costa Rica is trying to market itself as an "eco-tourism" destination, in a country with a high literacy rate and a low crime rate. Costa Rica's main immigration issues are with El Salvadorans who immigrate there, but are a tax on the economy because they tend to be illiterate and unable to contribute to the economy the way the Costa Rican government wants them to. Costa Rica immediately deports anyone who is illegal. In the U.S., very few people are deported who are not criminal illegal aliens or who are caught up in an immigration "sting" operation of a business who is knowingly employing illegal aliens.
There are all kinds of other issues that go along with illegal immigration in the US, including the fact that the US doesn't not know the criminal background of any of the immigrants (most developing countries do not have good records of anyone's criminal background. When they do have records, they are rarely maintained electronically). They arrive starving, as you know, and often ill with communicable diseases which they then spread to others while living in "encampments" or while waiting with others for work on the street corners. They have zero form of health care and they need to work for the money, so they end up finally going to the emergency room only when they are already seriously ill. I understand that is often the case for poor American citizens, too, but it's really important to focus on the poor in our own country before taking care of the world, especially when other countries are not discouraging their own citizens from illegally immigrating to the US, knowing that they are dumping many problems on us, but hoping that the illegal immigrant can work and send back money before disaster strikes financially, legally or otherwise for these guys.
Also, there is a huge problem in the US with human trafficking of women for illegal immigrants. Many of these guys are living literally outside in encampments throughout the US. There is one up the street from my house. The guys work at a farm near our house and live in a canyon literally less than a quarter of a mile from our house. If they are lucky and don't feel like they need to send every penny home, they might live in a small apartment with ten other men. They haven't seen their wives or girlfriends in months, are living in crappy conditions and have a crappy life in general. So when a coyote brings the occasional female to the encampments or apartments, the coyote basically pimps the girl out to everybody there. Nice. It's like this huge domino effect of problems wrought by illegal immigration that could arguably be fixed if the home countries did more to take care of their own citizens, rather than depending on them as a source of income for their citizens.
Anyway, I am glad you are getting to see this stuff first hand. I do have a set point of view on this issue, but it was definitely developed over time and had a LOT to do with working on public safety issues, including gang and criminal illegal alien issues. My final straw was when a criminal illegal alien killed one of my LA County Sheriff Deputies during a routine traffic stop and then fled across the border to Mexico, where his gang set him up tending one of their marijuana farms in Mexico. Mexico and the US knew exactly where this guy was and what he had done, but the Mexican authorities refused to even arrest him for three years. After they did arrest him, it took an additional two years to get him extradited to the US because in California, the only punishments available to someone convicted of murdering a cop are the death penalty and life in prison. Mexico at the time would not extradite their nationals to the US for crimes where the possible punishment COULD be the death penalty (not that they would necessarily receive the death penalty, just that they COULD receive it). It eventually took a change in the Mexican Supreme Court's view (and a lot of pressure from the Bush administration and particularly the DA in LA County) to get this guy extradited just so that he could be tried in the US for the crime. Mexico actually offered to try the guy down there for the murder, but the maximum time he could get was something like 10 years under their law and because of the crappy bookkeeping down there, it is quite common for gangs to pay someone else to serve a gang members' time for them in prison.
This criminal had been deported multiple times and had a very violent record. He kept coming back because he wanted to be with his criminal gang member pals. He had zero intention of doing anything legal to make money here in the US. That's the kind of person who could easily be going through your house down there and you would never know it, or a rapist, or a child molester, or someone who was basically kicked out of their town for any reason and now figures he'll come to the US and try it here because he can't go back home. I understand that that is not the normal circumstance for the people who come through your doors, but there is nothing to prevent it, either."