Thread: CONVERSATION: An Illegal Immigrant in Academe

August 28, 2011

CONVERSATION: An Illegal Immigrant in Academe

In "Academic Purgatory"

Ilan Stavans tells the story of an undocumented student who overcomes dire circumstances—both in Mexico as a child and here in the United States as a gay teenager and young adult—to earn a Ph.D. in Hispanic studies and support himself through odd jobs and the kindness of strangers, both inside and outside academe. His plight, says Stavans, puts a human face on the Dream Act, now stalled in Congress, which would provide a path for students like Jorge—essentially a criminal with a Ph.D.—to become citizens. (A new policy recently announced by the Obama administration would suspend deportation proceedings against many illegal immigrants, but provides no path to citizenship.)

Although some readers write in support of the Dream Act, many more think that Jorge needs to become a legal citizen "the right way." If he doesn't, or can't, he has no right to be here, they say. See their comments below (from chronicle.com) and Stavans's response.

Jorge can get in line and become a legal citizen the right way. He is a criminal who broke the law. Murderers get Ph.D.'s in prison. This man isn't a murderer, but he is an illegal immigrant. If he wants respect, he should ask for forgiveness and become a citizen the normal way. He has a Ph.D.; it won't be difficult. The United States stands for freedom and fairness, but to let this man cut in line in front of thousands of others who are in line to become citizens is unfair and un-American.

burger1376

My issue isn't so much his crossing the border as his taking all kinds of scholarship money without revealing the truth of his immigration status. That money was intended for U.S. students and perhaps international students who applied legitimately. He deprived other students of that financial support. There are many students in this country who are struggling to pay for school.

larthia

Don't assume that "private scholarships" means that he is taking anything away from anyone. There are many scholarships out there specifically for undocumented students that would be considered private, especially for students in California, Texas, and Arizona. This is very much a double-edged sword. Jorge gets ripped for actually wanting to work hard and be productive in society instead of doing nothing and getting ripped for being a burden on it.

b_espy

About 100 years ago, my four grandparents made a decision to uproot themselves and travel under miserable conditions to a new country, where they survived by doing the most menial jobs. They came in the legal way, via Ellis Island, knowing that they ran the risk of being sent back to Italy if something was not quite right. One died in the flu epidemic of 1918, but the remaining three raised some 17 children, none of whom enjoyed the opportunity to get an advanced degree and three of whom fought for this country in World War II. Not until my generation did anyone achieve a bachelor's degree. I applaud Jorge's determination, but now it's time to deal with his immigration status honestly.

jflorino

Our ancestors built this country, so we have the right to say who gets in and who doesn't. We don't need to bend our policy to fit the do-gooder preferences of privileged, status-seeking, no doubt nonworking-class men and women. Try being a drywaller in Lancaster, Pa., competing against illegal-immigrant laborers who both accept lower wages and avoid taxes. Try being a middle-aged construction worker in California who has seen his real wages decline due to masses of illegal and legal immigrants and the greed of developers who employ that immigrant labor—labor, by the way, that uses its own ethnic networks to effectively shut out "Anglos" from what were good-paying jobs that nonacademically inclined white kids used to be able to get after high school.

aw jones

There are many students in this country, legal immigrants or citizens, who are struggling to pay for school, and many of them cannot find work, but this criminal Jorge gets money by teaching illegally part time in a school that showed no responsibility and openly defied the law. Unfortunately, the fantasy that the United States is an endless golden dream from which all people can obtain their pot of gold is just that—an illusion. There are many far-better qualified people than Jorge who are still struggling, while this parasite feeds off the sympathy of those more gullible. Export him and review his degree to see if it, too, is fraudulent, and if it is, rescind it.

dr_arthur_ide

The United States is a sovereign nation with the full right to pick and choose whom we allow to join our ranks. There is a process for immigrating to the United States. Those willing to follow that process are welcome. Those who are not have no right to be here. The same thing is true for those Americans who wish to emigrate abroad. If I want to move to Brazil, I have to follow the rules as laid down by that nation. If I do not, then I am an alien invader, and the Brazilian government would have every right to expel me.

At first I was hopeful for this man because I assumed that he had a degree in something that would allow him to find success regardless of where he lived. After all, someone with a Ph.D. in something like marketing, engineering, accounting, or one of the hard sciences is going to be able to find a good job in Mexico, and probably other Latin American countries as well.

But he worked and struggled to earn a degree that is worthless everywhere. What kind of a job is someone supposed to get with a degree in Hispanic studies? The only jobs available for people with such degrees are in academia, and they are few and far between. It wouldn't matter if he was an American. It wouldn't matter if he were here legally and possessed a green card. He would still be looking for work elsewhere.

In any case, student visas may not grow on trees, but it is surely easier to go through the correct process of obtaining one than it is to smuggle oneself into the United States illegally and spend years ducking immigration enforcement. Had Jorge obtained a student visa, he would at least be eligible for sponsorship by a college or university interested in placing him in one of the rare openings in his chosen field. But because he decided to go about this illegally, the meager benefits he would have earned had he done things the right way will be denied him. I have no sympathy.

Lee Reynolds

First of all, there is no way for Jorge to "get in line," now that he is already here illegally. That's the whole point of the Dream Act: It would create the "line" that people imagine exists, and a mechanism for people like Jorge to "get in" it. There exists no mechanism in the law for a foreign-born person to transition from "illegal" to "legal" status, or even to apply for a visa from within the United States. Jorge's only option would be to return to Mexico and—while waiting to see whether his life would be ended first by slow starvation with Mama or violence from homophobic thugs—submit an application for a green card, together with roughly $1,000 in fees. But—here's the catch—he's only eligible to apply for a green card if he is sponsored by either a prospective employer or an immediate family member (parent, spouse, or sibling).

Jorge's Ph.D. is wholly irrelevant to his application and, in fact, would be more likely to harm than help him, since academic employers are generally reluctant to sponsor a prospective employee for immigration: It's expensive and there is a glut of Ph.D.'s on the market who can be hired for far less trouble and expense. Certainly no one is going to sponsor an adjunct for work papers or citizenship regardless of his/her qualifications and moral worthiness.

For someone like Jorge, getting a green card is literally impossible, no matter what he does, because the law simply does not recognize his right to apply. In matters of immigration, the United States does not stand for freedom and fairness. It stands for obstacle, obfuscation, frustration, dehumanization, and—too often—incompetence. The clear pathway to citizenship that readers imagine is there simply does not exist, especially for the people who need it most.

Rebecca Stanton

Ilan Stavans responds:

Democracy is a loud, messy affair in which citizens seek to persuade others through logical arguments. My essay on Jorge Arbusto's dilemma generated a huge number of responses—including those that came directly to me—close to a thousand. The responses might be divided in two groups: those from readers who saw Jorge as a flesh-and-bones person, perhaps a symbol of perseverence, and those from readers for whom he was another excuse to denounce immigrants in general, Latinos in particular, and the quagmire the stalled Dream Act has become. I responded to every message sent directly to me that conveyed a genuine desire for dialogue, especially to those with a viewpoint different from mine. And I thanked (and do so again) all those offering direct ways to help Jorge.

What truly fascinated me, though, were the e-mails I got from dozens of "dreamers" enrolled in institutions of higher education, whether Harvard University or community colleges, whose path has been similar to Jorge's. I quickly learned how sophisticated a support network there is out there. And, astonishingly, how undocumented immigrants have become a class unto themselves: clandestine, entrepreneurial, forward-thinking.

Several e-mails were from 20-something conversos: students born Christian who discovered, after years of learning, their Jewish heritage, dating back to the 15th century. That was when some of the Jews expelled from Spain—many of them living in public as Roman Catholics—fled to Latin America. My correspondents drew a connection between their parallel identities: hidden Jew and undocumented citizen.

No two periods in history are alike. And yet we must learn from history. The secretive, double identity of the early conversos of the Mediterranean basin—Christian in public, Jewish in private—had consequences. A number of scholars, like Yirmiyahu Yovel, a professor of philosophy at the New School, argue that they helped advance capitalism and liberal thought. It was precisely their dilemma that prompted a new mentality: secular, transnational, utterly individualistic. Baruch Spinoza, Uriel da Costa, Antonio de Nebrija, Luis de León, Teresa de Jesús, and Luis Vives, maybe even Columbus and Cervantes, were conversos or had roots in this tradition. It fostered modernity in the midst of the stultifying hysteria and suspicion of the Spanish-speaking world.

Our own hysterics are obvious from many of the comments on my story and from the larger debate over immigration. Meanwhile, scores of undocumented immigrants are thriving, thanks to imaginative support networks that allow them to develop their talents. Dreamers are restless, ingenious, and creative. Indeed, a couple of colleagues corrected me: Jorge isn't the first undocumented student to receive a Ph.D. And there are more than a handful with law degrees, not to mention those with journalism and medical credentials.

Some critics argued that a doctorate in Hispanic studies is useless. I suppose that means that the humanities are irrelevant now. Several readers (those with a Ph.D. in Hispanic studies?) also noticed that Jorge Arbusto is a Spanish translation of George Bush. My choice of pseudonym is a tribute to our former president and his father, both of whom were far more practical, and less dishonest, about solving our immigration challenge than our current president.

By the way, Jorge is employed and on his way to Canada.


http://chronicle.com/article/CONVERSATI ... al/128791/

I still want to know why being illegal is special and is a reason to get free education. He might be deseriving of higher education, but he is NOT special and if he has worked so hard with a litlle help from his friends, why can't he pay for his own education, like everyone else. There are aot of American citizens that are smart and deserving and might be passed up for this illegal alien.

Originally Posted by agrneydgrl

I still want to know why being illegal is special and is a reason to get free education. He might be deseriving of higher education, but he is NOT special and if he has worked so hard with a litlle help from his friends, why can't he pay for his own education, like everyone else. There are aot of American citizens that are smart and deserving and might be passed up for this illegal alien.

I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!