Thread: Immigration Reform: From American Dream to Latino Nightmare

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Immigration Reform: From 'American Dream' to 'Latino Nightmare'
Youth Commentary, Roy E. Hodgson,
New America Media, Jan 13, 2006

Editor's Note: A young man whose mother immigrated from Nicaragua looks at the immigration reform debate and finds frightening changes on the horizon.

SAN FRANCISCO--As a child of an immigrant woman turned U.S. citizen and as a Latino, I am keeping a close watch on all this talk about "immigration reform." In the past, politicians used to declare war on crime or drugs to get elected. Now they call for a crackdown on immigrants, and people I know could be in danger.

One absurd idea that has been thrown out there is denying U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants. I am proud to be a U.S. citizen, but I became a citizen by being born here. My mother had recently immigrated to this country thanks to the Reagan-backed Contra war in her country, Nicaragua. I believe that you should be a citizen of the country where you are born. If the United States, the leading country in the world, changes this policy, the rest of the world might follow suit. Citizenship would be denied to children who don't have any control of their parents' actions and whose parents are only seeking a better future for their children.

Another idea being talked about is building a high-tech fence to keep immigrants from entering the United States illegally. When I heard this I thought, "Are we in Israel?" In the Middle East there is constant violence and conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, so a wall was constructed to separate both peoples. But I have never read of any suicide bombings or attacks on American people by Mexican immigrants. The wall is being built simply to prevent people -- not just Mexicans but people from all over Latin America -- from entering this country. If it is built it will resemble the Berlin Wall, because on one side people will live in economic prosperity, and on the other, people will constantly try to cross.

Then there's the Sensenbrenner bill. This legislation would make it a felony to be an illegal alien and would make criminals of the people who support illegal aliens. I know several illegal aliens. Not all of them are saints, but not all of them are gang-bangers or thieves. But it wouldn't matter what kind of a person they are, because if they're illegal, then it will be illegal to kick it with them. Everyone should have the right to associate with whomever they choose. What are we supposed to do before we get to know someone -- ask them for their passport or green card?

If this bill become law, it's conceivable that the new INS, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, will raid Latin churches, seeking illegal aliens, or invade Taquerias or bars looking for foreigners. When 9/11 happened, people thought passing the "Patriot Act" was a good thing, but now look how far the U.S. government has abused this power. It's been recently discovered that they are tapping into international calls and e-mails.

What will happen if Sensenbrenner becomes law? How far will the government go to abuse this power? That's why I follow my mother's advice: "Think of the pros and cons before you act, because if you don't, you might make a decision you'll live to regret."

I have the good fortune to work for The Beat Within, a magazine of art and writing by young people incarcerated inside juvenile halls across the San Francisco Bay Area. Some youths write about their horrific journey just to come to this country. Many of these tales come from Honduran kids. They write about how, when they reach Mexico, they have to dodge gangs who rob them of their money and possessions. Women are raped by these gang members. They write about how many of their friends are crushed beneath freight trains on the way north. They write about how, when they reach the border, they've walked for days through the desert, sometimes without food or water.

If anything, they should be granted asylum for making such a death-defying trek just to come to a country where they are viewed as second-class and taken advantage of. This is the "Latino Nightmare" one has to endure before attempting to live the "American Dream."

If the United States would just stop interfering in other people's backyards, maybe these countries could prosper and people wouldn't have to leave their homelands. It's one thing for the United States to ensure democracy thrives in these countries, and another to force these countries' governments to conform to the United States' liking. I'm not a political scientist, but I know that a lot of Latin American countries are leaning to the left. They were already leaning to the left during the 1970s and '80s, before the United States crushed all these movements in the name of fighting "communism." To me, this new century's attempt to divert the leftist movement may be justified in the name of a new "ism": "terrorism."

The Statue of Liberty states: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" If this wall is built and these new laws passed, the Statue of Liberty should be sent back to France. It will be representing a lie.

Roy E. Hodgson, 20, works for The Beat Within, a writing program for incarcerated youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, and YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia. Both are PNS projects.

The Statue of Liberty states: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" If this wall is built and these new laws passed, the Statue of Liberty should be sent back to France. It will be representi

that really bad poem was added later during some poetry contest- there was a thread about it a couple months ago--
fine send the statue back to france- if that's what it takes to have immigration reform.

that really bad poem is not in the Bill of Rights or part of our immigration law

One absurd idea that has been thrown out there is denying U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants.

If the United States, the leading country in the world, changes this policy, the rest of the world might follow suit.

What a moron, most all other countries already do NOT allow the children of illegal aliens to have citizenship by virtue of just being born there.

Another idea being talked about is building a high-tech fence to keep immigrants from entering the United States illegally.

But I have never read of any suicide bombings or attacks on American people by Mexican immigrants.

You have got to be kidding me. Oh wait, I guess it would be hard for this clown to read about these incidents with his head so far up his ass.

a magazine of art and writing by young people incarcerated inside juvenile halls across the San Francisco Bay Area. Some youths write about their horrific journey just to come to this country.

What? Illegal aliens incarcerated? But I thought they were all just 'good hearted folk' here to work?

If this wall is built and these new laws passed, the Statue of Liberty should be sent back to France. It will be representing a lie.

The Statue of Liberty is a monument dedicated to freedom and liberty. She was never meant for illegal aliens to have the right to violate America's immigration laws.

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VIVA LA MIGRA!