Thread: Gilberto Cardenas;Help immigrants become citizens

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3/30/2009

Help immigrants become citizens, speaker says in talk at Alvernia University
A crackdown would force illegals deeper underground, an Alvernia audience is told.
By Darrin Youker
Reading Eagle


Reading Eagle: Jeremy Drey
Notre Dame University professor Gilberto Cardenas speaks at Alvernia University about Mexican immigration into the United States.

Cracking down on illegal immigration from Mexico will not stop people from fleeing across the border but will only drive the practice deeper underground.

That was the message Dr. Gilberto Cardenas, an assistant provost for Latino Studies at Notre Dame University, had for more than 100 students and staff at Alvernia University.

Cardenas spoke at Alvernia on Thursday as part of the Ethics, Leadership & Community lecture series. Instead of cracking down on illegal immigration, a better alternative is to establish a path toward citizenship for Latin Americans coming to the U.S., said Cardenas, who has studied immigration patterns for more than 30 years.

"We should enforce our border," he said. "But we should not drive them deeper into the desert."

Mexicans and other Latin Americans first came to the U.S. in mass to fill a void in the labor market depleted by World War I, Cardenas said.

Many businesses went to Mexico and other countries to recruit contract laborers to work in fields such agriculture and railroad construction, he said.

But when the Great Depression hit, many of those same workers were rounded up and sent back to Mexico, Cardenas said.

Unlike European immigrants from an earlier generation, those Mexican laborers were not given a clear path to citizenship, he said, adding that a similar situation exists today.

"There is no other group of people who have had such a complicated history of migration," Cardenas said.

One issue modern-day immigrants face is a lack of education, Cardenas said. In central Mexico, a sixth-grade education is considered sufficient.

In the U.S., cultural differences often come into play in schools, and some immigrant parents try to discourage their children from attending college, he said.

"Parents have a lot to learn about our schools, and our schools have a lot to learn in order to fulfill their mission," he said.

That issue hits home for Sarah Hinzman, a social studies teacher at Reading High School and an Alvernia doctoral student.

She wanted to learn more about how to encourage students to pursue a college education.

"It is important to me that my kids feel like they are American citizens," she said.

Contact Darrin Youker: 610-371-5032 or dyouker@readingeagle.com.


Article Comments Below - Click here to add a comment
Little misleading article... We already have a path towards citizenship- Legal immigrants are allowed to apply for naturalization. The path is clear enough for legal immigrants and those who gain legal status. Many Eastern Europeans, Central Americans, Asians and yes Mexicans become citizens every day. The realty is that people who come here illegally have a harder time becoming a citizen-- true-- because they did not follow the rules to come to the US-- in spite of coming over illegally --hundreds of thousands of Mexicans (and others) gain citizenship after securing (amongst other ways) cancellation of removal and through marriage to citizens. Let's please be honest about this-- the speaker wants to change the rules to make it easier to overcome the problems associated with ILLEGAL immigration and provide more avenues to reward illegal immigration. Illgeal immigration is a crime (although not often criminally enforced unless you have previously been deported). There are TONS of visas for farm work etc--so the argument is that things will not get done without ILLEGAL immigration is garbage. US businesses will not comply with requirements. (another issue and perhaps addressed by a TEMPORARY WORK visa) Bottom line is that the US has one of the more liberal immigration policies in the Western World-- simple as that. Last thing- the Mexican govt deports thousands of poor central Americans every year-- less educated and poorer than their northern neighbors. Sound familiar?
Comment By Dunbar at 3/30/2009 8:57:40 AM

Oh, how I disagree with this article. Now I can't say the ILLEGAL ALIENS are completely to blame for the shape of our economy, but they are a BIG part of the problem. The ILLEGAL ALIENS send BILLIONS upon BILLIONS out of this Country every year, money we will NEVER see again. Does this help our economy? How about the BILLIONS the American taxpayers fork out for the ILLEGAL ALIEN BABIES, the schooling of them, the medical care and the list goes on, and on, and on. How about the MILLIONS upon MILLIONS paid to jail ILLEGAL ALIENS for the crimes, then the cost to deport them. Does this help our economy? Then you have these activist groups, the Catholic Church and the ACLU that want AMNESTY for these ILLEGAL ALIENS. It would be absolute suicide for this Country if AMNESTY were granted to the 20 million or so ILLEGAL ALIENS. We have more and more people out of work everyday and they want to add another 20 million to this Country? I say, "NO"! If AMNESTY were ever granted to these 20 million ILLEGAL ALIENS, you can bet big money that 3 years from now, there would be ANOTHER 3-5 million ILLEGAL ALIENS demonstrating on our soil for AMNESTY. An end MUST come to this illegal immigration. The perfect tool we have so far is E-Verify. It MUST be used by ALL businesses and Government Social Services. EVERY employee must be checked! If they are illegal, they are to be dismissed! I believe it is time for all 50 States to pass a State law, like Arizona, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and a few others. It is time for these ILLEGAL ALIENS to go back to their home Country and get out of this Country. The problems they are causing will not go away until the ILLEGAL ALIENS are out of this Country. I think that is plain to see. NO ILLEGAL ALIEN HAS A RIGHT TO BE IN THIS COUNTRY FOR ANY REASON!
Comment By Delaware Bob at 3/30/2009 10:01:53 AM

There is a reason that they are called ILLEGAL immigrants, the same reason heroin and cocaine are called ILLEGAL drugs. THEY ARE ILLEGAL. If you are not here in this country by going through the proper process you are illegal. This topic cannot be more clear except to the bleeding hearts. I personally would like to go to a mac machine and not have to CHOOSE English as the language to use. This is AMERICA we speak ENGLISH. Illegals cost this country billions of dollars in welfare money, medical care, crime enforcement etc. At what point do we as a society say it is enough? There are not to many people who have issues when folks follow the rules to become citizens, the problem begins when they scurry across the border in the dead of night to get in here. Round them up and send them home if you want to come back go through the system. Instead of flying Pelosi and her cronies all over the country we should use those planes for daily trips back to Mexico filled with illegals, now THAT'S good use of tax money.
Comment By THE REALITY CHECK at 3/30/2009 10:57:29 AM


I amm so sick and tired of illegal this and illegal that. Send them all back! It kills me how my job and Hershey and hundreds of other companies went to Mexico yet they keep on coming.Why? Oh I forgot...food stamps, free medical care,rent subsidies,heating,electric,clothing allotments and free childcare to name a few of the freebies you and I pay for. How ironic that I don,t qualify for any of this because I was told I make too much on UNemployment! While I am feverishly looking for any type of work even part-time, my unemployment is soon going to run out then what?
Comment By Annie at 3/30/2009 1:14:52 PM


"Latino studies," eh? What's to study? How to evade the Border Patrol? Hubcap thievery for Spanish speakers? How to pop out anchor babies every 9 months and use them to work the system or as props at amnesty rallies? This blowhard "expert" sounds like a propagandist for the Tan Klan or the corrupt Mexican government. This is a nation of laws. Illegal aliens are criminals and parasites, one and all. Their very presence here and practically everything they do on U. S. soil is illegal. They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle, punished for their numerous crimes, then booted back to whence they snuck in from with such extreme prejudice that they will never, ever think of violating our sovereignty again. Enough is enough.
Comment By BajaRat at 3/30/2009 2:25:39 PM


Interesting article, but the plight of the Mexican doesn't sound much different than any other ethnic group. The last time I remembered, there were cultural, language, prejudices and general difference for the Italians, Germans, Eastern Europeans, Irish, Asians, and Africans. The diffrence is the fact that these cultures assimulated themselves into the American culture and didn't try to change the American culture or language of the nation to their own. Take pride in your ethnicity and cultures no matter what it is, but always, always put a unified AMERICA first!!
Comment By USA at 3/30/2009 3:16:37 PM

http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=131720

They are already sneaking across in tunnels, I don't think you can get more underground than that!!

That was the message Dr. Gilberto Cardenas, an assistant provost for Latino Studies at Notre Dame University, had for more than 100 students and staff at Alvernia University.

Latino Studies! That says it all right there. Oh, if I ever receive a resume with the college major being Latino Studies, you can guess where that resume is going!