Thread: Toledo Blade - Illegal immigrants have a tough life.

Illegal immigrants have a tough life.
FLOC meeting shines light on discrimination
Carl Ryan, Toledo Blade
April 18, 2010
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100418/NEWS16/4180352

One of them, Ana, who is 22 and lives in Pemberville, said yesterday she "crossed the river" 10 years ago with her family to come to the United States from Mexico.


Samantha, facing the camera, hugs her sister, Jenny, 17, who cries after speaking about her mother's deportation. The women, who didn't want their last names given, attended the FLOC event.

The woman, who did not want her last name used, expected big opportunities, "but what she really encountered was a lot of discrimination," she said quietly through an interpreter at an event organized by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee.

"She's been looking three years for a job and hasn't found one," her interpreter, Linda Alvarado, a graduate student at the University of Toledo, explained.

"She's even applied at factories, where they ask if she speaks English. No, she doesn't speak it well. She applied for a secretarial position, and two women said, 'You're sure you're not here to apply for a job cleaning the bathroom?'•"

With the question of what to do about illegal immigration still unanswered at the federal policy level, FLOC convened a gathering of about 50 people yesterday at its 1221 Broadway offices to bring attention to the issue.

FLOC urged attendees to work for legislative changes that would give illegal immigrants a shot at legal status.

The event, called "Building Tolerance," was based on the premise that discrimination against immigrants is on the rise. Speakers made no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, but the latter was what they had in mind.

FLOC secretary-treasurer Beatriz Maya noted that 19th and 20th-century immigrant groups also encountered hostility.

Immigration law, if it existed then, was lax, and many of the immigrants who came to the United States would not qualify today, she said.

But it was the accounts of illegal immigrants such as Ana and Jenny yesterday that personalized what is for most Americans an abstract subject.

Jenny, who lives in Marion, Ohio, and also did not want her last name used, said she will be eligible for deportation in two weeks because she will turn 18.

In unaccented, educated English, Jenny told the gathering she arrived in the United States with her family when she was 7. She said she hasn't suffered discrimination, but she wants to finish high school and go to college.

"My mother was picked up by immigration and put away for a month," she said in a voice filled with emotion.

"That was very hard. My mom was not a criminal. The way things are going now, I don't see my mom staying here."

Among the participants was Lucas County Auditor Anita Lopez, who talked about her Mexican roots and how her grandparents worked in the fields in northwest Ohio.

Later, Ms. Lopez chatted in Spanish with a group of young immigrants.

"I told them that I hope that the leadership at the federal level will address this more," she said. "It's become a divisive point in our country. The leadership needs to make a decision. They won't make everybody happy. There are always two sides to a story. There are positives and negatives to both sides."

Another participant, Dallas Black, teaches Spanish at Bowling Green High School.

He said he had no answer to the immigration question, but he planned to use what he heard at the FLOC gathering in his classes.

"I'm always looking for new things to use in my teaching," he said.

Cry me a river. Everyone is hurt when justice catches up with one of their lawbreaking family members. That is part of the price a person pays when they break the law. Too bad some parents dont think about their kids and family members before deciding to break the law. Unfortunately, family members have to pay a price as well as the criminal. And how was she supporting herself while she "couldn't find a job?" Never mind, stupid question.

Originally Posted by stopracism

"That was very hard. My mom was not a criminal. The way things are going now, I don't see my mom staying here."

Um, yes she is a criminal.
Entering this country illegally makes you a criminal.

I am going to try and phrase this in a way that does not reinforce the stereotype of an angry white guy.

First, I respect the lengths a man will go to take care of their family, and I understand it....I cant condone it, but I have empathy.

but, 10 years, still needs an interpreter, everything I have said is that people with immersion, learn quickly...10 years ?

secondly, they faced only discrimination, well......I face it too

there are places heavily latino I cant go to
there are many,many jobs I cant get because I dont speak spanish
I am called racist, and mnay other names all because I support our laws, and that seems to be okay
I am told I HAVE to do things with my money whether I like it or not...with no consideration for my childrens future

so yeah, I know discrimination

they are crying, yet used services I was forced to pay for, meaning I dontaed to a community without choice

so sorry, I may sincerly have empathy, but I dont feel sorry

I get it...we're supposed to feel sorry for an illegal invader who doesn't speak English and cannot find a job!

These invaders will never understand! They refuse to respect our borders, our laws, or anything else that might stand in their way.

"That was very hard. My mom was not a criminal.

Well, actually she is, despite what she told you!

The way things are going now, I don't see my mom staying here."

Well at least the article was not a total waste...

Illegal immigrants have a tough life.

Yeah...well so do the American citizens who have to compete with these illegal scabs for jobs. I notice how illegal invaders NEVER make any demands upon their beloved mexico to create opportunties for them! It's always our responsibility, it's always our laws which are bad.

It's like a bad broken record with these invaders! Fortunately, most Americans are tired of hearing it.

I'm still shaking my head about the woman who hadn't learned English, yet applied for a secretarial job. That would be like me slipping into French Canada and expecting to be hired for an office position. I wouldn't call that discrimination.

"She's even applied at factories, where they ask if she speaks English. No, she doesn't speak it well. She applied for a secretarial position, and two women said, 'You're sure you're not here to apply for a job cleaning the bathroom?'•"

This person sure thinks so much of themselves as they apply as a secretary?
If mommy or daddy get deported, the rest of the family should be sent back with them, rather than becoming public wards.

Where would a non-English speaking woman work as a secretary? LaRaza? I'd be willing to bet that if she's going from applying for factory work to applying for secretarial work, she doesn't have the requisite computer skills either.

Note to newpaper editor: American citizens have a rough life too.

Well they have people from various groups telling them that they have not done anything wrong and that they should bring their families here as well. I have actually spoken with people at FLOC and they do not get it. If you look at previous generations of immigration immigration always hurts some portion of the population but former immigration was generally set as a result of democratic consensus. In the situation that we have now the democratic consensus results in policy and laws that would limit immigration but the political elite seek to frustrate instead of enforce.

So now it's discrimination if they can't find a job. GO HOME WE DON'T NEED YOU CRIMINALS