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Facts in short supply in 'illegal' immigration debate
Most undocumented immigrants are here only to work. They have become victims of a system that doesn't give the same opportunities of the past.

Originally posted on August 21, 2006

"What part of 'illegal' don't you understand?"

This is one of the questions I most often receive when writing about the immigration debate.

"You are mixing the wrong apples: Illegals don't equal immigrants" is another. "Illegals are criminals."

For some, this logic is simple:

a) Those who break a law are criminals.

b) Entering this country without documents is a crime.

c) Illegal immigrants entered this country without documents, so they broke a law.

d) Therefore, illegal immigrants are criminals. All of them. Period.

And, as criminals, illegal immigrants deserve prison, of course.

Or deportation, immediate and automatic.

Or both.

No questions asked.

After all, they are criminals, remember?

They should be treated like criminals.

Meaning: Throw them into the same cells with killers, rapists, drug-traffickers and gang members.

Unfortunately for those who think like this, it's just rhetoric, a fallacy.

And many anti-immigration politicians who use these arguments know it.

Criminals among us

Every offense should receive a sentence according to the seriousness of the crime committed, because we still have laws.

Otherwise, why should we bother with having courts and laws?

Let's give everybody death sentences and get it over with, once and for all.

Good riddance.

Which brings me to my point: Yes, illegal immigration is a crime. But not a serious, life-threatening felony.

In fact, almost all of us could be considered criminals.

In today's increasingly government-controlled and overregulated civilization, everybody has committed (or will commit) an offense, no matter how insignificant.

For one, I am a criminal.

Back in 1997, I sped 10 miles an hour over the limit on a Texas freeway.

I was caught by a police officer, who handed me the corresponding ticket: $150 (which I paid in full on time).

Months later, I got a second ticket after the parking meter where my car was parked expired — $20 more.

So, I guess this qualifies me as a criminal. Twice.

Do you jaywalk or don't like to buckle up?

Then you are you a criminal, too. Following this same logic, practically all of us (everybody older than 4 years old) are criminals.

We live in a world of criminals.

It's economics

Now, this is dangerous terrain.

Politicians and extremist groups have turned illegal immigration into a political crisis.

But it's not: It's just economics, plain and simple.

As long as better-paid jobs are available in the United States, Mexicans and everybody else will risk anything to come.

Especially if American employers are willing to take a blind eye to fake Social Security cards.

It's a supply-and-demand issue.

That immigrant who just crossed the border yesterday doesn't have a hidden agenda to overthrow the American Way of Life. He just wants to work.

Now, I understand the concern of Americans about immigrants bypassing all the visa procedures.

But, have you ever tried to get a visa to the U.S.?

It's virtually impossible, especially if you are poor.

Some Americans seem to forget this when they argue: "But my ancestors were legal immigrants. That's a big difference. They never broke any law by coming here."

(Real meaning: My immigrants are better — or more respected, or more civilized, or more honest — than yours. Who happen to be ... well, "criminals.")

Granted, most of those immigrants of the past came here legally, opposite from today's immigrants.

Give them a chance

But let's think it over for a moment, to put things in context: There were virtually no illegal immigrants before the early 20th century.

All of them were "refugees."

Social Security cards were given away to everybody.

Even cereal premiums were harder to get.

Border Patrol agents used to give green cards away like candies at the crossing checkpoints. Mexicans who did the trip back and forth every day had the luxury of rejecting their offers. "Why would I want to live in the U.S. if I can come and go anytime I need?" was a common answer to "Migra" officers until the 1950s.

Some elderly in Mexico still remember today.

What requirements did those immigrants of the past have to fulfill to make their American Dream come true?

• Pass a health exam. (How many of those 19th-century "healthy" immigrants could be considered so by today's standards?)

• Show some proof of identity, like birth certificates or foreign passports (untranslated, of course, and with no security bar codes).

• Demonstrate not being an idiot.

• Stand in line to wait for their turn.

And that was pretty much it.

No mountains of applications filled (with their corresponding copies), no letters of support, no criminal backgrounds, no aggressive interview processes, no hundreds of dollars in fees, no post-9/11 security paranoia ... like today.

How many of those respected and well-regarded immigrants from the past would be able to pass all the requirements imposed today by Uncle Sam to their "tired, poor, and huddled masses?"

I am sure most of them would be flat-out rejected.

And instead of Mexicans or Latin Americans jumping fences at the border, we would see tides of Italians, Polish, Germans and Irish coming in rafts.

Thus, they would also be "criminals."

We live in a different time.

This is why it's unfair to ask others "not to mix the wrong apples" on the immigration debate, while we keep doing so for our own purposes.

Now, don't get me wrong: I am not defending illegal immigration, per se.

I think illegal immigration hurts everybody, especially immigrants themselves.

They are the victims on this complex problem.

Most Latino immigrants come to work hard, and would love to do it legally ... if they were given the chance.

They desire to be like past immigrants who once were fortunate enough to get theirs.

— Fernando Zapata is the editor of Gaceta Tropical, The News-Press' Spanish-language publication. E-mail him at fzapata@news-press.com