A deep recession has struck a nation, and in the rubble, one entire section of society is subjugated, dis-empowered and dehumanized. Right-wing nationalists establish a repressive government that forces close to 10 million individuals to live prostrate, in the shadows, afraid, accepting whatever life they can scrounge up. For many of the victims, mostly children and young adults, persecution is administered by their own country, the only land they’ve ever known and loved. National leaders prophesize threats from abroad and enemies from within, and a nation’s soul is frozen by antagonism. A flag excites its people with pride, hope, and fear; it sings of a bright future for a privileged few born with Germanic blood and snarls out a bitter existence for anyone of inferior breeding. Husbands and wives abandon their jobs for fear of being discovered, detained and shipped away. Fathers and mothers remove their children from schools for fear of the same. Entrepreneurs are thwarted and students are mocked. An entire race is virtually outlawed, and its members are required by new statutes to carry proper identification at all times or face the full wrath of a callous regime. All the while, a whole nation cries out for even more brutality and oppression.
The place described is not Nazi Germany; it is 21st-century America, and the people described are the millions of undocumented Latino Americans who have been criminalized by a failed immigration system.
Again, I emphasize that they are Latino Americans, meaning they are simultaneously Latino and American. For what it means to be Latino, I refer you to the articles published by this magazine. But these people are also American, because American is not simply a status automatically conferred at birth; more important, it’s a defining attribute. It describes a way of being.
Undoubtedly, the overwhelming majority of undocumented immigrants and native-born Latinos are American. Just look at who they are and what they do: they are pioneering spirits who venture far from home in search of a fuller life; parents work long, demanding, demeaning jobs at odd hours to ensure that their children receive just one opportunity, one open door; the old and the young dance salsa, merengue, cumbia and know every word of the national anthem; the student and the field worker alike exhibit unbound energy; priests and parishioners stand together in the face of injustice and unresponsive government, marching arm in arm on frigid, soggy days in the name of liberty; bilingual sons and daughters volunteer to defend her. Aren’t these the marks of a true American?
I’m not worried about the future of Latinos in America, for each one is endowed with the courage of their indigenous forebears, men and women outnumbered and outmatched, who charged ahead unflinching. Today, the Latino surges toward destiny with a heart filled with dreams, the Constitution in one hand and the lyrics of poets past in the other.
Woe to anyone who would stand in the way of such unyielding progress!
About Being Latino Contributors
Love it! You are so right, our people are American and your article points to all the positives that those who are in power try to hide and destroy.
GIve me a break! Your sob story doesn’t change the fact that the “undocumented” you speak about are here illegally. They broke our laws to be here, use our educational/health resources, many commit crimes and yet still demand more. They are not Americans no matter how they “feel”. America owes illegal aliens nothing, and Americans are sick of their whining and taking of advantage of our system! Please stop with the excuse of wanting a “better life”..we all want a better life for our families–what gives you the excuse to barge in and demand from us?! We’ve been more than hospitable, now go back to your country of origin.
I enjoyed this article. It resonated with me. A naive person, who has not had the experience of living the way so many people do in developing countries cannot comprehend the drive to seek peace and prosperity. That go back to your native countries has been yelled for ages by people whose ancestors came here as immigrants: conquering, often brutal immigrants. Let’s ask the native Americans about that….. Many articles have addressed the way Latinos contribute to the tax income of the states. An uninformed opinion drives statement that Latinos burden the public system because actually it has more to do with socio economic class than race. Poor people of all races face those challenges.
Dear jennifer, America is a continent, a continent is form of many countries, the people that live in these countries are called “Americans”. your neighbors in mexico are also americans whether you like it or not. nobody is saying that the united states of america owes anything to the Undocumented people that live in this country. there are many undocumented people that take advantage of the system, yes there are but there are a vast majority that work and live as any other good citizen would.
your comment is full of hate, your wisdom, covered by ignorance and you refuse to see things as they truly are. illegal immigrants work and pay taxes just like any other citizen. they bring to this country despite not having papers, paying taxes, buying, consuming what the country produces. they do not take anybody’s job, have you seen the latest news on alabama and georgia? No one wants to work in the field, there are construction jobs available that not many people wants. the jobs are available but the American people don’t want them, who are you going to blame that farmers are losing millions because nobody wants to pick the fruit and vegetables from the field? the illegal immigrants?
I want to remind you that the past governments of this country were those who destabilized our economy,
Have you ever dared to hold our Government accountable for what they did?
No, because you are afraid to do that and choose to blame those less fortunate instead. stop blaming others for the our misfortunes and start doing something so we’ll be able to move forward. we can all make a difference if we stick together.
The trouble with people is not that they don’t know but that they know so much that ain’t so. ~Josh Billings
Jennifer, how about you shut the fukk up with your disgusting racist and xenophobic nationalism. How about all those white folks who descend from European colonizers leave? Last time I checked it was European settlers who “barge[d] in and demand[ed]” a whole lot from the indigenous folks of the Americas– as well as colonizing them, killing them with physical violence and disease, enslaving them, stealing their land, etc.
Take your racist rants to Europeans and demand that they go back to their country of origin.
Just for using the sophomoric comparison of National Socialism (NAZI) in Germany and illegal aliens in America is enough reason to ridicule this argument and not take anything you guys complain about seriously. What’s next, Illegals as the ancient Isrealites being persecuted by Pharaoh or what about illegals as slaves in the antebellum South, or illegals as Hungarian freedon fighters and victims of Stalin’s communism? Oh, I forgot, you guys have a soft spot for Marxism.
Jenn, and not only is illegal immigration bad for the nation, but it’s also bad for those Legal Latinos who are full citizens, and Latinos that are Legal residents because it cheapens their struggles and their legitimate efforts to come here and to assimilate into American society lawfully. Instead we have a whole culture of entitlement that feels its ok to get over on the system by any means necessary – thus burdening an already stressed America. They call us Nazis and hateful because they know that we are on to their scams which can’t go on for ever.
No one has a right to live in a country illegally. You’re not some promised, chosen few, following poets on some honorable ancestral passage. Also, don’t play the card about U.S. citizens being direct descendants of those evil Europeans who came across the ocean and killed off the indians as if we can’t relate. You’re latino heritage was based on the same premise. (Ever heard of the fall of the Mayan empire?) But what will really end you’re whole twisted belief, honestly is the value of resources.
Resources are finite. Look at all the countries in Europe which have much more direct illegal immigration laws due to constraining resources. History has a way of repeating itself and I think that will follow suit fast enough as U.S. Citizens struggle with higher costs of living, unemployment, and anger over a debt ridden federal government. Those are resources and we are running out of them more so everyday. I see the crackdown in Alabama and other states as an expression of frustration by U.S. citizens with the subject of illegal immigration. More is to follow and I say godspeed. The law is the law. What makes you think you can trump some altruistic ideal in justifying such a platform and do otherwise? And no, I do not endorse just giving anyone citizenship for walking or sneaking over the border. It takes more than that. Earn you’re way.
But good luck with your unyielding progress thing.
We are so sick of the illegal aliens saying things like, “we’re the same as you, we’re just missing a piece of paper…or we’re just missing those 9 special digits”, referring to our American citizenship, and social security numbers. My citizenship as an American is not just a “piece of paper”….
Illegals are not like us, they were born in another country…..why can the illegals stay in their home country and try to make things better there?
Also, the Dream Act students need to place proper blame where it belongs–on their parents for putting them in this situation in the first place….
NOBODY SHOULD BE ABOVE THE LAW !!!
Obama, Holder, and Napolitano should all be in jail,
for the illegal sale of 2,500 weapons, to the Mexican drug cartels
… as well as the subsequent COVER UP of these crimes …
resulting in the MURDER OF THOUSANDS OF MEXICANS,
and the murder of American border agent, Brian Terry.
If anything, Obama, Holder, and Napolitano,
should be held to a higher standard, than the rest of us.
In the days of Watergate, the Press demanded, and
got JUSTICE for the American people. Today, the
media looks the other way, or helps in the cover up !!!