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Immigration Effects
By Laura Gonzalez
What would you do for your family if you see them suffering hunger, crying because they do not have clothes to wear or a roof
to sleep under? What would you do to make their life better? Would you risk your own life for your family? There are thousands
of people who cross the border every year. According to the Office of Immigration Statistics, there have been 6,200 illegal
immigrants detained by the US border patrol on the US-Mexico border since June 2006. Ten and a half millions is the estimated
number of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. as of January 2005.¹
Juan Rivera is one of the thousands of immigrants who used to cross the border illegally every year. Times were very difficult
in Mexico for the Rivera family. Juan tried to apply for a visa to work in the US, but the only way for him to obtain a visa
was through a family member and employment. Since Juan did not have a family member who could help him get a visa nor an employer
to solicit a work Visa for him, he decided to cross the border illegally having to sell the few things he had, leaving his
family with nearly nothing. After being in the US for six months, he got his employer to apply for a work permit. Mr. Rivera
crossed the border legally many times until one tragic day when he had an accident at work, dying on the scene of the accident.
It was not possible for Mr. Rivera to fulfill his dream to have his family live a better life.
There are many controversial issues about immigrants and especially illegal immigrants. There are groups such as the Minutemen
who patrol the borders day and night to make sure people who they call criminals don't cross the border. I would think that
if these people were in the same situation as many immigrants, they would cross a border illegally to better their families'
lives. Minutemen patrol the borders because they claim that they have to protect their families and the US in general. A Border
Patrol who was interviewed by Peter Skerry and Devin Fernandez who are the authors of an article "Citizen Pain" said, "If
I were in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing, coming across the border and trying to better things for myself and my
family."² Isn't this a contradiction, an officer who is a US-born citizen, and whose job it is to detain all those illegal
immigrants crossing the border, to say that he would do the same thing for his family? I believe deep down every one of us,
American or not, would do anything to better our family's futures.
A few months ago many immigrants in California decided to do a boycott. They would not work, go to school, sell, or purchase
anything for a day so that the US economy and its residents would feel the impact immigrants have in the US. According to
Tyson Foods, Inc., the world's largest meat producer, on the day of the boycott, Tyson Foods, Inc., shuttered about a dozen
of its more than a 100 plants and saw "higher than usual absenteeism" at others.³ Locally in Eagle County, the impact was
also felt. For instance, at many of the local schools where the student population is majority Hispanic, only about ten percent
of all students were present in school May 1st the day of the boycott. Many of the teachers did not have a class to teach,
and they decided to combine students from different grade levels and let them watch movies during school hours.
Is a boycott really the solution to immigrant problems? I believe immigrants should concentrate more upon pressuring the Mexican
government to create more jobs. According to the World Bank, Mexico has the highest per-capita income rate in Latin America.
Yet 48 percent of the population was living in poverty in 2004.4 Guillermo Ortiz, Mexico's Central Bank Governor, says that
Mexico needs its people. "It will be best to keep its people in Mexico and it will give incentives to Mexico to create the
jobs that are needed," says Mr. Ortiz, a 58-year-old Stanford-educated economist in his interview with Dallas News.5
Many Americans believe that we are taking their jobs and overcrowding their schools, and maybe we are. The reason is that
we are here to better our futures and our families, and we will do whatever it takes to get what we want. Americans also argue
that people who emigrate from another country do not learn the language, and they come here to stay. It is true that most
of the people who come from Latin America do not learn the language, but Americans do not consider that if immigrants do learn
the language, they would have even better positions in jobs than the ones that Americans have because they would be able to
speak two languages and communicate with more people. One of the things Americans do not know is that "Most of the immigrants
come here to work hard, save money and then go home and invest their savings in a tractor, some land, or a house."
Americans also believe that illegal immigrants who cross the Mexico/U.S. borders are breaking the law, and that they do not
know if these people are terrorists or not. The Mexico/U.S. borders are very controlled. However, "Over 3,000 people including
hundreds of children have died in the desert" in search of a better future in this country. I believe Anglos should start
controlling the Canada/U.S. border, because the terrorists that killed over 3,000 of people on September 11th may have crossed
the border between Canada and U.S.A. What do you think?
Works Cited
"Numbers." Time. 4 Sep. 2006: 21-.EBSCOhost. 30 Sep. 2006. http://web.ebscohost.com.cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/ehost/delivery?vid=25&hid=116&...
Skerry, Peter. "Citizen Pain" New Republic 8 May, 2006: 14-16. EBSCOhost. 30 Sep. 2006
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=20667873&site=ehost-live.
Vail Daily News for Vail and Beaver Creek. 30 Sep,2006
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20060501/NATIONAL02/105010045.
Solis, Dianne. "Mexican Bank Chief Talks Immigration." Dallas News 27 Sep. 2006: dallasnews.com.30 Sep, 2006
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-meximmig_27int.ART.State.Edition1.3e3fc0d.html.
"University Protesters." ANSWER Coalition. 6 Oct, 2006.
http://cryptome.or/cu-mn-protest.htm
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