I think that the discussion on Wednesday was especially interesting and even more powerful now given the political climate in recent news. With a new administration in charge of America, perhaps the most extreme actions have been made against immigration and dealing with undocumented immigrants. Living in a city that is historically and widely known as the first stop destination for immigrants has allowed me to witness the drastic change in immigration policy first hand. Even in my friend’s own neighborhood of Jackson Heights, the crackdown on undocumented citizens has been something I have never had to experience or witness until now. It is scary to think that right on the train stop that I get off to visit my friend, there are agents waiting to detain someone they suspect of living in America illegally. There have also been barrage of posts by my friends on social media to spread the word on how to protect loved ones from falling victim to the new administration’s executive order.
So when we discussed the situation about immigration in class today it was eye opening on how drastically immigration has become in America compared to the days of our parents or from our ancestors before. Even from the small clip from the Godfather, the whole process of immigration seemed so streamlined and easy. They even changed names of new immigrants coming in to either shortened versions or more American sounding names all together. This was consistent with my parents when they immigrated to New York decades ago. They were given an option to now pick or make an American name for themselves as they started their new lives.
Immigration has now become such a difficult and restrictive process that some even resort to the extreme of marrying a citizen only for the purpose of gaining citizenship. One can only wonder how much more today’s immigration policy will demand given a new era of American government. It is especially concerning because it seems as if more changes in our immigration policy has happened in the last decade at a more rapid pace than in the last century.
I agree with you how there are new administrative extremes planned to tackle undocumented immigrants and for some it’s indeed frightening. But it’s difficult to justify that this is a “first time” experience for immigrants; perhaps it’s just a first time for us to see the true colours of immigration. One could say that “The Wall” is another example of the extreme measures you mentioned in your response, but there have been multiple efforts by the US gov’t in history to tackle this issue that we don’t bring up. Whether because they’re deemed too harmful for the country’s pristine image, there have been methods and actions in history the US has commited that are arguably morally wrong for humanity.
For example, Mexican immigrants are one of the most prominent groups of immigrants recognized today. With the news constantly revolving how to “keep them out” of the US, it’s hard to believe that there is an increasing amount of Mexican immigrants returning to Mexico than coming in (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/us/more-mexican-immigrants-leaving-us-than-entering-report-finds.html?_r=0). The “fear” of immigrants pouring into our country, whether illegally or not, should not be accepted so quickly without a little research. Perhaps this is why immigration seems to be “eye opening” like you mentioned for all of us. It is being brought up, but in a negative light. The process of immigration has been consistent, but it’s now seen as a threat. Following up on my point earlier that the US has attempted other methods to deport those who are undocumented, Mexican Americans are no strangers to this goal. During the Great Depression era (specifically the decade from 1930-1940), nearly 2 million Mexicans, both undocumented and rightful citizens, were deported or expelled from their homes and sent back to Mexico (http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/09/08/437579834/mass-deportation-may-sound-unlikely-but-its-happened-before). Because of the economics during that time period, Mexicans were seen as a threat to the scare jobs available. With the unemployment peaking at nearly 25% by 1933, the American gov’t took actions in response to this potential threat. Sounds familiar? In relations to what you have exeperienced at your friend’s neighborhood, Jackson Heights, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, it’s no surprise that there are actions pertaining to specific groups of people that have also been labeled as a threat in the past. History tends to repeat itself, but it’s our job to educate ourselves about it to prevent those mistakes and how people then failed to make the right decisions during that time.
It seems ironic how immigration in history is dare I say “praised” in America present day because it showed the accepting and welcoming side of where people could find refuge in the world’s greatest country. Yet, there were people then were just as worried about immigration as there are people now. The Ellis Island clip showed in class is one of the many classic examples of what we associate immigration with back then. Whether it’s due to Hollywood, the media, or history class, we fail to see that immigration was never as “streamlined” or “easy” as you mention. There was indeed millions of immigrants who were able to pass by Ellis Island and ultimately they were our ancestors or even our parents. Yet, we should not overshadow our success for those who did share the same luck and fortune as our families did. There were also families who survived the treacherous journey only to be rejected after surviving all of the hardships and sent back to their homeland (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldman/peopleevents/e_ellis.html). In contrast to now, it’s not that simple to get the certifications or documents necessary to complete the process of citizenship. It could take weeks, months, and even years depending on the situation. But even without citizenship, people should not be seen any less of an human being. Those who are undocumented among us, either in secrecy or out in the open, they are humans as well and they can be just as successful as all of us because they are in a country that offers this opportunity of success to anyone willing to take it (http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/10/us/texas-undocumented-valedictorian-trnd/). The realities of immigration to this country is a hard pill to swallow. Tt’s harder to accept how a country we believe to be land of the free and home of the brave could ever have the Statue of Liberty go against its word: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” but it’s our duty to uphold those words to the fullest degree. Times have changed rapidly through each decade regarding immigration, but the purpose more or less for those willing to dare what our families have done in the past have not.