Photo Credit: David Maung
“Broken Lives of Immigrants Deported from US to Mexico” is a short, seven-minute film documentary by Franz Strasser that captures the predicament of US deportees in Tijuana, Mexico. We discussed in class the difficulties deportees face as they return to their home countries, as they often either came to or were born in the United States at a young age. This documentary captures numerous first person accounts of deportees that both illustrate the aforementioned points and also illuminate specific experiences and challenges they face.
Rosario Vásquez, a US border patrol of the San Diego sector, describes an interesting practice in the process of deportation. He mentions how they often repatriate deportees at places different from where they originally crossed, a practice that prevents re-entry by effectively separating the deportee from smuggling organizations and their reentry points. While this practice separates the deportee from the organizations, it has various negative consequences, as repatriating immigrants at different places may increase their feelings of alienation as well as the difficulties they may have readjusting. This creates a situation that is compounded by the fact many have not returned or revisited their home country and have no family there to aid their resettlement. A deportee identified as Jose who came to the United States at the age of three describes the cultural and social challenges he experiences as he speaks broken Spanish and doesn’t know anyone there.
The documentary also mentions an area between the US-Mexico border and the outskirts of Tijuana named “El Bordo”, a dried riverbed where many deportees live in makeshift homes that range from tents to tunnel-like holes. The deportees are often blamed by local authorities for the rise in local crime. The secretary of public security of Tijuana, Alejandro Lares Valladares, captures this sentiment as he describes how the deportees engage in a “vicious cycle” of drug abuse and robbery. Activists such as Ernesto Hernandez Ruiz argue against this stigma, arguing that the local authorities either do not understand or do not want to understand the predicament of the deportees, who cross over with little to no belongings, remaining undocumented in their home country and becoming exposed to risks of gang violence, drug addiction. The CNN article “Stuck Between Two Countries” by Rosalina Nieves captures the conditions at El Border in greater detail, emphasizing how the police in Tijuana assume these deportees are criminals and drug abusers, harassing them for no reason.
Strasser’s documentary mentions that the Mexican government does help some of the deportees that are returning citizens, providing them with health insurance, an opportunity to contact relatives, a meal, and sometimes travel tickets to other parts of Mexico. However, those deported without relations or documentation struggle to restart their lives as they are met with stigmas and difficulties of readjusting, as illustrated by the documentary’s first person accounts and El Bordo. The only perspective that the documentary seems to be missing are deportees who successfully readjust after deportation. The lack of this perspective, intentional or unintentional, undoubtedly illuminates the rarity of that phenomenon, and serves to reaffirm the myriad challenges that deportees are faced with after the return to their country.
Article Links:
Documentary by Franz Strasser — http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26533046
Article by Rosalina Nieves — http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/21/us/u-s-mexico-border-purgatory/
An recent, interesting article by Michael D. Shear from the Times related to our discussion last week on the large amount of deportations during the Obama administration, as well as our readings. The push for making the deportations of illegal immigrants more “humane” has been brought into the mainstream as individuals like Senator Robert Menendez, a leading Latino voice of Congress, pressure Obama to “do something drastic”. This is demonstrative of the importance of political representation and its ability to bring to light such important issues. It is also interesting to note arguments of the opposing side, that cite unemployment as a reason to continue deportation. Considering the complex network of influences and interests in deportation, do you think this increased pressure will affect the status quo?
The graphic I included above is a visual that nicely captures the relative clemency and sympathy of judges to immigrants in New York, which we discussed in class. This can be seen in the lower amount of people who are deported and greater amount who stay in New York, compared with the rest of the United States.
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/us/obama-orders-review-of-deportations.html?hpw&rref=politics&_r=0
Photo Credit: Dave Sanders of the New York Times
Mireya Navarro’s article “Tenants Living Amid Rubble in Rent-Regulated Apartment War” captures the consequences of gentrification and rising housingprices on a microcosmic, personal level. These rising prices and its resulting strain on landlord-tenant disputes can be seen in immigrant families that live in rent-stabilized units in 98 Linden Street of Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Eight months earlier, the landlord sent a notice requesting access to two rent-stabilized units on the ground floor for structural epairs. The workers that arrived demolished the kitchens and bathrooms of the apartments within a few hours. Nearly a year later, these kitchens and bathrooms remain in their dilapidated state.
Juan Calero and Gloria Corea, 67, immigrants from Nicaragua and the inhabitants of one of the units since 1990, pay $675 a month for rent, a value that is less than half the market rate. They share the apartment with their two children and two grandchildren. The family says they cannot afford anything over $1,000 , as only their daughter’s husband, Rolando Cajina, holds a job as a maintenance worker.
The landlord, Joel Israel of Linden VenturesL.L.C., claims that the building is structurally unsound and insists that all tenants move out. Datafrom the Rent Guidelines Board suggests that when the units are vacant, the landlord is allowed to bump the rent to or over the deregulation threshold of $2,500 a month on vacancy and improvement related increases. While the struggle on 98 Linden is not the norm, it is indicative of increased tensions and stakes as rising housing prices make it increasingly difficult for low and moderate income New Yorkers to afford. Gentrifying neighborhoods can even double or triple the stabilized rent, causing tenants to face illegal pressures that may even include demanding proof of citizenship.
With nowhere else to go, the family borrows the bathroom and kitchen of their second floor neighbor as they continue their standoff with their landlord. Calls to the landlord were not returned.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/nyregion/in-new-york-push-for-market-rate-housing-pits-landlords-against-tenants.html
Hello everyone, my name is Glenn Liu. I am 18 years old, and I come from Fresh Meadows, Queens. Both my parents are immigrants that came to America to study at Queens College. My dad is from Taichung, Taiwan, and my mom is from Taiping, Malaysia. I was born and have lived in New York City my whole life. I went to PS162 and MS158, both in Bayside, and Townsend Harris High School in Flushing. I haven’t decided my major yet, though I am considering Geography, Cultural Anthropology, or Environmental Studies with a minor in Geology, Art or Music.
Some of my hobbies include hiking, sketching, watching the sky, video games, reading fantasy novels, playing the piano, and finding deserted spots with pleasant scenery to haunt. I love traveling to different places to admire architecture and natural formations, as well as to experience different ambiences.
