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“The world was full of equations . . . there must be an answer for everything, if only you knew how to set forth the questions” -
Anne Tyler
Phoenix, Arizona. Immigration in general, and particularly unauthorized immigration, has become an extremely intricate
and complicated issue. Not that immigration has been an easy subject ever, but the challenges to deal with it, and the
polarization surrounding it, have deepened the intensity of the national debate. What do we do with what is calculated to be
12 million people who are not supposed to be in this country in the first place? The vast majority are workers who work
without a work permit, drive a vehicle without a driver license, and make a living thanks to those who profit from their hard
labor. Undocumented immigrants are not tourists or homeless; they are fundamentally workers who come looking for
work, find it, and are able to support themselves here, and their family in their home country. They can do all of this
because they are empowered to do so by an economy and a labor market that maximizes profit by minimizing wages. So
whether we are pro-immigrants or not, the undeniable reality is that it is very possible to work in this country without a work
permit. The millions of people doing it without it prove it. Thus, unauthorized immigration continues to exist and thrive in
the United States.
Many workers who escaped poverty in their homeland, and crossed the border without permission many years ago, today
have families, own a home, a car, have a job, and speak decent English, thanks to a society that employs them and
benefits from their labor. They are certified nursing assistants, construction workers, janitors. Some even own a small
family business. They have clandestinely penetrated a culture that is aware of their presence, accepts it, receives their
services, and pays them for their work. In many car wash businesses, for instance, where we bring our vehicles to be
cleaned, what do we see? Don’t we witness the dedicated, hard and low-paid labor of men and women, who obviously
are immigrants? The majority of these employees don’t speak a word of English; they rely on a bilingual supervisor who
serves as the mid-man for them and the manager. This system is common and basic to many companies. We all see it,
know it, and tolerate it. Employers justify themselves with a “who cares if they are not here legally; they get the job done”
mentality.
The tens of thousands of people who marched in Phoenix on March 24th did not get here overnight. Yes, seen together,
they scared the heck out of many. They angered others that prefer to see them scattered, one by one, bussing tables,
cleaning toilets, or mowing lawns. Not marching, for sure. We have accepted them, covertly and disdainfully, for too long.
We want their labor, but we do not want to give them rights. We get upset and frustrated because they get upset and
frustrated. We tell them to obey the law, yet rebuke them for exercising a very human right. We condemn them for waving
their flag in a march, but join them to celebrate Cinco de Mayo among mariachis, and yes, Mexican flags. Evidently, this
hypocrisy has backfired on us. Now we shield ourselves with good-sounding phrases like: “we are not against
immigration, but illegal immigration,” as if immigration means always a voluntary choice. We also receive their money
without hesitation; undocumented immigrants are great consumers, are they not? To summarize it in one phrase: we
diminish their contributions, but overemphasize what they take from us.
In the aftermath of the unprecedented and historic March 24th demonstration, it has become evident that the real causes
of the discontent in many people have to do with racism, bigotry, prejudice and hate. One just needs to read the
expressions of negative feelings and hostile emotions in the many blogs that swarm the Internet. The aggressive
language comes out easily in individuals who conceal themselves behind a users-name, and an anonymous identity, but
gives their true motives away. Their rejection toward immigrants unmistakably has to do more with race and ethnicity
issues, than with the lack of legal documents. The protests and the march, and more precisely the impressive
demonstration of demographic power displayed by a multitude Phoenix has never seen, have caused consequently racial
tensions, heated an already vehement discussion, and created an environment of conflict that is breathed in workplaces,
the media, and the streets. Discrimination and hate don’t die. They become dormant, even tolerant, as long as the status
quo is not altered and the social structure shaken.
In this context, local and Washington’s politicians continue to deliberate among themselves, trying to find a way out of this
problematic maze. Unfortunately, many of them have their own hidden agenda, and are looking for their own good and
their political future. Republicans and Democrats barricaded against each other on Friday, April 7, and whatever progress
they had achieved was stalled, sending a possible immigration reform into a limbo. Community organizers continue to
mobilize people to protest, but it is uncertain what the effects of these massive demonstrations will be. One of the results
already seen is a growing sense of belonging between immigrants, and a desire to rally to protest and struggle. Another
outcome has been anger and annoyance among U.S. born citizens. Naturalized citizens and authorized permanent
residents are divided themselves: some are willing to join, other simply don’t care anymore. Hence, a growing feeling of
uneasiness and conflict are spreading across the community. Arizona is heading towards a showdown. The United
States has arrived to a moment of truth.
The ability to resolve this dilemma and social issue depends on asking the right questions, and on answering them
correctly. This leads us to an equation, an immigration equation, and to solve it, we need to find the unknown values that
create this equation. These values have to do with, first, the consequences of not allowing the huge labor force that
undocumented workers represent to obtain legal status, and second, the benefits of legalizing them. That takes us back to
the question: what do we do with the 12 million immigrants who are among us, work at our side, shop in our stores, and
have become part of our economy? Both values are going to affect us either way, since immigrants are already
interweaved in the social fabric.
The first value is nothing new; we have had this problem for decades, so we know and feel the costs of millions of people
who have been encouraged to stay by employers who hire them, and by businesses that look for their purchasing power.
Recently, Time magazine published a story on its cover with the title “Inside America's secret workforce,” referring to the
millions of undocumented immigrants who work in the country. The irony of not just this title, but the obvious reality of our
society, is that, yes, they constitute an enormous workforce, but they are not a secret at all. So the inability of the Federal
government to create a realistic immigration reform, and the willingness of U.S. society to coexist and take advantage of
the millions of workers, brought us to the situation we have today. Illegal immigration is not good, but we have allowed it to
become a part of us. We have complained about the toll that immigrants place on government’s budgets, and what that
represents for taxpayers, but we have become both voluntary and involuntary co-conspirators of that. Those who have not
reaped the benefits from illegal immigration raise their hands. Refusing to allow this gigantic and excluded workforce will
leave us worst than we were before the protests and marches across the nation. Did we not get here thanks to the obtuse
and criminalizing legislation passed and proposed in the recent years and months?
The second value could actually not be a choice. Allowing most of the estimated 12 million people to obtain legal status
could have more benefits than not. However, bringing people out of the illegitimacy can be perceived as rewarding those
who entered the country without documents, and can even encourage new immigrants to come. The most pressing
solution, though, is to resolve the enormous challenge we already have, which is dealing with the people who are already
here. The current immigration laws have been enforced, but are insufficient in containing the waves of people who head
northbound toward this country. Deportations take place everyday; repatriation was employed as well. Thousands are
caught trying to enter the country. Law-abiding employers have let their undocumented workers go. Aggressive legislation
such as the one that prevents people without legal status to be able to get a driver license, Prop 200, the Protect Arizona
Now group, the minutemen have had little impact. With all of this, we still end up with the same figure of perhaps more
than 12 million. Allowing them to work legally, to drive legally, to do their income tax, and so forth, seems to be the only
viable way. The question is if the political and economic interests that benefit more from an illegal than a legal workforce
will let it happen. Ultimately, most of the millions of men and women, entire families, remain illegal because we want
them to be, and because we have voted for laws that make it impossible to enter, work, and live legally in this country.
The marches around the country, and particularly in Phoenix, have forced us to look right into the eye of what is taking the
force of a demographic hurricane. The tide of tension is rising; the wind of change is blowing. Marchers in Phoenix have
understood the value of their contribution to the economy, and have become fed up with their situation. Having been the
target of malicious legislation, and knowing they cannot vote at the polls, they are voting with the only thing they have voted
with in their own country and can vote here: their feet.
Copyright © 2010 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Grassroots Journalism
www.barriozona.com
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The labor of thousands of peasants brought from Mexico into Arizona in 1917 contributed to the farming
revolution that placed a new state on the path of progress and the workers on a historical dimension.
By Eduardo Barraza
BARRIOZONA
April 15, 2006
The Immigration Equation