There are those who would
blame my very nature for undermining the foundation that binds people together
as a community. To make matters worse, they would continue, the ease
of travel and communication, let’s say, through this blog, exponentially
increase my chances of weakening the US national identity. According
to Edwards (2007), the fact that I am an immigrant with dual citizenship and
access to Internet makes me a tool just as destructive for the US patriotic
commitment as, let’s say, our last President’s middle name. Can you
hear the rumbling in the fabric of the world? You must then be
listening to Bill O’Reilly and Lou Dobbs drone —pun intended— about immigration
and its push for “wiping out the ‘white privilege’” and replacing it with “the
browning of America” (Holland, 2010, p. 193). In their attempt to
promulgate fear and to promise to “keep the American people safe,” the
paternalistic tone of the news media reinforces the prejudicial ideal that
immigration is a threat to the American way of life, seemingly legitimizing
exclusion and racism. The current U.S. political affairs and the
president immigration policies give us plenty food for thought on its roots and
where we are heading as a powerful —using the adjective widely— nation within
an increasingly interconnected world.
Those perceptions, held
primarily among television pundits and social conservatives, have undermined
significantly specific human rights for those excluded from the legislations;
namely, the undocumented migrants. They have used immigration as a
wedge issue for political gain, a means to manipulate public opinion through
fear and the obsession with national security, reinforcing cultural hegemony. The
manipulative portrayal of the immigration as a threat to the status quo and the
depiction of refugees as lazy or marauders at best, and terrorists at worst
undermines the humanity of the individual person and marginalizes a significant
part of the world. In turn, myths and misconceptions have appeared
based on the spread ignorance on the causes of immigration. This
distorted perception of the processes of immigration blame the victim, leaving
behind the complex social, economic, political, and historic phenomenon that
propels immigration influx from the developing to the developed
countries. In most instances, Immigration is the result of “the
ravages of this unforgiving global capitalism” (Olivos, 2012). It is
not merely a personal or legal matter. In case you do not know it
already, immigration comes as a last resort to the majority of us. The
large majority of immigrants and refugee come from nations where there are
legitimate reasons to flee. Besides, these demographic movements are not
new to the 21st century and it will behooves us all if we can
keep this in mind.
We can agree that the
balance between effective immigration legislation and the immigrants’ rights is
not meant for any chicken Soup reading. However, we do have a
responsibility to check our sources and be informed. Is this not the ultimate
goal of living the technology and information age? Doha developments
rounds, G8 summits, and/or any other political efforts have to date been barren
to propel the world’s economy and help the marginalized poor. On the
contrary, it has proposed dysfunctional policies conducive to exclusion and the
tightening of the borders (for example,
Directive on return of
illegal immigrants and the end of Schengen agreement in Europe), the increase
of anti-immigration policies throughout Europe and in the US, the lack of
coverage of 25.000 refugees and immigrants deaths at sea or the current
situation in Mosul, etc. A search in Google with the words “illegal
immigration” leads to countless depictions of dehumanized identities.
Immigration is obviously not a neutral position on social justice
issues. It caters to people’s emotions, especially with fear-arousing
messages as the preferable method of communication. I believe it is
imperative today more than ever to have a conscientious and calm public
dialogue aiming to bridge our differences and modeling for our kids the skills
to reach consensus, to cooperate in improving our society at home and thousands
miles away. This said, information is the key.
Ten years ago, after
dinner with my husband’s family, the discussion turned to politics, voting, and
social responsibilities of citizens of the United States. Broaching
my own, let’s say “enthusiastic” opinion on these issues, a relative
interceded: “but don’t worry, you’re not human.” In a Freudian
moment, attention was inadvertently called to my “nonhuman” status, referring
to the fact that I was not a US citizen, yet.
Jokes aside, the throwing of scaring words,
such as invasion and illegal in the same
sentences as national security has long become a sort of
national sport. The rules are to throw them repeatedly in successive
tweets stepping over objective journalism in orchestrated efforts to arouse the
readers’ fear until it reshapes how we think. Even the accidental
substitution of ‘human’ for ‘citizen’ illustrates the
underlying feeling of separation that many in America feel for those who are
not blessed with the lucky geographical birth within a more prosperous
border. There is a need to challenge the cultural hegemony
underlying public discourse. As Young (2007) argued, “the moral
right to limit immigration is little different from the preservation of feudal
privilege” (p. 30).
References
Edwards, J. (2007). The 50% American:
Immigration and national identity in an age of terror. Political
psychology, 28(4), 501-505. Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2007.00584.X
Holland, J. (2010). The fifteen biggest lies
about the economy. Hoboken, NJ.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Young, I. M. (2007). Global challenges: War,
self-determination and responsibility for justice. Malden, MA.: Polity
Press.
Olivos, E. (2012). Teaching and learning about
immigration as a humanitarian issue: The sociopolitical context bottleneck. In
Gorski, Zenkov, Osei-Kofi, & Sapp (Eds.), Cultivating social
justice teachers. Sterling, VA.: Stylus
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