The Great Wall of China, which is 5,500 miles long, 25 feet high, 12-30 feet wide at the base and 9-12 wide at the top, was built by the first Emperor of China between 220 to 206 BC, as a means of “border control” designed to keep out hordes of nomadic invaders from Mongolia to the north at an enormous cost. It was paid for by “heavy taxation” - and the deaths of over a million workers. But you know what? It didn’t work! The wall only served to slow down the invaders as they simply went over and around it. Sound familiar?
The border between Mexico and the US is a rather recent
thing. Before 1846, there was no line in the dirt between the two countries.
The line was a product of the Mexican-American war in in 1846-1848, when as a
result of Mexico’s defeat, it was forced by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to
cede to the US Mexican held territories in New Mexico, Arizona, and of course,
California. Before this, native peoples traveled and traded freely between what
we now call North, Middle, Central and South America. It is Therefore, it is not
uncommon today for people of these places to refer to themselves as “Americanos” or “Americans.”
In my tiny barrio in South Modesto during the 1940s, we grew
up surrounded by "Mojados",
or what we commonly called, "Wetbacks", a reference to how they
crossed the border by swimming the Rio Grande. They seemed normal enough to me: families, young
kids, old men whose only dream was to work the summer seasons in the fields or
the canneries, send money to their families in Mexico, and return home for the
winter – until next year. Most had absolutely no intention of staying in the
US.
As a kid, I even worked alongside them in the fields,
picking apricots, peaches and grapes. I remember the dreaded cry echoing
through the trees: "Ahi, viene La
Migra!!" – “Here comes the immigration!!” And them scattering across
rows of fruit trees, over fences, and into irrigation ditches. Those caught
were deported, and most, in a matter of days or weeks, simply waded back across
the Rio Grande, at great personal sacrifice, to pick again until the next time.
In the Woody Guthrie song “The Deportees”, he sings of a
tragic plane crash in “Los Gatos Canyon” on January 28, 1948, in Fresno County
near Coalinga, California, that resulted in the deaths of 28 migrant
farmworkers who were being deported from California to Mexico. Guthrie begins
his ballad by denouncing the inane practice of deporting illegals during
harvest time: “Oh the crops are all in and the peaches are rotting; the oranges
are packed in the creosote dump. They’re flying em’ back to the Mexican border,
to spend all their money to wade back again.” Creosote, a coal tar mix,
rendered the fruit inedible and some believe, was used to drive up prices. Of
course, as Cesar Chavez uncovered, these kinds of practices were sometimes done
by some unscrupulous ranchers to avoid paying workers: simply call the
immigration department just before payday.
More importantly, Woody’s song sought to humanize the plight
of illegal aliens in the US by noting of the plane tragedy that the 'radio said
they were just ‘deportees'”. But he has
real names for them as he says his farewells: “Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye
Rosalita, adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria, you won’t have a name when you ride
that big airplane; all they will call you will be ‘deportees.’”
Today’s immigration debate is highly complex, divisive and
contentious and it appears to have no one solution that makes everybody
happy. President Obama’s policy of mass
deportation has split families in two. Children of illegal immigrants, born
here, US citizens by law, are left behind, though some Americans would like to
change the constitution to deny them this right to citizenship. American employers, addicted to cheap labor
continue to knowingly hire undocumented workers. Americans insatiably addicted
to drugs, help fuel Mexican drug trafficking. Children of illegal immigrants
have lived here all their lives, graduated from our high schools and
universities, speak flawless English, are fully Americanized - who know no
other country - are being denied citizenship and jobs.
Yet, the 12 million
illegal immigrants in the U.S. today are embedded into our way of life, and to
remove them is like cutting off an arm or a leg to save oneself. Every Hispanic knows someone who is here
illegally, an uncle, a brother, a neighbor. Some of them have lived here
illegally for generations, undetected, having raised their grandkids among us.
They are our brothers, fathers, wives, sisters and neighbors. We go to school
with them. We work with them. We break bread with them. They pick our fruits, our vegetables, cook
and serve our food in restaurants. They pay taxes too. Each time they buy food
and clothing, or purchase a car, and depending on which study you rely on,
either cost US tax payers in social services or wind up paying their way or
even helping to build our economy. If they are illegals or criminals who have
broken the law, shouldn’t it be “illegal” too for us to collect taxes from
them? “Notice: Illegal Aliens do not have to pay sales taxes on any items
purchased in this establishment. Thank you. The Management.”
In the popular imagination, Americans today picture hordes
of Mexicans, poised at the borders ready to rush into U.S. to get a “free
ride”, and take away people's jobs (most which Americans would never condescend
to do anyway.) Ironically, many of our own Hispanic Gente also embrace the myth. The truth is that most Mexicans are
perfectly happy in Mexico and never even think about emigrating to the US. They
go about their daily lives, working, toiling, and surviving with no intention
of ever leaving their country, and yes, occasionally fantasizing about visiting
Disneylandia or Las Vegas sometime. After
all, the U.S. comes to them: Walmart, Costco, Burger King, MacDonald’s.
Sadly, the Nativist chants: “round em’ all up and ship em’
back where they came from”, “increased security of our border”, and “build more
fences”, abound.
In a recent Letter to the Editor of our local paper, an
outraged writer says “We simply need to build a wall along the Mexican border
from California to Texas that is impenetrable.” What appears impenetrable is this guy’s warped mind!
Does he know what that would cost? Has he ever seen the impenetrable terrain that the 1500 miles of rugged mountains and desert
between the two country’s poses? “It would not be difficult to do”, he
continues. “And [it] would cost less than what American taxpayers spend on the
‘finger in the dike’ system we have now.”
I would suggest this guy go on Wikipedia and read up on the
Great Wall of China. Look on the bright side: If we build our wall and it fails
to stop illegal immigration, as it probably will, we can always use it as a tourist attraction
like the Chinese do? “Get your Tacos.
Hamburgers. Popcorn here! Barato!!”
