Chapter 17-Immigration View in the 1990s

I realize we've touched upon this subject in the previous chapter pertaining to immigration in the 1980s, but the topic has resurfaced in chapter 17. What I’m referring to are the multitude of efforts put forth by the U.S. to curb illegal immigrations, specifically when it comes to the Mexican border. The book talks about the ridiculous expenditures put forth towards this effort during the nineties. But also how the expensive fences and other fancy high-tech strategies implemented at key high-traffic ‘target’ points have ultimately backfired; the access points simply moved, and it has not served as the deterrent once hoped for.  And then of course, like we have discussed before when we watched the documentary on Mexican immigration, more people are staying and not returning home seasonally out of fear that they won’t be able make it back. And the tightened conditions have also resulted in terrible deaths (e.g. dehydration).  Something needs to change when it comes to the dynamics of not only our immigration policy, but our view on what it means to be an American—the perception of immigrants. As we've learned, it seems like overall the U.S. has been on an incredibly long trend of anti-immigration sentiment. Yes, it is not always as blatant as it was in the past, but indeed it prevails.

For example, when I reviewed George W. Bush’s 2001 immigration proposal (in the appendix), it paints a picture that the U.S. welcomes legal immigrants to this country, “with open arms”. But, is that really true?  It would, obviously, be uncool and politically incorrect to not act or say that the country is “welcoming” of immigrants. But considering the circulating anti-immigrant sentiment, those “welcoming” statements don’t feel totally authentic, even when referring to those who come here legally. Immigrants can be perceived mistakenly as a threat. I thought it was interesting when Daniels mentions the ‘roller coaster’ of public opinion regarding immigration and mentions something about what would happen during a recession. Well, we’ve hit a recession in recent years, that’s for sure. It just made me think about how much the fear of recession, the plethora of job loss that’s occurred, the foreclosure of homes, etc. has potentially played a role or contributed to anti-immigrant sentiment. (e.g. with less overall opportunity, why should immigrants be viewed favorably?)

   The other thing I found interesting about the proposal was that when the notion of combating illegal immigration is stated, it is quickly followed up with the mentioning of criminals, drug traffickers, and the like. And this connection occurs in two different places. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but this seems so deliberate; it’s almost as if illegal immigrants and criminals are lumped together in the same category. Regardless, to me there definitely seems to be a strong emphasis on “protecting our borders” and ‘catching’/deporting illegal immigrants, when perhaps all of that energy to keep those out could have been utilized to re-conceptualize and revamp our immigration policy—in a positive way that supports immigration and where that is the primary focus—not keeping out the wrongly-perceived “bad guys” .