Tuesday, July 26, 2011
An American Hero in Congress!
Conressman Luis Gutierrez was arrested today on the White House steps while standing up for those who couldn't dare to do so. I realize that he suffers little more than time lost and $100, while many Americans fear for their very ability to continue their life as they know it in the country they call Home. However, I applaud him for taking this position, using civil disobedience as a means to be a witness to this injustice in our county. Having read the hurtful and ugly comments that some have posted about him, I will pray for him and others like him who are brave enough to stand up for justice and human dignity.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Define Illegal
Jose Antonio Vargas has started a wonderful website: Define American. There is so much I have learned just my perusing this blog. For starters, the amazing number of undocumented immigrants who come from countries other than Mexico and Central American nations. And the number of American citizens who are personally touched by the experience of the undocumented immigrants that they are related to, or who they themselves were before being able to rectify their immigrant status. If you have a second to look at some of the posts on this website, you might find it as fascinating as I have.
However, I want to shift my focus here to thinking about defining "illegal". What makes an action illegal? (I've already addressed my thoughts previously on how illegal is not an adjective that describes a person.) Here are a few definitions of illegal that you might come across on a quick Google search: forbidden by law or statute, not according to or authorized by law, Prohibited by law. Essentially, illegal means anything that goes against the laws of one's place of residence.
Our laws tend to reflect our society's concept of ethics and the greater moral good. While stopping in front of a red hexagonal sign is not ethical in and of itself, we've made this a law because of the value we place on protecting human life. Some of our laws, however, have poorly reflected on our morality over time, and have needed to be changed. Jim Crow laws are one example.
Should we not ask ourselves how our immigration policies uphold our society's morality and ethics? I recognize the need for security for the communal good, and certainly any immigration policy must take that into consideration. I also recognize the need for every inhabitant to contribute to and receive from the rest of the community in an equitable (not necessarily equal) fashion. However, I also believe that the people of the US have no greater or lesser value than the people of other nations, and should not feel themselves entitled to the good fortune we have because of any greater human worth.
I wonder how many of us have done something illegal purposefully (I've broken laws when protesting injustice), stupidly (perhaps some underage drinking?), or innocently not (I know I've driven the wrong way down a one-way street in an unfamiliar town). Most who are entering or staying in the US illegally are doing so with moral purpose (trying to keep their families fed, clothed and sheltered in their home countries), or sometimes stupidly (I've known young men who simply saw it as an adventure to make their own way in the US without realizing the possible consequences), and very often innocently (like Jose Antonio Vargas and other undocumented children). How should we treat those who break the law when there is a greater moral principle at stake? Or those who do so simply because they lack the maturity to make a better decision? Or those who never did choose to break a law? Or those who break the law regularly for immoral purposes (sex and drug traffickers, for instance)?
Immigration reform is far from simple, but clearly we need to have this societal discussion about how our laws should match our ethics and values.
However, I want to shift my focus here to thinking about defining "illegal". What makes an action illegal? (I've already addressed my thoughts previously on how illegal is not an adjective that describes a person.) Here are a few definitions of illegal that you might come across on a quick Google search: forbidden by law or statute, not according to or authorized by law, Prohibited by law. Essentially, illegal means anything that goes against the laws of one's place of residence.
Our laws tend to reflect our society's concept of ethics and the greater moral good. While stopping in front of a red hexagonal sign is not ethical in and of itself, we've made this a law because of the value we place on protecting human life. Some of our laws, however, have poorly reflected on our morality over time, and have needed to be changed. Jim Crow laws are one example.
Should we not ask ourselves how our immigration policies uphold our society's morality and ethics? I recognize the need for security for the communal good, and certainly any immigration policy must take that into consideration. I also recognize the need for every inhabitant to contribute to and receive from the rest of the community in an equitable (not necessarily equal) fashion. However, I also believe that the people of the US have no greater or lesser value than the people of other nations, and should not feel themselves entitled to the good fortune we have because of any greater human worth.
I wonder how many of us have done something illegal purposefully (I've broken laws when protesting injustice), stupidly (perhaps some underage drinking?), or innocently not (I know I've driven the wrong way down a one-way street in an unfamiliar town). Most who are entering or staying in the US illegally are doing so with moral purpose (trying to keep their families fed, clothed and sheltered in their home countries), or sometimes stupidly (I've known young men who simply saw it as an adventure to make their own way in the US without realizing the possible consequences), and very often innocently (like Jose Antonio Vargas and other undocumented children). How should we treat those who break the law when there is a greater moral principle at stake? Or those who do so simply because they lack the maturity to make a better decision? Or those who never did choose to break a law? Or those who break the law regularly for immoral purposes (sex and drug traffickers, for instance)?
Immigration reform is far from simple, but clearly we need to have this societal discussion about how our laws should match our ethics and values.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Why call him a Wetback?
I debated heavily over whether to give this blog the title it ended up with, so perhaps some of you would be interested in knowing why I chose to use such a pejorative term.
First of all, it is one of the pet names that Polo and I use for each other. I often tell the story in Spanish that I followed "mi mojado" (my wetback) back to Mexico and "lo atrape ahi" (I caught him there). We say about myself that I was a "media mojada", or half wetback, because I came to Mexico legally but worked there illegally. For us, the term wetback has evolved into a term of endearment.
Secondly, the term wetback is pretty descriptive of Polo's experience, as he did have to cross the Rio Bravo, or Rio Grande as we call it in the north. And as wetback refers in general to those who crossed illegally, that would be my husband.
Perhaps the greatest reason is simply that claiming a term for yourself and making it your own seems to disarm those who might use it against you, at least in as much as you lose your sense of offense and therefore deny the other party any satisfaction from using the term.
Clearly this term can be hurtful and very offensive to many, so I hope I have made clear here that this is not my purpose. In discussion with Polo and other friends who know first hand how it feels to have this label applied to them, I chose to use it as it accurately describes the way my husband and I refer to ourselves.
First of all, it is one of the pet names that Polo and I use for each other. I often tell the story in Spanish that I followed "mi mojado" (my wetback) back to Mexico and "lo atrape ahi" (I caught him there). We say about myself that I was a "media mojada", or half wetback, because I came to Mexico legally but worked there illegally. For us, the term wetback has evolved into a term of endearment.
Secondly, the term wetback is pretty descriptive of Polo's experience, as he did have to cross the Rio Bravo, or Rio Grande as we call it in the north. And as wetback refers in general to those who crossed illegally, that would be my husband.
Perhaps the greatest reason is simply that claiming a term for yourself and making it your own seems to disarm those who might use it against you, at least in as much as you lose your sense of offense and therefore deny the other party any satisfaction from using the term.
Clearly this term can be hurtful and very offensive to many, so I hope I have made clear here that this is not my purpose. In discussion with Polo and other friends who know first hand how it feels to have this label applied to them, I chose to use it as it accurately describes the way my husband and I refer to ourselves.
Date Night!
On Friday I had a date with my husband! I sent the boys to their grandparents' house and then went out to get my hair styled and my make-up applied by a person who has better sense than me about that kind of thing, and turned on my computer at 9:00 to meet with my spouse. (Actually, he called at 9:00 to ask if I was going to show up at nine, as I was doing the stereotypical girl thing and taking too long to prep... so it wasn't till 9:10 that I finally got on-line.) He was soooo handsome, my heart skipped a beat when I first caught sight of him.
We talked for three hours about our kids, our work, the wonderful memories we share, and what we hope to do together the next time we get the opportunity to see each other. While it was horrible to see his lips and not kiss them, the see his arms held out to me that I cannot hug, to know that he smells like my husband but I can't get even a small whiff, I am still so grateful for the technology that allowed us to enjoy this date together.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Let the Debate Begin
On NPR's Fresh Air today, Terry Gross interviewed Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer winning journalist who wrote about his undocumented immigrant status in the New York Times magazine. There is so much fodder in this interview, and even more in the one that followed his, for excellent discussion material.
For the moment, let me pick on just one part of this conversation. Terry Gross asks about half way through the interview, "I think a lot of people have been basically making this comment that you were working as a journalist, which is about uncovering the truth, yet you were telling fundamental lies about yourself. So was journalism therefore the wrong profession for you? Were you betraying your profession by not being honest about yourself?"
My problem here is that Jose Antonio Vargas WAS being honest about himself; "illegal" status as an immigrant is not a part of the immigrant. Jose Antonio Vargas is gay, and he is Filipino and American, and he is a talented writer, but in no way is illegal a part of him. The experience of being labeled illegal is very much a part of him and his life experience, but it he is not an "illegal person".
My husband is a father, a Mexican, a hard-worker and entrepreneur, and the most committed partner a person could ever ask for, and he was in the US illegally for four years, but he has never been or will ever be an "illegal person".
For the moment, let me pick on just one part of this conversation. Terry Gross asks about half way through the interview, "I think a lot of people have been basically making this comment that you were working as a journalist, which is about uncovering the truth, yet you were telling fundamental lies about yourself. So was journalism therefore the wrong profession for you? Were you betraying your profession by not being honest about yourself?"
My problem here is that Jose Antonio Vargas WAS being honest about himself; "illegal" status as an immigrant is not a part of the immigrant. Jose Antonio Vargas is gay, and he is Filipino and American, and he is a talented writer, but in no way is illegal a part of him. The experience of being labeled illegal is very much a part of him and his life experience, but it he is not an "illegal person".
My husband is a father, a Mexican, a hard-worker and entrepreneur, and the most committed partner a person could ever ask for, and he was in the US illegally for four years, but he has never been or will ever be an "illegal person".
About Me
In February of 2005, I made the best mistake of my life, marrying my mojado and joining my life and fate with his.
Since that day US immigration policies have shaped our relationship as husband and wife, as parents, children, siblings and members of our extended communities.
This blog is simply meant to add one more voice to the swell of those calling for humane and just immigration reform.
Since that day US immigration policies have shaped our relationship as husband and wife, as parents, children, siblings and members of our extended communities.
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