Page 6
'{Jortlanb (Observer
luly 28. 2010
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yVWvs
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1
„-s '
AS?
'/ / /
Get Sensible about Immigration
Ill-fated
economic
policies deserve
some blame
by
C olette C osner
O n M o t h e r 's D a y ,
t h r e e m o n th s b e f o r e
A rizo n a 's d ra c o n ia n new
im m ig ra tio n law w as to
go into e ffe c t, a m o th e r o f tw o
a d d re sse d a v ig il o u tsid e o f an
Im m ig ra tio n a n d C u sto m s E n-
, f o r c e m e n t ( I C E ) d e te n tio n
c e n te r.
T he w om an had been inter
cepted, w ithout papers, on h er
w ay to w ork. U nable to fight
back tears, she told the cro w d o f
the m onths she spent in this priva
tized detention center, w o n d er
ing i f she w ould ever see her
children again.
A rizona's new law, w hich goes
into effect Sunday, w ill legalize
racial p rofiling by requiring of-
ficers to pull over, q uestion, and
detain any o n e they have a "rea
sonable suspicion" o f being u n
docum ented. T he law has c ata
lyzed the grassroots im m igrant
rights m ovem ent, driving h u n
dreds o f th ousands o f
activists into the streets
d e m a n d in g c o m p re
h en siv e im m ig ratio n
reform .
H o w e v e r, g iv e n
P r e s id e n t
B a ra c k
O bam a's recent com m ents, the
chances o f a national overhaul in
im m igration policy is unlikely to
happen this year. A nd w ith the
failure o f reform at the federal
level, states are taking m atters
into their ow n hands, drafting and
passing cruel anti-im m igrant laws
that m irror A rizona's legislation.
States are also em b racin g a
co n tro v ersial fed eral p ro g ram
that essentially lets local au th o ri
ties co n v ert police officers into
de facto IC E agents. (IC E is the
agen cy that used to be called the
Im m igration and N atu ralizatio n
I I I I I I I
Service, o r IN S.)
T he O b am a a d m in istratio n
should scrap en forcem ent-only
policies that separate fam ilies
and en co u rag e raids, d ep o rta
tions, b o rd er m ilitarization, and
racial profiling. T o achieve su s
tain ab le im m igration p o licies,
w e'll need to co n sid er the roots
o f m ig ratio n . W hat's p u sh in g
people to leave L atin A m erica in
the first place?
O n a recen t W itness for Peace
S p e a k e r 's to u r , B a ld e m a r
M endoza Jim enez, a farm er and
agriculture expert from the M exi
can state o f O axaca, described
ho w the N orth A m erica F ree
T ra d e A g re e m e n t (N A F T A )
u n d erm in ed traditional ag ricu l
ture. U nable to com pete w ith
subsidized grains im ported from
the States, m illio n s o f farm ers
w ere forced o u t o f w ork.
"M an y [farm ers] co u ld not
m ake ends m eet. T hey a b an
d oned th eir lands, left to w o rk in
factories and em ig rated to the
U nited States."
Jim enez's story isn't unique,
but this p ersp ectiv e is largely
u n acco u n ted for in the im m ig ra
tion debate. In g eneral, u n d o cu
m en ted im m ig ran ts and th e ir
co m m u n ities get b lam ed fo r the
situation, rath er than the ill-fated
econom ic policies that displaced
those im m igrants.
N ot one o f the 4,130 w ords in
O bam a's m ost recent speech on
im m ig ra tio n a d d re s s e d w h y
people m igrate. H e didn't a d
dress u n fair trade, m ention d is
placed farm ers, o r ack n o w led g e
that the im m igration rate doubled
after N A F T A tran sfo rm ed U .S.-
M exican trade.
T he situation in A rizo n a d em
o n strates th at w e need to o v e r
haul o u r im m ig ratio n policies. I f
w e w an t to stem o r slow the
flow o f u n d o cu m en ted w orkers
into the U n ited States, h ow ever,
w e'll also n eed to revam p o u r
foreign eco n o m ic policies.
Colette Cosner is a regional
organizer with Witness fo r
Peace.