A Primer on Immigration
Migration is as universal as it is ancient. Today it is simple enough for some — a cheap flight from New York to visit relatives in Florida, a relocation to a new city to pursue a job opportunity, or a chance to study abroad for a year or two.
But for others, migration is a matter of life and death. At home in countries like Burma, Guatemala, or Zimbabwe, starvation or persecution looms. Abroad awaits indefinite detention or death at the hands of unwelcoming locals.
Background Posts on Immigration
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If American culture is this difficult to pin down, then what does it mean to assimilate to it?
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If patriotism is simply a form of nationalism, then nativists should be forgiven for conflating patriotism and nativism. After all, together, these two concepts together comprise the dictionary definition of nationalism ...
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To understand the immigration debate that has come into high focus in the U.S. for the last few years, you have to take a look back at the history of immigration to this country.
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To date, the government has not adequately explained how citizens are made safer by arresting and deporting Caribbean men for smoking pot in the 1970s (so-called "criminal aliens" or "fugitive aliens"), or locking up Guatemalan factory workers for enduring abusive labor conditions without complaint. If history has shown one thing about immigration politics in time of national stress, it is that such periods are intensely traumatic for the targeted communities and later regretted by the majority. The current period promises to be no exception.
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. . . the history of U.S. extraction of Latin American resources, exploitation of its populations, and support for murderous regimes has helped retard economic growth in the hemisphere and caused waves of economic and political refugees. Once those migrants arrived in the U.S., they were often seen as culturally alien invaders or criminals. Most norteamericanos (North Americans) know little of the history of U.S. foreign policy in the hemisphere and the ways it has augmented immigration to the U.S. Most latinoamericanos know this history all too well.
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National security is not bolstered by locking up innocent people or by deporting people based on the color of their skin. Torture doesn't produce useful information; Chinese interrogators under Mao understood as well as the U.S. officials who appropriated their techniques that it is not intended to do so. The only people who can justifiably feel safer when due process guarantees are thrown out the window are the politicians who have scapegoated their way to another term in office at the expense of their unfortunate targets and the trust of the public they are supposed to protect.
The Ethic of Assimilation
Nationalism, Patriotism, and Nativism
Change at Change.org Immigration
Immigration Guide
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Prerna Lal
- San Francisco, CA
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Prerna obtained her Masters degree in International Relations in 2007 and took a hiatus from academia. During this break, she co-founded DreamActivist.org and helped launch a program for immigrant youth in the Bay Area (S4FC). Currently, she is also a Managing Editor at The Sanctuary. Views expressed on this blog are her own and not that of any organization currently affiliated with her. Contact email - prerna@change.org
Other Contributors
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Dave Bennion
- Philadelphia, PA
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David is an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, where he helps immigrants to the U.S. navigate the complex immigration legal system. Views he expresses at change.org are his alone and don't represent the views or opinions of his employer, Nationalities Service Center. The information contained on this site is intended for educational and advocacy purposes only.
