Immigrant Arrests Have Me Vexing
It is deeply troubling and morally offensive to me as a Latino and an American to see the criminalization of hard work take place in this country.
I’m referring to yesterday’s roundup and arrests of close to 1,200 undocumented immigrants in various states throughout the country and a number of executives at the firms where they were employed, according to today’s headlines in the Hoy New York and La Opinion editions in Los Angeles.
We all want to feel safer within our borders but aren’t we throwing out the baby with the bathwater here? Need we express the obvious: That not all undocumented immigrants are criminals! Criminalizing hard working people is contrary to creed of this great nation. Have we forgotten that we all came from somewhere else and how the great contributions of sweat, hope and dreams of immigrants have made this country the “Oasis” of global freedom that it is today?
Apparently so! I-for one-am concerned that we are sending our younger generations a very strangely mixed message. We glorify the actions of criminals and their behaviors and lifestyles for the sake of entertainment in movies and on TV, yet here we are sending hard working people to jail because their paperwork is not in order.
We must ammend our laws to be more compassionate and just than this. Please remember that these people-who mostly are decent folks seeking greater opportunities and livelihoods for themselves and their families-do not issue their own paperwork in this country. It is our government and its agencies that do so. This is clearly not a criminal issue but simply an administrative one that we control.
I feel that these people and their employers have done nothing wrong and am reminded of some of the more repugnant instances in history with the words “nazis” and “internment camps” sadly coming to mind. Those were horrible mistakes and so is the criminalization of the work ethic which makes this country famous.
Is it my imagination or are Americans renowned for working harder than most? It has been clearly documented that Americans work more hours and take less vacation than workers in most industrialized nations. That means even if you’re an undocumented immigrant in this country, everyone is expected to work hard. Is that not what these people were doing when they got arrested? We are contradicting the virtues for which our country is famous. I strongly urge our government to tread carefully here, the world and our own children may never forgive us for it.
J.M. De Jesus
President
QUADRANT TWO PR
