The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks caused a fundamental shift in the immigration policy of the United States, destroying the efforts of Vicente Fox and George W. Bush, former Mexican and U.S. presidents, respectively, to bring about comprehensive immigration reform to the millions of hardworking undocumented immigrants. America became gripped in paranoia toward anyone who looked like a foreigner. As expected, the paranoia was aimed toward members of the Muslim-American community even though President Bush time and again implored us to accept the fundamental truth that America was never at war with Islam. But our fear still lingers as we debate whether Muslim-Americans can practice their faith freely near Ground Zero even though Islam was never responsible for 9/11. At the same time, the paranoia shifted toward "illegal immigrants" and the national conversation slowly began to turn from how we legalize the undocumented immigrants to how we can deport all the illegal immigrants. Comprehensive immigration reform legislation was undone in 2007 and 2009 by Republican obstructionism and Democratic unwillingness. Today, Arizona is replicating what Mississippi and the other southern states did during the century after the Civil War: using the law to legitimize the logic to discriminate against a racial minority.
If you do not agree, look closely at Arizona SB 1070. The law, signed April 23 and partially enforced July 29, became the strictest anti-immigration measure ratified by any state in the country. Under the guise of reinforcing federal immigration laws, SB 1070 made it a state misdemeanor crime for an "alien" to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents and cracked down on those sheltering, hiring and transporting "illegal aliens." Specifically, Section 2, Article 8 states that "where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the U.S., a reasonable attempt shall be made ... to determine the immigration status of the person." How does a police officer, much less anyone else, define an "illegal immigrant"? For Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), "It's not wrong to use race or other indicators for the sake of identifying that people are violating the law." Those indicators include "what kind of shoes people wear, what kind of accent they have, [and] the type of grooming they might have." How American.
Citizen and noncitizen children of undocumented immigrants are also under attack. Even though Plyler v. Doe (1982) declared that states are barred from preventing public education to undocumented immigrant children, countless public officials are demanding our removal from public schools because we cost too much. Citizen children are barred from attending their state universities under the in-state tuition rate in Florida, Virginia and other states. Undocumented students graduating with top honors from high school face the horror of not being able to apply for college. Why are immigrant children being denied their inalienable education rights? Because some members of our society deeply fear the educational rise of immigrant children, since we are seen as a threat to their economic, social and political power. How else can you explain the Republican Party's universal opposition to the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which would allow undocumented children to gain legal access to attend college or join the military? How can you explain the disgraceful defection of Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham from immigration reformers to supporting the revocation of citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents? The Democratic Party is not free of criticism. Why have Democrats taken the Latino vote for granted by breaking their promise for immigration reform in 2009? Why is President Obama not fighting for immigration reform as passionately as he did for healthcare reform, when he is the son of a Kenyan immigrant? The U.S. Latino community is caught between the fear of Republicans and the hesitation of Democrats, elevating the importance of the congressional midterm elections even further.
Although the picture is bleak, we take comfort that there is a proud American history of civil rights struggles and achievements. The American Civil Rights Movement has never ended, since all minority groups in the United States at some point have faced the institutionalized racism from the public and private spheres of American society. Today, immigrants from Latin America (undocumented and otherwise) are being denied their rightful title as Americans because of the paranoia resulting from 9/11, a paranoia that seeks the crippling of our community from achieving the American dream of economic, social and political progress.
Our community will never stop attending school and graduating with honors. We will never stop working in the fields and restaurants. We will never stop speaking Spanish. We will never stop giving our blood, sweat and tears for this country, our country. We will never stop fighting against racial discrimination justified by the law. We will never stop being who we truly are: Somos Americanos.
Danny Navarro is a fourth-year College student and External Communications Chair of the Latino Student Alliance.
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