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Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves to rot on my topsoil
And be called by no name except “deportees”?
— Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) by Woody Guthrie
“You think change is the goal? Really? You’ve been doing this way to long to believe that.”
— Homeland Security official Cynthia Foards to covert operator Matt Graber in Sicaro 2: Day of the Soldado.
*
When I was in college, I spent breaks and summers driving a glass truck for an outfit in La Cañada, California. I picked up glass at commercial plants and delivered to job sites across the L.A. Basin, in an ancient four-speed flatbed Ford with no radio and no AC. It was a great job. Every one of those glass plants was staffed almost entirely by Mexicans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans. They piled eight deep into Chevy Impalas and drove halfway across L.A. for the privilege of working their asses off in front of tempering furnaces in the summer L.A. heat. I reckon most of ’em were illegal.
When I think of immigrants, that’s who I see.
*
Immigration across the U.S./Mexico border is perhaps the most intractable issue in all of American history. Woody Guthrie wrote Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos) recounting the deaths of 28 braseros — legal migrant farmworkers — in a plane crash in Los Gatos Canyon in California. They were being deported to Mexico. That was 1948. And it goes back way further than that — back to gunrunning, cross-border raids and a major refugee crisis during the Mexican Revolution of 1910–20; back to tequileros smuggling booze into the Prohibition-era U.S.; hell, it goes back to the 1840s, when the border moved south at gunpoint and crossed thousands of Mexicans.
There’s absolutely nothing new about the immigration controversies roiling the nation.
It’s hard to solve a problem as big and complex as illegal immigration along a 2,000-mile border. It’s impossible when nobody wants to be honest about the myriad impacts of generations long migration across that border.
President Donald Trump hinged his improbable campaign on the issue, kicking it off with a flamethrower: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us (sic). They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
The specter face-tattooed MS-13 gangbangers flooding like a horde of orcs across an open border is red meat for the activist base on the political right. The moral panic is impervious to challenge on the data — which doesn’t correlate increased crime with immigration, legal or illegal. It is also impervious to the cruel impact of a “zero-tolerance” policy, which we watched play out in recent weeks.
If the nation is faced with an invasion, no tactic is off the table.
The right also tends to forget that it is the business community in the U.S. that creates the demand for cheap labor that drives most (but not all) of the migration.
As Tom Russell asked — eight years before Trump’s election — Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall?
Meanwhile, the political left tends to ignore or downplay the very real impact of illegal immigration. Trump painted with a broad brush dipped in the nastiest kind of nativist bile, but one doesn’t have to be “anti-immigrant” and certainly not racist to acknowledge that there are people coming to this country illegally it would be better to keep out.
The left also elides the fundamental fact that people who cross the border illegally are, in fact, breaking the law. If America is not a nation of laws, we’re not anything at all.
The “good people” whom I believe surely make up the vast majority of those coming here from Mexico and Central America seeking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness create a significant burden on the social safety net in high-immigration states. There are impacts in emergency rooms, in schools, and on highways where uninsured illegal immigrants create a cost burden on the rest of us. Those impacts are real, and they are significant.
Everybody knows that the U.S. needs comprehensive immigration and border security reform, but defining what that looks like seems to be impossible. And part of the reason for that is that for too many politicians and activists, change isn’t the goal. Illegal immigration is a “good issue” for both the right and the left — a club with which to beat each other in the tribal war that has come to define American politics.
The right gets to portray the left as pro-criminal, enabling the “infestation” of the nation by dangerous “animals,” while the left gets to portray the right as inhumane and/or racist. After the impressive upset primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Queens, New York, the Democratic Party is falling over itself to jump on the Abolish ICE bandwagon, demonstrating yet again that a slogan is better than a policy.
Fixing the problem — as imperfect as any such fix will inevitably be — would cost both sides a wedge issue, and that ain’t good politics. And politics — where appearances are all important and effectiveness is often irrelevant — is what is driving the immigration “debate,” and has been for decades.
Brian says
Something I saw pointed out by the Right on social media during this whole child-separation hullabaloo, as a way of saying “Trump isn’t any worse”, was the fact that it was Clinton who signed the toughest anti-immigration laws on the books, and Obama who enforced it (more deportations than any president in history, with a higher percentage of criminals deported).
They’re right.
Our last two Democrat presidents. Sorry if I find the accusations coming from republicans — that democrats want open borders and crime — disingenuous at best.
Not saying you’re wrong; no doubt politicians on both sides DO want to keep the issue alive and triggering to voters. But actions speak louder than talking points, in my opinion.
Annie M says
Thank you Craig for this article. You’ve put this issue writing in such a concise and passionate way. This is just one more issue to bury Trump. I lived over in the valley for many years. Driving by vegetable and fruit tree farms all I saw were working out in the heat and dust were migrants, legal or illegal. No other citizens of other colors would do those jobs. I can hear folks say it’s dirty and hot work with very little pay. The pay they did get was more than they made in a year in Mexico and Central America. They saved and continue to save money to send back home to relatives. It’s the same today.
Many years ago there were small huts, built by the land owners, where these migrant workers lived. No running water inside, no toilets, maybe a hot plate, and a few mattresses.
These are proud and hard working folks that be given citizenship because they add to our culture and help bring food to our tables. They also pay taxes. Don’t get me started on all the other issues that I’d like to dump Trump on. Spending money on all these special commissions, trashing our national forests, education, on and on. But how they are treating these folks, tearing children from families and that just because they want a better life. All of us need to appreciate the lives we have and share it with others.
All praise for this article belongs to Jim. He wrote it. But we all appreciate your commentary.
Annie M says
I apologize Jim. Hard to read that print at the age my eyes are. Should have had my tri-focals on. I really liked this article and appreciate your writing skills.
Thanks Annie.
Chris says
All good perspectives — I would also add that another major driver of the problem is the extensive corruption that is endemic to Latin cultures in central America and Mexico itself. Read T.R. Farehnbach’s History of Texas and the Texians and one sees this is nothing new if you want to go back to 1840. The largely good people who wish to emigrate are also fleeing corruption, and as long as the Good ole US of A has a place for them to go, the power structures in those countries don’t have to fix anything. We are the safety valve. By the way, when I speak of corrupt cultures, I am passing on what friends who live under those cultures tell me in comparison to the US system based on the rule of law.
We take the rule of law for granted at our peril. Living in a genuinely corrupt state is terrible. Unfortunately, South Africa has gone that way — I’ve talked to many emigres who left because of it.
Traven Torsvan says
The thing is for the U.S., corruption in Latin America is a feature not a bug.
Let’s not forget that most of these asylum seekers are fleeing gang violence that’s a fallout of years of our dirty wars in Central America
deuce says
Damn straight! Just because corruption is endemic throughout nearly all of Spain’s former colonies doesn’t mean that it isn’t all the fault of the US. I just wish we could figure out how to corrupt Canada so we could use THAT as a feature, not a bug.
Saddle Tramp says
I wholeheartedly agree with Jim’s fine and accurate analysis (and Annie’s personal observations and experience) which would seem to be blatantly obvious to most anyone. However, obviously it is not. The details of allegations of abuse or not on either side can be delayed for judgement for now, but I can tell from much experience who benefits most. I hold equal disdain for the leadership and moneyed class of the countries (with resources) that oppress and exploit their people to necessitate their coming here by whatever means necessary. Someone I knew who came to the U.S. from Mexico asked how there can be such a difference on one side of an arbitrary border with milk and honey to the north and poverty to the south. Yes, America was blessed with abundant resources for sure and a system (wavering as it is) that created this wealth. Mexico and the other South American countries have resources too. Taking that to task (as discussed with Greg previously) shows the depth of the problem with corruption and failed systems. It takes the will of the people to demand it and inspired and pragmatic leadership to bring it about. Not that easy. We don’t want to be next. How do we protect what we have left and still welcome immigration and those undocumented that are here already without upsetting the apple cart? It will be a slow and arduous process, short of blanket amnesty which of course insults and offends so many. The economy does depend on it. The pocket book speaks the loudest and works the fastest. We are already seeing the effects of employers being required to legitimize their employees legal status. There are always workarounds of course. We could turn it over to the police or INS and ICE and have a nationwide dragnet and employ all sorts of draconian scenarios that really become scary. I think it will be more of a matter of slow attrition and economic necessities that bring any real change short of there being an “invasion” across our border. Turning neighbors into enemies is not going to help our security either. If Mexico becomes a totally collapsed and failed state and an outright threat to our security all tactics will be on the table as mentioned. A wall would be the least of these for the vast majority of the southern border. You need to stop the problem much further south of the border than at the border. It will take an all out effort of cooperation with Mexico. What would be next? Are we to believe there is nothing to be done. Nothing worth saving. A hopeless cause and If you believe Trump’s scapegoating rhetoric it is. They are dumping their trash here according to his attitudes. This world was made for everyone. That’s not always comfortable to live with. I think that lies at the heart of the problem. The rich and privileged more often than not wall themselves off from poverty. Others do the same in a variety of ways. It is much more than a matter of making laws and enforcing them. It is a matter of attitudes and empathy. That’s not left or right, it’s just being human. I helped a family once when I was laid over in Kettleman City, CA. I was parked in a dirt lot where a street idead ended between two motels. I was walking over to get some breakfast at a restaurant across the highway when a Mexican family in a van turned up the street and tried to make a u‑turn but ended up with the front tires of their van stuck against the curb. He could not back up for some reason so I went over to help. He was with his wife, a newborn baby and a young daughter. They spoke no english, but I finally figured out the reverse in the van was acting up or just did not work. You could see it in their eyes and their manner they were honest people struggling. I helped push him away from the curb and got them pointed in the right direction. I asked as they were leaving where they were heading. “Santa Maria” they said. I hope she helps get them there safely I said under my breath. He would be out working in the fields no doubt and I hope that he could afford a new transmission too…
Thanks ST. You’re right — nothing about this is easy. There are competing values here that have to be reconciled, and that requires the art of compromise, which is a dying art these days.
“The right also tends to forget that it is the business community in the U.S. that creates the demand for cheap labor that drives most (but not all) of the migration.”
Actually I don’t think they due do tend to forget that, which is why nothing really gets done.
“Meanwhile, the political left tends to ignore or downplay the very real impact of illegal immigration.”
Yep.
I’ve long thought, quite frankly, that the Democratic upper echelon sees every illegal immigrant as a future Democratic voter while the GOP upper echelon sees every illegal immigrant as somebody who will mow their lawn for cheap.
Both views are off the mark, and frankly racist, on both sides.
But that’s why its so hard to get anything actually done.
Sorry for the typos again.
Maybe I should switch to Espresso in the morning.
tom says
the usa/Mexican border in texas is a river. how can a wall be built in a riparian zone? the landscape is in constant flux & erosion…….here in Arizona we have 2 mammal species endangered and they need to migrate for genetic reasons, breeding reasons, the jaguar and the sonoran pronghorn antelope. a wall that is proposed would prohibit the mammals, but the humans would find a way, probably, to skirt the wall via tunnels or catapult the “pacas de mota” over the top of the wall. in my simple view of politics, let me throw this in to the commentary, if a person gets the majority of the votes (Hillary, ugh) I believe that person is the winner. what is this electoral college. I was raised “the majority wins”…….what am I not seeing? and finally, you southern cal boys should check out southern California’s dave alvin rendition of “deportee (plane wreck in los gatos) on his new album with panhandle texan jimmie dale Gilmore, from downey to Lubbock!! great album vocally & instrumentally……..
Saddle Tramp says
Tom…
This is a mental wall (barrier).
They can be just as formidable.
How long have we been trying to break down this [other] wall? I know it is said that fences make for better neighbors. That is putting trust in distrust. I do understand that. It has a long history and appears to be just a matter of fact now. Don’t fence me in rarely applies these days. Honest locks. Honest guns. Honest laws. We are not naive here I am sure. If they were not necessary (in the best sense) we would not have them. How far do you go is the pertinent question in my humble opinion. I have many tales of immigration in my war bag I could let out if I wanted to. They run both sides of the issues. I defended the vast majority of them then as I would still do now and that includes both good individuals and good families. I would rather deport the abusers of these fine people if that were possible. As far as Dave and Jimmie Dale go I can only speak for myself as a SoCal resident and a big fan of both. I have had their cd for over a month now and have played it non-stop and I most certainly concur with your approval. Still waiting for the cover art print that I pre-ordered with the cd that was back ordered. Of course Jim’s excellent choice above with fellow Flatlander Joe Ely at the vocals is a great way to spread the word about Los Super Seven and a great version too. Both drive home the point in hauntingly moving fashion. As they say there are 40 roads to Chicago. As long as you get there is what matters. As far as me I always take the backroads when I can…
Always.
Saddle Tramp says
P.S.
Traven and Deuce. It goes [almost] without saying about America’s Imperialism and hypocrisy. I put it this way in regards more specifically to Mexico. All these years a blind economic eye has been turned and then all of a sudden they become a target. So they thought they weren’t going to get a little accent on them as a result. They want their crops and eat ‘em too. I could get easily and highly pissed. I have witnessed it all first hand for decades. This same perverse strategy has been applied all too often elsewhere. They pinch the little guy and the big guy goes free for the most part unless he is in the way of the even bigger guy. I sure hope Mueller can redeem our dignity and prestige once again, or at least a reasonable down payment. Thank goodness for good music. It helps keep me sane…
RLT says
Good piece. On my mom’s side I’m a second-generation American (Ireland by way of Canada); on my dad’s side the family colonized Virginia in the 1640s. Two very different ends of the spectrum, both of which have made me very pro-immigrant. I also share a bed with an immigration attorney…
As with so many things, I find that my real distaste for anti-immigrant rhetoric is for hypocrisy when it comes to white immigrants vs. immigrants of color. It often seems like what people are really fighting is a darker-skinned America. Talk about a pointless battle…especially when so many immigrants have very conservative leanings themselves. Most of these folks come from very patriarchal cultures. Take the Mexicans–as a whole, a more family-value-oriented, religious, socially conservative, hardworking bunch you will never find. The day the Republican Party realizes that will be last day the Democrats win an election in this country.
Thx RLT.