Learn to appreciate, not fear, the US-Mexico border

Last month, I crossed the border – that dangerous place where our new president has sent troops – from Nogales, Arizona to Nogales, Sonora, without incident. I stepped into a plaza and entered a state-of-the-art dental clinic. There, a dentist fitted me with a new porcelain crown in half a day. It cost $450. My dentist in Oregon quoted me more than $1,600. Then, with my US passport, I crossed back to Arizona through a pedestrian gate with a short line.

Yes, the border area can be dangerous on the Mexican side, especially for asylum seekers who now have no chance to enter the United States. And the Sonoran Desert is unforgiving for those who try to cross the border far from the ports of entry and their secure fencing. 

But the DeConcini Port of Entry in downtown Nogales, Arizona, is bustling with pedestrian and auto traffic. When I arrived in 2007, I was amazed that hundreds of people cross legally every day for business, employment, shopping, and family visits. I lived a mile from the border and often went grocery shopping at night when the store wasn’t crowded. I felt totally safe in that border town.

I learned that farms in Sinaloa and Sonora grow most of the peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and avocados that Americans eat in the winter. Mexican drivers sit in long lines at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, their trucks spewing exhaust, waiting for inspections. Then they haul their loads to produce houses north of Nogales, Arizona. There, seasonal workers sort and pack the vegetables and ship them to grocery stores across the US.

Now think what a 25 percent tariff would do to those shipments of vegetables. Higher prices in the produce section would discourage many Americans from eating healthier food. Mexican and US truck drivers could lose their jobs and the effects would ripple through our economy.

Our president believes he can force Mexico to stem the flow of dangerous drugs into our country. But the drug trade flourishes because addicted Americans will pay any price for those drugs. This is our problem to solve. Since most drug shipments pass through our ports of entry, we should hire more customs agents and drug-sniffing dogs to intercept them.

Mexico is our next-door neighbor and a valuable trade partner. Our economies are intertwined. If Trump launches a trade war with Canada and Mexico, everyone will lose.

Deportations will backfire on US grocery shoppers

The coming deportations will hurt, but not just the immigrants uprooted from their lives in the United States. Anyone who likes to eat will pay for this short-sighted policy.

At first, ICE will deport people with criminal records or recent arrests. There won’t be much pushback against these actions. But the Trump administration has promised more workplace raids. If ICE agents arrest thousands of immigrants who labor on farms and food processing plants, guess what will happen to our food supply? Do you think US citizens will milk cows, clean poultry coops, harvest vegetables in the heat, or work the assembly line at a slaughterhouse?

Less food coming to your grocery stores = higher prices. This is a loss for almost everyone. But there is one group in America rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of mass arrests: private prisons. News outlets report that stock prices for CoreCivic and the Geo Group jumped when Trump won the election in November.

Instead of performing essential jobs, unlucky immigrants without the right documents could be yanked away from their families to await their fate in dusty detention camps. Many have minor children who attend school with US citizen kids. One could be a man who repaired your roof or another a woman who served you tasty tacos from a food cart. 

These folks are not a threat. They help form the backbone of our labor force and pay income and Social Security taxes. How can jailing and deporting our neighbors in the midst of a labor shortage Make America Great Again? 

Asylum shouldn’t be the only door into the US

Yesterday, Title 42 ended. It was a false excuse to deny entry into the U.S. to apply for asylum. Now thousands of desperate people, camped out for months in northern Mexico under dangerous conditions, are hoping for a chance.
They would have plenty of company. At least 1.6 million asylum seekers were already living in the U.S. at the end of November 2022, reported TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse) at Syracuse University. They were waiting for court dates, way in the future, before USCIS or courts in the Justice Department. 

Migrating people apply for asylum because they see it as the only door open to enter the U.S. legally. Fewer than half the applicants, often those with attorneys, can convince a judge that they meet the narrow criteria for asylum. Only about 7 percent of families whose cases were moved to the front of the line through the administration's Dedicated Docket program got asylum, according to TRAC.

Members of Congress have tried, but failed repeatedly, to pass a genuine immigration reform that would open other avenues for immigration. Applicants for visas to join family often wait years for action. Meanwhile, the U.S. lacks enough farm workers to maintain its highest level of food production. Many employers in retail and hospitality cannot fill their entry-level jobs. The H-2A and H-2B programs to import foreign workers are expensive for the employer and limited to certain types of work.

The border camps are full of people longing to work and contribute to the U.S. economy. Why can’t we find a way to grant work visas to those with the skills we need? 

 

"Replacement theory" is simply a matter of birth rates

The “great replacement theory” circulating through our media stems from a fact: the white population is dwindling in the United States. In the 2020 Census, 204.3 million people identified as white alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This group now makes up about 61 percent of the total population, a decrease of 8.6% since 2010.

Do you know why? Most white couples want small families or no kids at all. There’s no conspiracy, only the result of many white people deciding to limit their number of offspring. And because they are older, more white people die each year and diminish this population.

Black, Latino and Asian families are younger and have higher birth rates. More immigrants are coming to this country because we need their labor and skills. We don’t have enough citizens in our workforce willing to perform essential jobs – harvest and process our food, staff our stores, restaurants, schools and health facilities, and build homes and infrastructure.

As an elder who receives a Social Security check each month, I am grateful for every younger worker who performs a vital job and pays a Social Security tax. I benefit now from this income, but today’s workers might not be able to reap these benefits when they retire. If the worker is an unauthorized immigrant, none of their contributions will go toward a Social Security income in the future.

So, my fellow white citizens, if you are worried about being replaced, stop blaming or making war on people of color who want children. Make love instead – and babies!

Life gets better for undocumented people in Oregon

A bill to legalize some 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States  (U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021) sits on the back burner in Congress. But in Oregon, lawmakers acted to protect the state’s undocumented workforce (about 13 percent of the total) in the early months of the pandemic.

The state opened a fund to compensate workers who were laid off and did not qualify for unemployment or stimulus payments because of their status. By June 30, 2021, community-based organizations had dispensed over $51 million in Oregon Worker Relief Fund dollars to thousands of people to pay for rent, utilities, food, and transportation. While the payments kept the wolf from the door, they amounted to only a fraction of what citizen workers could claim in COVID-19 relief.

During the session that ended in late June, the Oregon Legislature passed these bills that improved the lives of undocumented Oregonians:

Sanctuary Promise Act (HB 3265) bars law enforcement or a public agency from denying services or benefits to individuals on the basis of federal civil immigration actions, asking about an individual’s citizenship without a connection to a criminal investigation, or providing information about an individual in custody to federal immigration authorities. 

The act builds on Oregon’s 1987 sanctuary law that drew a clear line for state and local law enforcement: Enforce state laws and leave immigration enforcement to federal officers. This made immigrant communities less fearful of local police and more willing to cooperate in crime investigations. In 2018, Oregon voters defeated an initiative that would have repealed the original sanctuary law.

Leave No Worker Behind (HB 2819)

Allows qualified individuals to claim the earned income tax credit on their Oregon tax form under an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). This is what undocumented taxpayers use to file their returns, in lieu of a Social Security number. It applies to tax years beginning January 1, 2022.

Cover All People (HB 3352) 

Renames Health Care for All Oregon Children (Cover All Kids) as Health Care for All Oregon. It expands Medicaid eligibility to adults who would otherwise qualify for state medical assistance or federal premium tax credits, but for their immigration status. 

In 2019, Oregon legislators passed a law (HB 2015 - Drivers Licenses for All) that removed the requirement for people to prove legal presence when applying for a standard Oregon driver license or ID card. Applicants must provide proof of name, identity, date of birth, and Oregon residency, and cannot obtain a Real ID or commercial license.

The law took effect in January 2020. COVID-19 closed DMV offices in March, but they gradually reopened by appointment. Undocumented vehicle owners, who were driving to their jobs and school unlicensed, jumped at the opportunity to get a real license. 

Feds dispatch troops to the homeland

Twice in the past month, the U.S. government unleashed its military might against unarmed Latino immigrants, and their advocates, in places I know.

First, on July 31, Border Patrol agents in an armored vehicle, three ATVS, two helicopters, and two dozen vehicles, descended on a desert camp near Arivaca, Arizona. Here, volunteers with the Tucson organization No More Deaths provide water, food, and medical treatment to dehydrated, and sometimes injured, people migrating from Mexico. In more peaceful times, I visited the camp with a photographer when I was editing NMD’s newsletter. On this day, agents ripped tents open and arrested some 30 migrants receiving care, destroyed medical supplies, disconnected power to the well, and seized cell phones from volunteers.

Then, on Aug. 12, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered a workplace in Bend, Oregon, south of where I now live, and took two immigrant men into custody. Citizens blocked the path of the ICE buses, and when witnesses began streaming video of the incident, more people arrived and stayed into the night, demanding the men’s release. Finally, Border Patrol agents in helmets, armed with pepper spray, cleared a path to the buses and carried out the two immigrants and driver. 

Oregon is a sanctuary state, where local law officers are barred from aiding federal agents in immigration arrests. But now some Central Oregonians are pressing the Bend City Council to declare Bend a sanctuary city to stop ICE from enforcing immigration laws within its limits.

Why are people who come to the U.S. to work at jobs few citizens want, such a threat to our country that we call out the troops? Shouldn’t the Department of Homeland Security and its ICE division use their resources to uncover terror plots, intercept drug trafficking, and track down and arrest those who enslave and traffic human beings?

This is the mission of DHS: “With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.” If you think these recent actions contradict this mission, please write to your members of Congress and let them know how you feel.

 

Immigrants may bear the brunt of the pandemic

The coronavirus did not arrive in the United States in the bodies of migrants and asylum seekers. Airline passengers, traveling for business, family visits or vacations, most likely transported COVID-19 to our shores. This was unintentional. But many countries, including our own, were slow to awaken to the danger.

Now, ironically, desperate people who trudged through Mexico to ask for asylum may be at greatest risk in this pandemic. The Trump administration now requires most asylum seekers to wait for their court dates in northern Mexico. In those makeshift camps, thousands survive on a poor diet in unsanitary conditions, an environment ripe for the rapid spread of disease.

Asking for asylum in another country is a legal right and applicants are not illegal border crossers. If we faced a threat of death or harm to our children, wouldn’t we go to any lengths to protect our families?

In this country, other asylum seekers languish in crowded detention centers to wait for a distant court date. It is impossible to maintain social distance or even wash hands frequently. If a guard or detainee brings the virus to the center, the sickness could spread like wildfire.

States are releasing some nonviolent prisoners to reduce crowding. Why is our government still holding thousands of people who have never been accused or convicted of a crime against other persons? In late March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) held 49,447 people in detention, reported the Washington Post. Many have family or potential sponsors who would house them while they wait.

“ICE’s unnecessary detention of tens of thousands of people poses a massive threat to public health. Detaining anyone solely for migration-related reasons during a global pandemic is cruel, reckless and deadly,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director for Amnesty International.

Homeland Security had a family case management program to release immigrants while they waited for court dates. In 2017, DHS’s Inspector General reported a high rate of compliance for 954 participants. Only 2 percent failed to report to ICE or immigration court. Unfortunately, the Trump administration suspended the program.

Please write to your representatives in Congress, or the Department of Homeland Security. Ask them to release asylum seekers before COVID-19 takes a deadly toll in our detention enters.