Outsourcing the Border

by Maggie Ervin

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that the top ten contractors of the US government are all military-oriented corporations: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and the like. Although the Defense Department has long been the most expensive, ever since Bush's declaration of the War on Terror, this has been truer than ever. Private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, ever-modern surveillance technology, unmanned drones and their complex infrastructures, none of this is cheap. Blackhawk helicopters alone cost over 16 million dollars each. It's not like this is anything new, of course. Eisenhower famously and portentiously warned of it 54 years ago.

But these days, when we talk about the military industrial complex, it's not only war we're talking about. It's our border as well. And much like generously funding the Defense Department has both bipartisan support and barely enjoys debate, such is the "securing" of our borders. Few legislators bother calling it into question. Even Obama's executive order around immigration - still stymied by an injunction - uses the rhetoric of security to justify sending more forces to the border. US Customs and Border Protection is already by far the US's largest enforcement agency with over 60,000 employees.

Just like in the business sector, the government sector has also turned to outsourcing. Perhaps it was predictable, that 21 years into NAFTA and with almost certain passage of the TPP (policies which also enjoy bipartisan support), that the globalized economy would not only touch markets, but also the US's security apparatus. (Framing the militarization of the border as a security issue is questionable, of course. The fact that the great majority of undocumented immigrants cite lack of economic opportunities and/or violence in their home countries as the reason for migrating discredits that claim.)

The "Central American unaccompanied minor crisis" of last year was the perfect time to amp up this strategy. At the height of it, in fact, a policy called The Southern Border Plan went into effect in Mexico. Thanks to a well-founded historical resentment and distrust of the US giving orders, President Peña Nieto never touted it as a US plan. However, it's clearly Mexico's response to pressure from its northern neighbor to close the borders. And it's working. A study by WOLA which came out in June 2015 showed that Mexico doubled deportations over the last year, and now detains more Central American migrants than the US.

I stopped in on the local migrant shelter here in Oaxaca, COMI (Center for Orientation of Migrants), where migrants headed for the states can take a few days' break, get medical care, look for temporary work, etc. I asked staff members when impact the Southern Border Plan has had, and if they'd noticed any changes since its implementation. What follows are excerpts from that conversation.

"There are now more checkpoints near the southern border and we've heard they're planning on building five more."

"We hear reports of human rights violations by immigration officials...one where they made a migrant give them everything, including his shoes. There were lots of brambles there, so then he had to walk barefoot. This was a violation of his physical integrity...We hear lots of stories of this type of inhumane treatment."

"This last year we've had more migrants who come through our shelter more than once...For example, maybe they run into municipal police in the north who try to extort them. If the migrant refuses to give them money, the police take them to immigration, they're deported, and as soon as they get off the plane they try again."

"We hear about the same people committing crimes near the border with Guatemala. Even when the migrants file a report, the criminals are allowed to continue...there's collusion and impunity for these criminals."

"Often the immigrant officials are accompanied by the police, like when they make the migrants get off the train. It's as if they're on a manhunt."

mural on a wall at COMI

Soñando en México

por Maggie Ervin

El lugar estaba tan lleno que varios estábamos de pie, hacía mucho calor, y apenas podíamos ver desde atrás, pero no íbamos a irnos a ninguna parte. Reunidos en uno de los muchos museos bonitos de esta metrópoli en constante expansión llamada Ciudad de México, habíamos venido a escuchar sueños. No para analizarlos de una manera freudiana o para llegar a algún tipo de lugar místico de conciencia alterada. No, todo esto estaba bien enraizado en la realidad. Habíamos llegado a escuchar las historias de Los Otros Dreamers.

Mucho se ha escrito sobre los Dreamers en los Estados Unidos, gracias a su activismo efectivo, la gran cantidad de adheridos al movimiento, su trabajo incansable para que la Ley Sueño (en inglés, Dream Act) sea aprobada, y desafortunadamente por la angustia implícita en muchas de sus historias. Teniendo en cuenta todas las similitudes, es interesante la poca atención que se les ha dado a los Dreamers en este lado de la frontera, aquí en México. Después de todo, sus números no son insignificantes. El nuevo libro lanzado la semana pasada, Los Otros Dreamers - con texto de Jill Anderson, fotos de Nin Solís, y testimonios de 26 Otros Dreamers - tiene como objetivo compensar esta falta de atención al asunto.

Anderson estima que hay cerca de 500.000 Dreamers que han regresado a México desde el año 2005. (Ella define a un Dreamer como alguien entre los 18 a los 35 años que vivió en los EEUU durante cinco años o más, y que fue deportado, se fue voluntariamente o eligió regresar al país donde nació). Sus razones para regresar a México son variadas: reencontrarse con su familia, la búsqueda de oportunidades educativas que les fueron negadas al otro lado, el agotamiento y la frustración por las dificultades de vivir como indocumentados en los EEUU, la deportación (en muchos casos por infracciones menores por las que un ciudadano estadounidense sólo pagaría una multa, como conducir sin licencia o beber en público), entre otras.

El libro es una experiencia multilingüe. Los Dreamers dan su testimonio, ya sea en inglés, español o espanglish, y todos están traducidos. Los testimonios de Saúl, Virginia y Rufino, quienes son trilingües, son presentados en sus tres lenguas. Si bien las historias que aparecen en el libro son tan diversas como las historias de cualquier grupo de 26 personas, hay temas recurrentes en cuanto a la experiencia de regresar a México: 

• La dificultad de obtener certificados de los estudios realizados en los EEUU., los cuales tienen que estar apostillados y traducidos para que sean válidos en México. Estos certificados incluyen los de primaria, secundaria y preparatoria. Muchos de los Dreamers tuvieron que esperar más de un año para obtener estos documentos, lo que les costó dinero, frustraciones, e incluso humillaciones (por ejemplo, el enterarse de que la única manera de obtener las constancias de estudios en los EEUU es solicitarlas en persona)
• Las barreras del idioma, especialmente en el caso de los Dreamers que fueron llevados a los EEUU a corta edad.
• La dificultad de obtener una credencial de elector del INE, el documento necesario en México para poder rentar un apartamento, realizar transacciones bancarias o incluso conseguir un trabajo.
• No ser completamente aceptados como mexicanos por parte de sus compatriotas.
• Para aquellos que fueron deportados, el ser dejados en la frontera, lejos de su comunidad de origen, sin nadie que los aconsejara u orientara, y con el riesgo de ser asaltados o violentados.
• La separación de los familiares que permanecen en los EEUU, sin la posibilidad de visitarlos allí o de que sus familiares los visiten en México.

Este último tema fue abordado durante la presentación del libro cuando algunos Dreamers leyeron partes de sus testimonios. Todo el mundo se conmovió cuando Edgar, quien vive en Nogales, dijo: "Voy a la frontera a ver a mis hermanos, están arreglando papeles entonces no pueden cruzar. Es un desmadre que estemos cerca, pero lejos a la vez, porque nos divide una barda. Puedo hablar con ellos, pero no los puedo abrazar”. Luego Raziel habló sobre la deportación de su madre cuando el cursaba el quinto grado: "De ahí, la amiga de mi mamá me llevó a casa y recuerdo caminar hasta la cama de mi madre y acostarme donde ella solía dormir. Puse mi cabeza sobre la almohada y olí su champú y fue ahí cuando todo me pegó”.

El muro que separa Nogales, Sonora de Nogales, Arizona

Esta misma semana salió la noticia de la deportación numero 2 millones desde que Obama - a veces llamado el "Deportador en Jefe" – tomó posesión. 2 millones es muchísimo, tanto que a algunos se nos dificulta  imaginar lo que esto significa. Pero son estos detalles desgarradores que encarnan la realidad de este número. Actualmente, una cuarta parte de todos los deportados son separados de sus hijos ciudadanos estadounidenses, y en el 2013, más de la mitad fueron deportados por acusaciones no criminales.

Pero no todo es sombrío. Algunos de los Dreamers escriben que están agradecidos por estar en México y muy felices con sus vidas. Moy y Pedro Noe están entusiasmados estudiando odontología en la Universidad Nacional. Saúl, quien trabaja en Amway y aha logrado estar en un nivel Plata, está haciendo lo mejor para criar a su hijo. Maggie se encarga de la tienda de sus padres. Con su trabajo, Maru y Daniel están apoyando a otros Dreamers en el Colectivo Los Otr@s Dreamers y la asociación civil Dream in Mexico. De hecho, “pasivos” o “resignados” serían las últimas palabras que se ocuparían para describir a cualquier persona de este libro. Ellos son jóvenes con muchos sueños, y los están realizando.  

Maggie: “Sé que todos hemos tenido que luchar y que no soy la única. Me gustaría dirigirme al
gobierno de EEUU y hablarles de todo el daño que nos hacen. No soy una delincuente. Mis padres me
llevaron y a la edad de 18 años decidí no violar la ley, así que dime, ¿cuál es el delito que cometí?” 

El problema es, por supuesto, que a pesar de ser a la vez "de aquí y de allá," no pueden ir "allá", donde todavía tienen amigos, familia y toda una historia de vida. Como escribe Pamela, "Ahora, me siento como que siempre he sido mexicana…No me lo tienes que decir. Yo lo sé. Y ¿qué si me siento estadounidense? Yo ni sé que es lo que soy, pero sé que soy ambas nacionalidades al mismo tiempo. No puedo ignorar toda mi vida”.  

Toma acciones para reducir las deportaciones:      
http://unitedwedream.org/action/stop-deportations/open-cases/

Díle a tus Representantes y Senadores que apoyen la Ley Sueño:    
http://dreamact.info/faq/3

Donde comprar el libro:      
dreaminmexico.org/?page_id=207 (todas las ganancias apoyan a la AC Dream in Mexico)


Donde asistir a otras presentaciones del libro:

•    October 13th, 19:00, Foro de la Galería "La Capilla del Arte", 2 norte número 6, Centro Histórico, Puebla, Puebla, México
•    Pronto en los EEUU en Los Angeles, Chicago, NYC and Washington DC. Manténte informado a https://www.facebook.com/OtrosDreamersTheBook.

Tales of Migration and Detention

by James Hutter, james.hutter@gmail.com

(This blog entry is part of a series. Click these links for Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3)

Our visit to San Francisco Tetlanohcan had been a powerful experience for many varied reasons. We saw first hand the effects that migration has had on the community – the loss of family members and the economic impact on the town. We also learned about the

group CAFAMI (Centro de Atencion a la Familia Migrante Indigena) and their efforts to share the tales of migrant families and to reverse the trend of migration. Yet, one particular event still stands out in my mind. One afternoon we had a few moments to meet with residents of Tetlanohcan to hear their personal tales of migration and their thoughts on immigration policy as a whole...

“I am the mother of 7 children in the U.S. My first went in 1990 and I have not seen him since.”

This was the first statement we heard as we gathered in a group to share stories of migration and detainment. The experience quickly turned into a highly emotional session in which residents of San Francisco Tetlanohcan tearfully told us their deeply personal tales. So impactful were these stories that many of us simply sat agasp. While we listened to tales of loved ones that had left home to migrate to the United States, it became clear to the delegation that some of the people in attendance had personally attempted to cross the Mexico-United States Border. It also became clear that a few of them had not had papers to do so.

“I tried to visit my family in the caravan through many states and the desert. I remember seeing all the crosses and thought about all of those that died and how they may have died.”

“One man on the caravan had the sad job of finding bodies. He looked for families or family members that were missing.”

The migration is not easy and it ventures through remote areas often in the vast desert. While the people leading the caravan may take different routes to avoid Mexican or U.S. Border Patrol, it is hard for migrants not to notice the sad markers from past travelers.

Travelers that survive the desert still have a high probability of being captured at the border. And while they all surely realize that they have broken the law in attempting to cross the border, almost none of them are prepared for the treatment they receive from U.S. Border Patrol agents if captured.

One woman told us that she was detained and never given any real information about her status or what Border Patrol had in mind for her. Would she be sent back quickly? Would she be imprisoned? Would something even worse happen to her? It was only after being detained for several days that Border Patrol informed her that the car she was traveling in had no license plates (hence their suspicion) and that she would be forced to testify against the smuggler who had brought her across the border. This was unsettling since many of the “Coyotes” (smugglers) now have Mexican drug cartel affiliations; testifying against a cartel member could be a death sentence. Her last hopes of safety faded even further as her Border Patrol captor told her and fellow captives that they were...

“Bitches. Fucking Mexican pieces of shit.”

A few other tales were shared and it became clear that many detained migrants are treated as less than human.

Our obvious questions were “Why are people are leaving in droves, and why would they would risk taking a potentially deadly journey?” One person responded,

“Both Governments are responsible for this... What good is educating people when there are no jobs?”

            While many felt that the U.S. has an unfair immigration policy for neighboring Mexico, there was a sense among some in the audience that the Mexican government is also responsible and has let their own people down. Both governments have failed to modify trade policies that have negatively impacted farmers in rural areas, and have depressed these regions. It's no wonder that people want to leave and look for work in new areas. And once people in the town have hit the lowest point of desperation and bravely decide to go elsewhere, their families are left to think...

“'We've lost them. We don't know if they are alive or dead. We don't know if border patrol has left them to die.”

My experience on a Roots and Realities of Migration delegation to Oaxaca

by Jessica del Villar

I was recently given the opportunity to go on a Roots and Realities of Migration delegation to Oaxaca, Mexico with two organizations called Witness for Peace and Student Action with Farmworkers. The focus of this trip was, as the name implies, to learn about the causes of migration and the harsh realities of the issue. Although this trip started out as more of an educational experience, for many of us delegates, it was much more than that.

Being a Mexican-American student at Duke has obviously had its rough spots. Jumping from a community that was so inundated with Hispanics, where it was a necessity to speak Spanish, to a community like Duke, where as a Hispanic you are part of the clear minority, was more of a culture shock than I could have ever imagined. Finishing up my first year I was definitely left questioning my identity and the role I played outside of my community bubble. Along with wanting to be more educated about the impacts of immigration reform, I wanted to find a way to connect with a culture that I felt was so overshadowed (if that’s the right word) at Duke and I hoped that going to Mexico would help me do that.

Logistically speaking, my ten day visit to Oaxaca included trips to different towns, a homestay visit and various speakers. We got to eat authentic Mexican food, spend our afternoons roaming the city, and soak up as much of the culture as we possibly could. A few days into our trip we visited a town up in the mountains called Capulalpam de Méndez. Capulalpam is known for its amazing self-dependence and continuous fight against mining companies. It uses its beautiful scenery to lure tourists and educate them about  the highly unwanted mega project presence in their small town while providing an interesting experience and benefiting from needed economic gain.

We also visited CEDICAM, an organization based in Nochixtlán, a town on the other end of the spectrum, that  was struggling from a lack of water, bad climate, and difficulty getting their youth to contribute to the needed farm labor. They utilized a method of farming called milpa, which involves growing beans, squash and corn together. From what I understood, planting these seeds together allows for more efficient farming. The three crops assist each other in the growing process, which also describes an ideal community of people helping each other grow.

Up next was our homestay visit in Teotitlán del Valle. We spoke to the women of Vida Nueva, a women’s weaving cooperative that honored  fair prices for their labor. During our visit, we were able to fully immerse ourselves in our family’s daily life. We cooked with our host families, took the children to school and visited the local market early in the morning.

Personally, these two days were the highlight of the trip. This small town with its simple homes and few paved roads made me think of what my grandmother’s childhood must have been like. It was not only an extremely educational experience but an emotional one as well. From using the same laundry soap (Zote), to the invariable presence of Coca Cola, it was like my grandma was right there with me. Being able to experience this environment was well... I can’t really describe what this was like, it just felt right. Like I finally understood something that I hadn’t understood for so long. I understood why my grandmother and her children (including my mother) had made the treacherous journey to the U.S. I understood why all the women in my family were such hard workers, and why they focused so much on getting ahead and improving their family’s futures. I understood where my grandma’s little habits and sayings came from and everything just felt right. This was what I had come for. This feeling of just being right.

Leaving Teotitlán was probably the hardest part of this trip. I don’t know why. Going in, I knew that my host family had to go on with their life and I had to go on with mine. I just didn’t expect to get so attached and gain such a high level of respect for a family in the span of two days.

Upon leaving Teotitlán, we visited COMI, a migrant homeless shelter that provides food and shelter to migrants traveling north. Here, we spoke to a member of the organization and to 8-10 migrants coming from different Latin American countries. The most touching of these people were the two children making the journey. An 11 year old boy and 8 year old girl were on Day 15 of their journey from El Salvador to America. I’ve grown up around first generation migrants all my life but I’d never encountered children so young who had made the journey. The other migrant’s stories were, of course, horrible and difficult to hear but watching these children sit there during our discussion without fully understanding the difficulties they would face was heartbreaking.

What future lay ahead for them? First off, their future could take two separate roads. They would either make it to the border or...well, not. If they did successfully cross into the United States, they would face a huge culture shock and a rough transition into school on top of the certain racism and discrimination that would somehow come their way. As  older kids, they wouldn’t be able to get driver’s licenses, apply for financial aid or just generally have the other opportunities other kids have. Why should they be affected by a future they didn’t choose? Why should they  bear the consequences? They’re just kids.

I don’t know.

I’m sure that I’ve left out a lot of things from my time in Oaxaca and I know that once I submit this I’ll regret not including so-and-so, but overall this was my experience. People have asked me what my time in Oaxaca was like but it’s not exactly easy to put so much into a few sentences. I’m sure that this whole piece has been choppy and not the greatest thing ever but I hope that it has at least provided some insight into what I learned and I hope it inspires others to learn more about the causes and effects of migration.

My time in Oaxaca gave me some of the most memorable and educational experiences of my life (so far) and I am eternally grateful to all the people that made this trip possible.

On a last note:

I hope that my host family is doing well and that they continue to be as happy as they were then I met them.

I hope that the two Salvadoran children have made it to the United States safely. I hope they can still experience some of the joys all children should be able to experience. I hope the little girl thinks of me on May 12, our shared birthday, as I’ll certainly be thinking of her. And I hope that they prosper and don’t grow up to be bitter about their standing as immigrants in the United States. I hope they don’t blame their mother.

I hope close-minded Americans can stop being so ignorant and actually educate themselves about the migrant experience.

And I hope that this has sparked some thought into every reader’s personal migration story and realization that, whether ten years ago or a hundred, we all came from somewhere and that somewhere is not here.

Obama's New Immigration Directive a Positive Step, But Not Enough

By Carlin Christy, WFP Mexico and Tony Macias former WFP Mexico Team Member

A new policy move by President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could halt the deportation of over 800,000 undocumented youth without providing a pathway to citizenship.  In President Obama's carefully-delivered words, "this is not amnesty, this is not immunity... This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people."

This is a true victory for the thousands of youth that have come out as undocumented, unafraid and unwilling to continue living in the shadows, while waiting for comprehensive immigration reform.
Immigrant’s rights activists, including Dreamers, are applauding the move by Obama as a step in the right direction, but one that still falls far short of comprehensive immigration reform and a resolution for the other 11 million immigrants who do not meet the program’s requirements.

Despite the fact that the June 15 announcement by the Obama administration is most likely a political move to garner votes in the upcoming election, it is seen as positive given the harsh state laws and federal immigration policies that have dominated the political landscape for the last several years.  Dreamers and undocumented people who have told their stories and organized to demand their rights and recognition in society are the driving force behind putting young immigrants on the political radar.

The executive measure would allow youth that meet a series of stringent requirements to remain in the U.S. and apply for renewable work permits. Any of the over 11 million remaining undocumented immigrants that don't meet these rules are still fair game for detention and deportation.

The burden would be on undocumented youth to prove to Homeland Security (and any agencies collaborating with ICE) that they have met the following requirements: to qualify for this special status and a work permit you must be under 30 years old, have entered the US before you were 16, have lived in the U.S. for five years, be free of a criminal record, and have earned a high-school diploma, an honorable discharge from the military, or be currently enrolled in school. This status is "subject to renewal" every two years, provided the policy remains in effect under the next presidential administration beginning in 2013. It is uncertain what would happen to any immigrant youth that registers with DHS if renewal is denied or if the policy itself is repealed. One possibility is that he or she would receive an order for deportation.

Over 90% of undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. under second-class status would not qualify for this program and will continue to face criminalization, exploitative working conditions, deportation, fear, and family separation.  Moreover, any young person convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or multiple misdemeanors would not be eligible. Anyone seen as posing a threat to national security or public safety would also not be eligible, although it is unclear how this would be determined. Any qualifying youth already in removal proceedings may be granted this status if they have already been offered prosecutorial discretion.

While it is mirrored after many provisions of the DREAM Act, this policy is not a law and has not been approved by Congress. According to DHS, only the U.S. Congress has the power to "confer substantive right, immigration status, or pathway to citizenship." Both President Obama and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the right of executive discretion in applying immigration law, particularly in the case of undocumented youth seen as “productive" and "patriotic." While preferable to rampant hate speech directed at immigrants by the right-wing, this civil rhetoric stands in stark contrast to the record number of deportations carried out under the Obama Administration.

Although a positive step in reforming domestic immigration enforcement, this policy is not paired with any other measures to address the root economic issues that push migration to the U.S. in the first place. With the promotion of free trade agreements throughout the Americas, U.S. trade policy has led to increased economic instability in immigrants’ countries of origin. Also left unaddressed are the dangerous conditions faced by migrants. Many die trying to reach the U.S. Central Americans who travel on trains headed north face considerable risks including kidnappings, injuries, assaults, robberies and rape- all before even reaching the U.S.-Mexico border. Once in the border region, migrants face harsh environmental conditions, possible kidnapping and murder by criminal organizations, or even abuse from border officials.

The U.S. government’s militarized strategy to fighting the “war on drugs” in the Americas negatively affects public security in countries like Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. This approach has created nearly 250,000 internally displaced people in Mexico and has provoked conditions of violence and instability that lead many to migrate from other countries as well.

Dreamers and undocumented people who have stepped out of the shadows to demand their rights and recognition in society are the driving force behind this policy move. Until there is recognition of U.S. policies’ role in pushing migration from sending countries and mobilization to change these policies, conditions that create migration will continue.  A victory was achieved for young undocumented immigrants this past Friday, but the larger struggle for global economic justice and full recognition of all immigrants in the U.S. will continue to strengthen and grow across borders.

Lessons from a Canine Immigrant

By Sara Joseph
Communications Associate, Witness for Peace

During the year-and-a-half that I worked in Nicaragua with Witness for Peace, I lived less than two blocks from the U.S. Embassy. The colossal building is sandwiched between agencies that advertise help secure a “visa for a dream.” And long before the day heats up, the line for visa interviews extends well onto the sidewalk in front of the Embassy.

Of course, even after submitting all your paperwork and paying for an embassy interview, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be granted even a visitor’s visa to the United States. A few years ago, a friend of mine was denied a visa to visit his cousins even though his mother, stepfather, and half-siblings were all granted travel documents.

Fortunately, I was able to help one friend secure a visa to the United States: my dog Dino. I adopted Dino two months after arriving in Nicaragua and was soon unable to imagine life without him. But would I be able to take him with me when I returned to the United States?

When I inquired at the U.S. embassy I was informed that a new embargo against shipping dogs had recently been established. My heart dropped.

“There are two ways to skirt around the embargo,” I was told. “The first option is to ship another animal to the U.S. first, say, a duck or a chicken.”

Huh. It wasn’t looking good. “And the other option?” I asked, almost scared to hear the answer. I couldn’t imagine having to leave Dino behind – he’s part of my family!

“You can join Continental’s frequent flyer program,” he told me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Clearly, this was nothing compared to the hoops Nicaraguan people are forced to jump through to get a visa to the U.S. And although I was nervous about whether Dino would be scared or uncomfortable traveling from Managua to Boston in the airplane’s cargo, the risks can’t compare to what many Nicaraguan immigrants undertake when forced to reach the United States by land – and undocumented.

Today, as I write with Dino happily munching on a mango pit at my feet (he is a Nicaraguan pooch, after all), I can’t help but think about the pain our immigration laws cause to families throughout the Americas – and the discomfort of knowing that as a U.S. citizen, I was able to bring even the most rebellious of mutts home with me without much difficulty. Now, it is my appreciation for being able to maintain my own odd family that inspires me to keep working against the arbitrary, punitive, and often hypocritical legislation that keeps so many family members separated.

Refueling a Vicious Cycle

By Bart Evans
Coalition Coordinator, Student Action with Farmworkers

In the 17 years since NAFTA went into effect, agribusiness seems bent on continuing to insist that Free-trade Agreements are the answer to our current agrarian woes. Just days ago, Larry Wooten, President of the NC farm bureau, published an opinion piece calling for the acceleration and expansion of free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Perhaps he worried that given the crackdown on immigrant farmworkers in neighboring states of Georgia and Alabama, potential migrants, many of which now come from southern Mexico and Central American countries, might think twice about heading north to labor on our farms. Indeed, if the effect NAFTA had on small-scale, indigenous farmers in Mexico were to play out in Colombia and Panamá, it could certainly ease Carolina farmers’ current or perceived future labor shortage problems. Free trade and drug wars have decisively scarred the Mexican landscape and people—can we really afford to continue advocating for such a model?

The long journey pa’l norte is not an easy one by any means, and despite more recent media attention on the train-riders passing through Mexico, for example, nevertheless the extreme human rights abuses and hazards of the trip persist. I went with Student Action with Farmworkers on a WFP delegation to Oaxaca this past January, visiting the Centro de Orientación al Migrante (COMI) local office and learning about the everyday risks migrants face as they head north. Sadly, we learned that many migrants make it to Oaxaca thinking that they are almost there, when in reality they still face thousands of dangerous miles across Mexico into the vast northern deserts and across the border into the United States.

COMI from SAF on Vimeo.

However, once here in the U S of A, one might be cautious to breathe a sigh of relief. The good ol’ global economy has got us not looking too good over here either. Our slumping economy, as it slumps even more, is rearing its ugly side: Stark inequalities in wealth, legislation legalizing racial profiling, a.k.a. “driving while Mexican/driving while brown.” (For further reading, see this article in GQ magazine about blueberry farmworkers in Maine.) Migrants are coming into a situation here in the US (especially the southeast) where black and brown families on average own just a few cents for every dollar owned by white families. This racial wealth-gap is astounding, and conservatives are using it as fuel for the anti-immigrant fire. You’ve heard it all before, the “they’re taking our jobs” myth. Farmworkers are getting caught in the middle.

Wooten writes, “Agricultural trade is not only critical to North Carolina's farmers, it is vital to the U.S. economy and the creation of American jobs. Every $1 billion in agricultural exports supports 9,000 U.S. jobs, such as transportation workers, food processors, packers and even sales and marketing professionals.” Borrowing Wooten’s stat of 9.6 billion in annual NC farm receipts, that equals about 86k jobs in North Carolina farms—but wait—aren’t those the jobs that American’s won’t do?

Farmworker picking beans in North Carolina. Photo by Beatriz Cruz.

This disconnect between arguments for job-creation with the anti-immigrant rhetoric of “stealing our jobs” plays directly into the hands of US growers. Growers who are dependent on immigrant labor, and on “opening” foreign markets via free trade agreements, to further fuel the vicious cycle we are caught in.

The system is broken, and it is an embarrassment to continue to see arguments calling for the continuation, let alone the intensification, of global, neoliberal policy.

To take action to stop three pending free trade agreements, please click here.

Upper Midwest Speaker Tour on Migration Hits the Ground Running

By John Pegg
Board of Directors, Witness for Peace Upper Midwest Region

Nancy Garcia, Administrator of the Center for the Orientation of Migrants in Oaxaca (COMI), along with Mexico-based WFP staffer Moravia de la O arrived this weekend to begin their month-long speaker tour in the WFP Upper Midwest region. Their arrival prompted a kick-off conference on immigration Sunday evening in Minneapolis. Nancy expressed interest in having a conversation with other Latinos on this side of the border who were working on immigration issues. As a result, we hosted a panel including three Latino community leaders from the Twin Cities. One had strong experience in economic development through forming a cooperative marketplace for Latino entrepreneurs. Another works as a community organizer, helping immigrants work together to claim their power and take collective responsibility for their lives. The third was a recent college graduate who works with young people and their families to gain access to higher education.

Following their presentations and a group discussion, we enjoyed an excellent Oaxacan dinner prepared by a local chef who recently migrated here and gathered around tables for small group conversations. After dinner we enjoyed a one-act play produced by a St. Paul Latino social theater company called Teatro del Pueblo. Then we closed with an update on how the legal system affects migrants in Minnesota by the Executive Director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. Moravia said that she thought it was a great opportunity to plug into the immigration reform movement those who had not been actively involved so far. Nancy felt that she learned a lot about what the immigrant experience was like for people once they made it to the U.S. She never realized that migration across Mexico wasn’t the only challenge and that people here still had many difficulties and barriers to overcome before they could achieve what they all were looking for by migrating to the U.S. It was a great opportunity for cross-border dialogue and a highly informative and inspirational gathering to begin our tour!

On Monday we kicked into high gear with three presentations by Nancy on two campuses, Macalester College in St. Paul, and the University of Minnesota main campus in Minneapolis. We premiered the Witness for Peace Mexico-based International Team’s outstanding short new video on the roots of migration with a showing of “Perils of Migration,” which features Nancy and her work at COMI. The video was created in collaboration with volunteer documentarian Kate Fenner.

When children are too scared to go to school, something is terribly wrong

By Jess Hunter-Bowman
Associate Director, Witness for Peace

Our immigration system is broken. There is no denying it now.

When states like Alabama and Arizona are left to set the agenda for immigration policy, the results are laws that turn police officers into de facto immigration officials and laws that turn public schools into places of fear.

After Alabama’s harsh immigration law was upheld by courts last week, the impact was felt immediately.

One of the law’s most controversial aspects requires public schools in the state to verify and record the immigration status of new students. This has sent shockwaves through the public school system, leaving students, parents and administrators reeling.

Take Foley Elementary School, for example.

According to The Birmingham News, the day after the immigration law was upheld by the courts, 19 of Foley Elementary’s Latino students withdrew from school. Another 39 were absent. As for the other 165 Latino students that showed up for school, Foley’s principal Bill Lawrence says most of them arrived in tears.

"It’s been a challenging day, an emotional day. My children have been in tears today. They’re afraid," Lawrence said. "We have been in crisis-management mode."

In Montgomery, the state capital, 231 Hispanic children were absent from school the first day the law went into effect.

Foley’s principal said he expected many Latino students and their families would be leaving the state this weekend. Some of them are U.S. citizens, but still feared staying in the state because their parents are undocumented.

This is what we’ve come to. Despite Supreme Court rulings indicating that all children must be allowed access to public school independent of immigration status, Alabama’s lawmakers have found a way to ensure Latinos feel they cannot send their children to school.

And, apparently, a mass exodus of Latinos from the state is underway.

There has never been a more urgent time for us to stand up for immigrant rights. Let’s raise our voices, joining with the churches, immigrant rights advocates and civil rights activists, to call for justice! Justice in Alabama. Justice in Arizona. Justice across the United States!

La Gotita Sobre el Acero: a poem in English and Spanish

By Franciso "Chavo Romero"

They call me El Chavo, and I was born and raised on the coastal city of Chiques (aka Oxnard, CA), territorio ocupado del Pueblo Chumash.

I am an organizer in the barrio... organizando spaces of resistance with la gente de abajo y a la izquierda against repression in all its forms. Soy indigena, descendant of various pueblos orginarios on this continent, Guachichile, Juchipila, Coahuila roots. Mexicano, cien porciento. Aqui estamos..y no nos vamos.

I taught middle school math and reading for 10 years, now I currently am the Events Coordinator at the Acuña Gallery and Cultural Center at Cafe on "A" in Downtown Oxnard.

As part of my commitment as a community organizer and activist I organize with Unión del Barrio and serve on the Raza Press and Media Association Editorial Board and on the Witness for Peace Southwest Regional Board and an active participant in the Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective.

The following poem was inspired by a report published last week by the organization No More Deaths. It is a report that details the "abuse, negligence and dehumanization of migrants as part of the institutional culture of the U.S. Border Patrol..."

I would like everyone to read this report, called Culture of Cruelty. I hope it makes us think, get together, organize and fight these catastrophic violations. We are one people, Without Borders!

-Chavo
From the occupied territories of the Chumash People

El siguiente poema fue inspirado por un reporte que se publicó la semana pasada por la organización No Mas Muertes. Es un reporte que detalla sobre el “abuso, negligencia y deshumanización de migrantes que es parte de la cultura institucional de la patrulla fronteriza…”

Quiero que todos lean este reporte, nombrada Cultura de Crueldad - Espero que nos ponga a pensar, después a reunirnos, organizarnos y luchar contra estas violaciones catastróficas. Somos un pueblo, Sin Fronteras!

~Chavo
Desde los territorios ocupados del pueblo Chumash

La Gotita Sobre el Acero (English translation below)

Tranquilamente penetra el acero,
Las gotitas de sus llantos,
Oxidándose sobre los siglos,

Cultura de crueldad e impunidad.
Los agentes brutales maltratan,
Gritándole y burlándose con abuso psicológico,

"Que se muera!"

Tirada y entumecida sobre la celda,
Manos detrás sintiendo el frió del metal,
Penetrando y picando sus huesos,

Una gotita de sangre,
Penetra el acero.

Despierta con estómago retorcido,
Come galletitas insípidas y sin sabor,
Asquerosas condiciones apestan a heces y orín,

Aire frio congela su alma,
Sin cobija y sin dignidad,
Descalza con ampollas en el corazón,
Enroscándose como un bebe,

Lagrimitas chocan con el concreto,
Cierra sus bellos ojos,
Soñando de su querido pueblito,
En el pie de la montaña.

Una gotita de sangre,
Penetro el acero.

The Droplet Upon Steel

Quietly penetrating the steel,
The droplets of her cries,
Rust over the centuries.

Culture of cruelty and impunity.

The brutal agents mistreat,
Shouting and laughing with psychological abuse,

"Die!

Thrown and numb in the cell,
Hands behind feeling the cold of the metal.
Penetrating and biting her bones,

A droplet of blood,
It penetrates the steel.

Waking up with stomach twisted,
Eating crackers bland and tasteless,
Filthy conditions stink of feces and urine.
Cold air freezes her soul,

Without a blanket and without dignity,
Barefoot with blisters in her heart.
Curling like a baby,

Tears collide with the concrete.
Closing her beautiful eyes,
Dreaming of her beloved town,
At the foot of the mountain.

A droplet of blood.
Penetrates the steel.