We need to stop calling undocumented immigrants in the United States “illegal”. A more appropriate term is: New American Heroes.
Why are undocumented immigrants heroes?
Millions of Americans, immigrants and citizens, work incredibly hard every single day in ridiculously low paying jobs that are the life-blood of our economy but are barely life-sustaining in return. I think every person who gets up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night to work one or two or even three jobs so they can pay the rent and put food on the table are heroes. But as hard as it is for every low-wage worker in the United States (and increasingly, middle class folks too) undocumented immigrants face additional, greater obstacles. These undocumented immigrants are heroes, too.
I certainly don’t have what it would take to survive if I was forced to flee my home country because of economic or political insecurity, travel thousands of miles in sometimes life-threatening conditions, move to somewhere where I probably don’t know anyone and don’t speak the language, and do the most thankless and backbreaking jobs like picking vegetables in the 100 degree sun or washing pots in a restaurant — all to help my family survive. I think that is heroic.
But whether we’re talking about undocumented immigrants in low-wage jobs or middle class immigrants who overstayed their visas, as a nation we have always believed that the pursuit of the American dream is heroic. Given that the rest of the world has long paid the price for sustaining the American dream (in terms of natural resources, cheap labor, wars, etc.), it’s only fair that immigrants should in turn hope to share in that dream. Through our cultural dominance of the globe, we repeatedly hold up the American dream as an ideal to which everyone should aspire — and, we tell the world, one in which everyone is included. It’s only fair that others should want in.
Some argue that all makes sense but still, why can’t all immigrants just take the legal path to the American dream? Because, increasingly, there isn’t one. Two very important facts have changed in the last decade that significantly impact the immigration equation.
First, in 1994, NAFTA was passed. Now, true, Mexico signed it — but it was largely under the coercion of big international business interests. The result was the devastation of Mexico’s economy by larger corporations in the US that flooded their market with cheaper products. A lot of that was corn, which we subsidize with our tax dollars here — and that artificially cheap corn imported into Mexico drastically undercut local farmers. Folks who had been surviving for generations as farmers and local business people are now seriously struggling.
Second, two years later, the United States passed a harsh immigration reform law that, ostensibly, made it much harder for immigrants already here (and with proper papers) to get citizenship AND made it harder for migrants from certain countries — especially Mexico and Central America — to come here in the first place.
So you pass United States policy that intentionally smothers small farmers and shopkeepers, etc., in Mexico AND THEN you change immigration policy so that these now-much-more-desperate immigrants can’t come to the US.
Why is it our corn can cross the border to “compete” in Mexico’s economy but Mexicans can’t cross the border to compete here?
In this context, the word “illegal” in the immigration debate is not only divisive but misnomer. If anything, the United States’ political acts should be deemed “illegal”, not the acts of well-meaning immigrants left with no other choice. Moreover, throughout history, we have celebrated those who disobey unjust laws in the name of justice. Undocumented immigrants today are carrying the torch of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Sojourner Truth — great leaders who understood that sometimes we must all answer to higher laws, to a higher belief in freedom and equality for all. In the great tradition of the American Revolution, resisting unjust laws — even if doing so is technically illegal — is an act of heroism.
On May 1, 2010, hundreds of thousands of heroes marched in cities and towns across the United States demanding a workable path to citizenship that will move our entire nation forward together. Just as it would be unthinkable for President Obama and Congress to ignore the demands of military war heroes, we cannot ignore the dire situation facing these heroes of economic wars our country has wrought. Just as undocumented immigrants recognize higher good than broken immigration laws, the President and Congress must find higher guidance than what is considered politically safe.
The word hero comes from Greek meaning to protect or defend. Undocumented immigrants are protecting and defending something much more important than borders (which big business erased long ago). Undocumented immigrants are defending the very definition of America, one that has always promised opportunity for all newcomers and, with any hope, always will.
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10 Responses to They’re Not Illegal Immigrants, They’re Heroes
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Harsh US trade and mililtary policies to Central and South America has caused the devistating economic climate there leading to population flight. We need a Fair Trade and Military Withdrawl solution, not racist immigration laws.
I very much appreciate this article. I am married to an immigrant from West Africa who was deported last July in spite of our marriage of 8 years and the best efforts of our lawyer. My husband, who comes from one of the poorest countries in the world where there is a kleptocratic government and no work for most of their citizens, has spent his adult life working abroad so that he can support his mother and the rest of his family. As your article affirms, my husband is one of those who works hard, pays his taxes, is good to his family, and generous to those outside of his family. He has always been a hero to me. But when the visa runs out, his choice is to try to stay and work or to go back to his country and have no money–for food, housing, healthcare, transportation. And our country, that bastion of family values, has no scruples about tearing apart families. So we wait. Maybe he will get another visa and we will be able to begin again. Maybe not. It is not just Mexicans and other South and Central Americans who suffer under the cruel and racist rules of US immigration policy. I think they are all heroes.
This is why I hope to live long enough to see the last liberal buried in a shallow grave…
I agree very much with this article.
I too was an undocumented immigrant. I left the increasingly fascist and economically-devastated United States to find a home in Canada, and for several years I had to work very long shifts under the table as well. I’m not trying to compare the level of challenge that I’ve faced with that poor Mexicans face, but I think I have a pretty healthy appreciation for what it’s like for them because of my experiences.
You might not believe it, but it’s extremely hard to move to Canada as a poor American. If you can’t prove that you’re a refugee of some kind, or already have a bunch of money, you can’t get in this country either. During the bad times, I often told myself that I would be equally poor if I stayed in the US anyway, and now I’ve begun to build a much better life here than I could have ever had in beaten-down Pennsylvania.
Immigration laws in most countries are bordering on impossibility these days–the US does not have a special claim to that. It’s time for the world to wake up. In new industries like nanotechnology and video games, it is unthinkable that companies could be formed without a coalition of experts from a variety of countries. It is time for the world to catch up to the fact that people will be increasingly mobile, and that the kind of divisions that we take for granted today do nothing but harm to everyone (but the filthy rich).
I have worked with immigrants, legal and undocumented. I have witnessed their work ethic, their love for their families, their willingness to put up with all sorts of indignities to protect their own dignity and that of their families. You have hit upon a great idea, recognizing these men and women as the heroes they are.
Thank you for your wonderful essay.
Andrew
Dear Sally Kohn,
You are a skilled, excellent and persuasive writer. You obviously enjoy blogging. I believe you could, if properly motivated, convince Democrats and Liberals everywhere that they should admire and vote for George W. Bush! But in this instance, I believe you have played fast and loose with the facts, preferring to ignore inconvenient truths, engaging in blatant class-envy and reverse-discriminatory warfare, and pandering to worn-out “populist” suspicions about the evil Plutocracy and ever-encroaching but never-responsible “big business.” Whomever they may be. Unfortunately, I don’t have time today to write a polite, fair and balanced rebuttal for you and your readers to consider. I may not persuade anyone, given the usual (and understandable) emotional weight of each person’s viewpoint, and your stated objective to change whatever you don’t like in the world, but I’d be willing to make the effort to provide a rational explanation from the other side of the issue, if you’re willing to entertain it.
I don’t have any agenda, I’m not running for or against anything. But I think truthful and substantive debate is what we as Americans need in this arena, not high-strung emotional diatribes that appeal only to those of one’s own mindset. What do you think? Is it worth my time? Is this a forum for discussion? Or is it a waste of effort?
Please let me know at the e-mail address I’ve provided. Many thanks and best regards, Edoardo
Union Wage Bargaining And Economic Growth Unemployment is still the most pressing economic problem in Europe. It is consensus among most economists that the major fraction of the unemployment problem is not caused by short term business cycle factors, but is caused by structural problems. ….
you are professional.
Heroes? They should be shot as soon as they come over the fence! Zero immigration!! We have enough people!
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