Immigration and Cultural Change

Cultural change is something we folklorists think about a great deal. My colleague Kristina Downs wrote a thoughtful post on "Community Folklore in Changing Communities" that considers the issue: What traditions do you celebrate when your community members have left, only to be replaced with newer residents who do not have any links to those traditions?

If the op-ed writers of the nation's major newspapers are any indication, white America is experiencing significant angst about immigration and cultural change. They fear that the white Protestant way of life will be usurped by the "hoards" of Latinos who (gasp, shudder) may be amnestied if the new immigration reform bill becomes law. The irony here, as I see it, is that white America rarely sees the tragedy when they are the usurpers. What about all of those ethnic or African American neighborhoods that disappear was communities gentrify? Where is the moral outrage when historically black neighborhoods become the latest hip locales?

Here in San Miguel, I've uncovered something unusual: Mexicans do not seem to be overly concerned with the cultural changes that are part of the expat immigration here. My assistant and I have completed nearly 60 oral history interviews, and while foreign expats are concerned that their presence may make SMA less Mexican in the long run, Mexicans to not see this as a problem? Why? That part is not as easy to tease out. Sifting through the data, and this is very preliminary, there are few instances of Mexican-expat friendship and fellowship. In fact, when expats here have Mexican friends, they are more likely to be internal migrants from Mexico City or other parts of Mexico, but not San Miguel.

What I believe is going on here (and I will work to try to confirm over the course of the project) is that SMA natives are much more like their cohort in greater Western Mexico: they are family oriented, Catholic, and personally and politically conservative. They do not have much interest in the liberal lifestyles and politics of their new neighborhoods, so they live their lives, try to benefit from the booming economy, and in general, resist the cultural encroachments that come with immigration.

The Mexican Republic helps with this cultural maintenance, no doubt. There are federal laws which prohibit foreign residents from becoming involved in local politics. That means it is illegal for a foreign resident to participate in a protest, to express opinions against the government, and so on. I know that many of my gringo readers, recalling the mass protests in the U.S. a year ago, might call "Foul!" at this. Go ahead, but remember that Mexico historically has had significant problems with foreign interference. They do not mind expats living in their country, but this is a not so subtle reminder that it is, indeed, their country.

The article I've linked from today's Washington Post discusses the American fear of Latinos as a pathology--"they're not that different from us," the author implores, and he's right, to a point. The problem that is not address here, and rarely discussed in the U.S. is that our society is and has been fairly fluid. We're a trendy nation, and because we do not have 500+ years of tradition to burden and maintain our way of life, we are more likely to succumb to different cultural influences. It's they way we live in the U.S. Rarely have we seen many of those changes as negative. Yes, we lament that our lives are too busy, but then continue to schedule our six year-olds in four different activities. We pine nostalgically for "home town America," yet never make time to talk to our neighbors in suburbia. We make these choices, folks. We can make others.

At the same time, I think we need to find a constructive way to talk about cultural loss in the U.S. Somehow we've allowed the polarized voices on the right and the left hijack civil discourse about issues that are important to us. Why would it be wrong to feel sad that the little community you grew up in is now gone, and populated with a new group of people who have no connection to that part of your life? If you value something, you should miss it when it disappears or changes.

The discussion I would love to have would ask, "if it was really important to you, that neighborhood or community, why did you let it go?" Native-born Mexicans in San Miguel have decided to hold on to what is important to them. That's something to think about.

More about immigration Reform

This morning I found a link to this post from Staring at Strangers blog to my post of last night, En la Frontera. The link above will take you to Jennifer's site:

Why I'm Happy About the Immigration Bill

The proposed immigration legislation doesn’t satisfy all interests. It even leaves nearly every special interest group a little bit unhappy, and that’s a mark of a settlement that’s beneficial to the good of the whole. Any bill which lets some of those immigrations remain in the U.S. is good enough for me, because it’s good for Pablo.

But first let me tell you a bit about Pablo, whom I’ve known for the past twenty or so years. He struggled to finish secundaria, and even with that, he had next to no job skills. There wasn’t much opportunity or incentive for him here in Morelia, the capital of Michoacán. He didn’t work out in his first job here, which amounted to tending a vacant lod, preferring to nod off in a hammock. His attempt at barber school lasted a full week. He announced that he was going off to California to pick lettuce, never mind that he’d never picked any kind of produce in his life. He got all the way to Tijuana, got scared, and his dad sent him airfare back home. The next year, he made it to Austin, Texas, where he worked in a Mexican restaurant. Finally, on his third try, paying a coyote the going rate of about $3,000 USD, he made it to Georgia, where his cousins lived. And he learned to hang sheetrock, becoming rather good at the job. He flew home for Christmas that year, taking the ever-expensive Aeromar from the Mexico City airport instead of the bus. During his three-month sojourn back in the ‘hood, he found himself a wife, who remained in Mexico long enough to give birth to their first child. The wife and child both joined him, all as illegals, in Georgia, where he’s now a foreman, added two more to their family, owns a house with wall¬-to-wall carpeting, and drives a used Lincoln Continental. It’s been more than decade since he was last in Mexico.

In the early years of Pablo’s time in the U.S., his parents would ask me to mail him care packages containing what they thought were essential items. Those packages, filled with medicine, videotapes of Morelia, family photos and letters are no longer as frequent as they once were. He’s on his own now. He pays taxes, and he’s saving us his money for whatever he’ll have to pay to get legal.

I’m darned proud of Pablo. He wouldn’t have amounted to a tinker’s damn had he stayed in these parts. Getting out on his own was the best thing that ever happened to him, because he had to struggle to survive. And he made it. And when he gets the vote, I’ll lay good money that he’ll vote Republican.

I have to say, I'm happy for Pablo and that he's done well. I also think that those undocumented men and women in the U.S. will certainly be happy if the current form of the immigration bill passes (although I've lived in Washington, DC long enough to know that this bill, like the ones before it, is doomed in this election year). Nevertheless, I think that this bill is essentially flawed and is a reflection of the times that produced it.

An eight-year temporary work permit is not going to solve Pablo's, or any undocumented person's, problems. It's a stopgap, plain and simple. One could argue that a stopgap is better than nothing, but I would disagree. Pablo and his cohort are not going to want to go home in 8 years just because time's up. They are also not going to be less likely to want to bring their spouses and children to the U.S. if their lack of points means that they are not skilled enough to do so legally, which is what is going on in my post about Marisol.

Most academics that write about immigration will tell you that our current immigration problems today can be traced back to the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), that Reagan-era legislation that was supposed to end undocumented immigration. We know today how well that worked.

The problem with these compromise packages is that they do not look at the heart of the problem, nor do they consider the unintended consequences of their legislation. Until we are ready to really deal with this issue and to accept, nay embrace the fact that we are a nation of perpetual immigration and that our only recourse is to regulate (not stop) immigration, then we can move forward. In the meantime, I have to admit, I won't be complaining if someone in Washington decides it's time for a temporary work visa program. That, at least, will end the carnage and suffering at the border and in the desert. But I can't say I'll be happy is the Senate's version of immigration reform passes this year, because I know it will create more problems that it intends to solve.

A New Twist on Local Immigration Regulation

In the last year I have often reported about local towns that have initiated ordinances that are aimed against immigrants, most often to discourage immigrant settlement and to harass others into leaving. This article from today's Washington Post points out an alternative: communities that have immigrant friendly policies. Hightstown, New Jersey recently passed an ordinance that functions like an immigrant bill of rights. Basically, the policy is a no-questions-asked position on immigration status; it allows Hightstown's undocumented residents to officially interact with local police and access city services without fear of being reported to federal authorities.

It appears that Hightstown is one of a growing number of municipalities that self identify as "sanctuary cities."

In New Haven, Conn., for example, officials have prohibited police from asking about an immigrant's legal status, and in July the city will introduce municipal identification cards, providing undocumented immigrants with a "locally legal" form of ID that will make it easier for them to apply for bank accounts and sign rental leases. Overall, at least 20 cities and towns have approved pro-immigration measures over the past three years, according to the D.C.-based Fair Immigration Reform Movement. Analysts and advocates say almost as many -- including at least five in New Jersey, where about one in 17 residents is an illegal immigrant -- are considering similar resolutions.

It's an interesting development. Unlike the laws proposed by cities like Hazleton, Pennsylvania, these communities obviously see immigrants as an asset to their communities and value their long-term relationships with people who will inevidebly be long-term members of the local community. At the same time, the fact that local communities see the need to enact these rules further points to a failed national policy.

When Children fall through the Cracks of our Immigration System

This article from today's Washington Post highlights a now common problem with increased apprehension of undocumented immigrants: sometimes their small children get left behind when their mothers (and sometimes fathers) are taken away.

Although the parents are undocumented, their children are often U.S. citizens who are abandoned and then incorporated into the child welfare system.

This situation is incomprehensible, and extremely sad.

Mexico's Immigration Reform

Central to the folklore of U.S. immigration are the stories that immigrants tell about their journeys north. If you ever talk to an immigrant from Central (and sometimes South) American, more than likely they will tell you that the hardest part of their journey is not crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, but passing illegally through Mexico.

There are many reasons for this--Mexico is a large country, there are bandits and federales along the way that can make illegal passage difficult (i.e., thievery or arrest)to impossible (i.e., being bribed or physically assault by an immigrant officer or the police).

Mexico's President Felipe Calderón has announced a sweeping immigration reform package that will address the problems of people traveling through Mexico. Among the proposed reforms:

1) A "Safe Southern Border Program," which will crack down on illegal crossers, violent gangs in the border zone and abuse of migrants by authorities throughout Mexico.
2) A guest worker program to allow Central Americans to work legally and temporarily in Mexico, especially along the southern border
3)Providing improvements to 48 detention centers in Mexico for apprehended undocumented immigrants. This change is being made in response to criticism that illegal Central American migrants are denied the same respect Mexico demands for its citizens in the United States.
4)Calderón also plans to encourage his Congress to make being undocumented a civil violation, rather than a crime.

All of these changes are significant; especially in the case of improving human rights treatment, they are long over due. However, it remains to be seen if any of these changes will influence the northward migration of men and women to the U.S. It appears that Calderón's action is geared more toward encouraging the U.S. to take similar action about its undocumented immigrants.

New Bill to Limit Loans those without Social Security Numbers

The 110th Congress is considering legislation that would limit an increasingly popular mortgage concept: providing home loans to applicants using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) in lieu of a Social Security number.

ITINs are issued by the Internal Revenue Service to assist immigrant workers who do not qualify for a Social Security number to report their income and pay federal taxes. Many of the immigrants who use ITNs to apply for loans are actually in the U.S. legally, but have not completed the immigration process and received their Social Security numbers.

Banks around the country have started offering home mortgages to undocumented immigrants using ITINs, but their programs largely unnoticed and small in number. However, when Bank of America announced a pilot program in Los Angeles to provide credit cards to resident alien customers who lack Social Security numbers but have ITINs, they provoked a controversy that resulted in the proposed legislation.

Tim Sandos, president and chief executive of the National Assn. of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, has estimated that there are as many as 7--8 million legal resident immigrants in the United States who do not have Social Security cards but are in some phase of the immigration process leading to citizenship. That process can take years and "meanwhile these individuals are working here, earning incomes, paying taxes, contributing to the economy."

So it appears that this legislation, targeted at the undocumented, will hurt those who are in the country legally. You know, the ones who are "playing by the rules," as it is so often termed in the immigration debate. The question that we should be asking is "how many undocumented people actually take advantage of these loan offers?" My guess it that the number is pretty low, as it is difficult to amass assets when you're employed at the bottom of the U.S. labor market. Until we know that number, however, it is impossible to determine whether this is a problem that needs to be addressed legislatively. And if it is, this particular legislative approach is not the way to address it.

Fierce enough to bite: Tigres del Norte

If you've never heard of Los Tigres del Norte, I'm not too surprised. Los Tigres are a norteño band from Jalisco. In their early days, they sang corridos (ballads) about life on the U.S.-Mexico border. Today, their ballads are more likely about the struggles of immigrant families. The article linked above discusses the transformation of this band nito an international phenomenon. The video linked above is an example of their more recent work as balladeers of the immigrant experience.

Immigrant Lives: Three Sisters

Follow the link here to a wonderful NY Times series on three Mexican sisters who have immigrated to the U.S. and their life stories.