febrero: Misunderstandings of migration

These are some common phrases that I have heard (and I will admit that I have spoken as well). And now, to debunk the myths and misconceptions of an issue we hear so much about.

Migrants want to go to the United States to live the “American dream”
Based on US-American comments that I have heard for most of my lifetime, I think this might be one of the biggest misconceptions out there. Imagine if you will, leaving your spouse and children, your parents, brothers and sisters. Imagine leaving your community and everything you know of “home.” You leave all that behind for a difficult, and life-threatening journey to arrive in a country with a different language and different cultural norms. You also confront people who do not appreciate the work you do and openly discriminate you and tell you to leave. What a dream, huh?
So why do people immigrate? Because they have to feed their families, the same reason people have immigrated for centuries. There are no jobs available at home, and the jobs that exist do not pay enough to support the family. While the cost of living has steadily increased in Mexico, wages have only increased around 3% over the past couple decades. To put that in perspective, US-American wages increase about 3% every year. Additionally, 60% of Mexicans work in the “informal sector” which consists of unregulated jobs like selling artisan crafts in the plaza, working at a street-side food stand, street performers, house cleaners, etc. By “unregulated” I mean that every day is different: these workers might make a hundred pesos one day, and only twenty-five the next. On average, the daily wage earned by the informal sector is about 50 pesos per day (about $5 USD). When we talked to migrants, the highest wage they mentioned earning was $100 pesos per day (about $10 USD) which still was not enough to support families of 5 or more children. To immigrate is not a decision to pursue the “American dream” but rather a decision one is forced to make when all other options are exhausted and food needs to be put on the table.

At the end of the story, it is illegal to go without papers. Why don’t they just get the documents they need?
The process to get papers is extensive and difficult. Even for a tourist visa into the United States, the Mexican individual has to provide the government with bank statements, documents of property ownership, proof of a family-supporting job and income and sometimes even additional documents explaining the purpose of travel. This is difficult for the upper-class or middle-class Mexicans (30% of the country’s population). This is nearly impossible for the people who have come to the point leaving their families to pursue a job in the US. In fact, I know one family that went to such lengths to combine all of their assets (including in-laws) and arrange papers for one person to go to the US to work. If they could get documents to legally enter into the United States, they would, but it just isn’t that easy.

Increased border security and the Wall have decreased immigration
Since 1994, the United States has passed legislation after legislation and spent billions of dollars on hiring more Border Patrol personnel and building the Wall (a 15 foot metal wall in once used crossing points). Governments often quote amount of money spent and number of workers employed to try to measure success. The truth of the matter is, no matter how many figures the government quotes during speeches or in press conferences, the data they always neglect to mention is the number of migrants that successfully cross every year. All that money and all those laws have done nothing to curb immigration. In fact, the numbers have not decreased at all since 1994. Estimates say that 500,000 undocumented migrants cross every year.
So, what have those laws, Border Patrol officers, and Wall done? The migrants that once used to cross safely and freely at border cities to pursue seasonal work are now forced to cross through harsh desert terrain and pay a coyote (guide) ten times the old price. Migrants used to pay $300 USD for the assistance of a coyote and now they are paying over $3,000 USD. The migrants travel only at night with no flashlights or lanterns for fear of calling the attention of the Border Patrol. They blindly walk for anywhere between 3 to 15 days through the desert with nothing more than a backpack, two gallons of water, some fruits, pain medication, and electrolyte drinks (Pedialyte). Aside from cacti with pinky-finger-long thorns (absolutely no exaggeration), scorpions, deadly spiders, rattlesnakes, and packs of coyotes, many migrants also suffer dehydration, heat exhaustion, and starvation. Hundreds die every year, and over 2000 have died since the passing of our increased border security measures. So, once again, what has the Wall and tightened security done? People are forced to cross dangerous desert passes, and die in the process.
What are the other consequences of our border policies and security measures? Because it is so difficult, dangerous, and expensive to cross, many migrants are not returning to Mexico after finishing seasonal work. When we asked the migrants how long they were planning on staying, many told us they wanted to work for two to five years. When we asked if they would like to return to visit families, they said yes but it is just too hard. Through some of my relationships here in Mexico, I know of several family members and friends who are working in the United States. Without exception, almost all of them have stayed longer than planned and have not returned yearly because the process of crossing is just too hard. So, what are our policies doing? They are keeping undocumented workers in the United States.

We need to seal our border so that terrorists cannot enter our country
After 9/11, our nation has understandably been very focused on terrorist activity for fear of another attack. But this argument does not have any ground when referring to border legislation. “Not one suspected terrorist has been apprehended on the US-Mexico border since 9/11.” (from Stop Border Deaths Now, www.rtfcam.org/border/border.htm)

Undocumented immigrants are taking our jobs
Perhaps they are taking jobs, but I do not know many US-Americans that want to sit at a conveyor belt at a factory, folding cardboard boxes for dog treats, for $5 per hour (this is actually a job that Marce had when she worked in the United States). I do not know many children who dream of working as a custodian. I do not see many US-Americans scrambling to spend ten hours a day under a summer sun bent-over picking and carrying heavy loads of fresh fruits for $6 per hour. Also, let us consider the latter example. What if our strawberries were picked by US-Americans earning a wage based on US-American standards? How much would we spend for a small, plastic package of those strawberries at the grocery store? Ten dollars? The inexpensive labor means that we have inexpensive produce, inexpensive manual labor services, and clean buildings. We are quick to blame them for “taking jobs” but slow to appreciate the work that they do and the benefits of comfortable living we receive as a result. So please, the next time that you go to the grocery store and pick up some lettuce, think of how much you might be paying if we didn’t have a migrant labor force.

Immigrants do not pay taxes and are a strain on our social services
Believe it or not, many of them pay taxes, just not in the way we think. They do not pay yearly taxes in April, but many receive paychecks from their jobs. In the same way that money is taken from our paychecks for federal and state taxes and social security, money is taken from their paychecks too. Some of my close friends in Mexico have worked in the United States and they tell me about how they lost that money every paycheck, money that they will never see again because they cannot take advantage of the majority of the federal and state services funded by those taxes and they will never have social security benefits.
When talking with the migrants waiting in the border town, Sarah and Winston met a man who had a huge scar on his hand. When they asked him how he got hurt, he told them that he was injured while working in the United States a few years earlier. He wrapped up his hand and kept quiet about it, afraid of calling attention to him. After nine days, the cut was still so bad that he had to go to the hospital. Terrified of being sent home, he chose not to seek medical attention. This story is a common one, in which migrant workers avoid any social services like hospitals or reporting crimes to the police for fear of being sent back to their home country. Additionally, many social services like workers’ compensation are not available to undocumented immigrants. The strain on social services is not as extensive as what many US-Americans believe.



Now that I have explained some of the misconceptions of immigration that I have heard and believed to be true for most of my life, I am left wondering what is to be done. As a citizen of the US and a future taxpayer upon my return, I believe that continuous and useless spending on building a Wall (a current legislation gaining steam in Texas) or increasing border security is obviously not working the way it is intended. I see it as an extreme loss of tax-payers’ money. I believe that for our own benefit and for the benefit of migrant workers, comprehensive immigration reform needs to be discussed in our country as a relevant and major issue.