I’m a Latina immigrant, and a naturalized U.S. citizen. I’m friends with all types of immigrants, some documented, some not, from multiple countries and with multiple professional backgrounds. When we meet, we usually spend time discussing many topics, work, health and parenting, being the most popular.
Sometimes, we land on the topic of immigration, and it’s interesting to me, how their reactions about the policies enforced by the current administration impact them so differently. I honestly can say that their level of fear fluctuates from zero to a state of desperation, based on the color of their skin, and their country of origin, not on their immigration status.
Among my group of friends, I can say that my European and Asian friends are the ones who report to be least affected, and have the most casual reaction to the hate narrative and enforcement policies of this administration. They’ve even pointed out that for them it is “business as usual” when it comes to this topic. And they are right. The issue and narrative elude them. After all, I don’t remember ever hearing of an ICE raid in Malden, where there is a vast concentration of Chinese residents, or in Alston, Brighton or Newton where there is a significant Russian community, or South Boston where the Irish have settled. And oh, for those who don’t know, many people from these countries, are as undocumented as the brown-skinned lady who serves your food, and seems to offend you with her presence.
And just to stress that point, are you 100 percent sure that every one of the current immigrants from Europe has proper documentation to be in this country? I’m sure you don’t, but yet nobody is talking about that specific group of white immigrants, mainly because they don’t bother us, they don’t bother this administration. The only ones who bother this administration are the brown-skinned ones who come from the “sh..hole countries.”
It is clear to me that not every undocumented immigrant is treated equally, and that policies are enforced and applied very differently depending on the shade of your skin and your complexion. This helps me conclude that the interest of this administration is not to make people comply with the current laws, but plain racism.
One of the common statements I hear from people is that immigrants need to come here legally, and wait their turn. I understand that in a perfect world that would be the case. But honestly, I find this statement to be extremely hypocritical, because we all know that not everyone has come here legally.
Past waves of immigrant groups have not all arrived here the right way, yet somehow past administrations have been able to recognize the flaws of our broken immigration system, and have created a path to citizenship for them, I don’t understand the lack of motivation to do the same thing now.
The truth of the matter is that the fear of brown-skinned people being stopped, and searched waiting for the train, is much higher than the fear of any of their white counterparts, who also lack proper documentation to be in this country. And the way I see it, until their fears are equal, and we have a system that makes us all equal in the eyes of the law, I don’t want to hear anything about the efforts of this Administration to “Make America Great Again,” because it’s not. If anything, this administration’s fixation on immigration has made our humanity, empathy and common sense shrink.
And just in case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve already been told that if I don’t like it, to go back to my country. I guess that the new way of solving things here in America is expelling and silencing the voices of others who feel oppressed, instead of offering a helping hand.
