Jewish proverb: Loneliness breaks the spirit.
Striving beyond the loneliness and isolation of our immigrant experiences, our struggles have bound us together as Americans. We have built this great yet complicated nation, and each year we see a new group of immigrants strive to follow in the footsteps our families have taken for over 400 years.
We each have an immigrant story. Mine took an unexpected turn when asking my family why they left Texas after they had been there for centuries.
My aunt said, "You know why we left, mijo. In El Valle (South Texas), we would walk into town and you couldn't go anywhere -- the businesses would have signs that said, 'No dogs or Mexicans allowed.' Your abuelito and abuelita knew that we would not have any opportunities if we lived in a place as hateful as that... so that is why we left Tejas for California."
They talked to me about my family's history, being the first Mexican and American settlers of Texas almost two and a half centuries ago. My father spoke of his family as well. "Your grandmother's family has been on their piece of land in South Texas even before Mexicanos were in Texas. Her family, they were Tejano Indians. Your grandfather crossed from Nuevo Leon to Texas and he saw a future here for his family."
That is what America is about, through the good and bad; about a nation of immigrants that have crossed many barriers and struggled mightily for opportunity, equality and freedom. However, we live in a nation of immigrants who have grown scornful toward new immigrants.
Immigrants are drawn by the opportunity to make a steady wage and provide for their families. Yet, they face a tough road in becoming a part of our society, trying to find their niche in America, while most Americans see them as leeches on the American economy.
As we all know, immigrants have always been a source of anger and controversy. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Law was the first major law to curb immigration of an ethnic group. In 1906, knowledge of English was made a requirement for immigration. In 1929, immigration quotas were made law, limiting the number of immigrants allowed in the U.S. annually.
With the onset of World War II and the need for cheap labor, the government enacted the "Bracero Program" in 1943, bringing Mexican agricultural workers to keep food production high. During the war, my immigrant grandfather left his little piece of land in Texas to work in a Freon plant in Toledo, Ohio, where my father was born.
Opinion on immigration in the U.S. has two sides. A majority of Americans do not like immigration or immigrants; they see them as lawbreakers, threatening their job security and costing taxpayers too much money because, in American opinion, "they cannot or do not pay taxes and they access government services like health care and schooling."
But Americans like the services they get from immigrants because often, Americans and/or businesses hire immigrants as cheap labor. Americans can choose not to report hiring them on tax records, and they know undocumented immigrants are too scared of being reported to complain about working conditions or being paid.
Last year, the federal government discovered that Tyson, one of the biggest poultry companies in America, was smuggling Mexican migrants across the border to transport them to work in poultry processing plants in Arkansas. Yale University just brought in a group of immigrant Latinos to be replacement workers for striking service employees; several of those immigrants have quit their jobs in protest.
Often, when I talk with migrants, they talk about how they want to succeed here so that they can provide for their families. But we also hear hard stories of those women and men forced to perform sexual favors for employers because they fear being reported.
Maybe some of this sounds familiar to you, from stories that your families have told you of their struggles to come to this Land of Opportunity. Your grandmother and my grandfather may have been in similar struggles, both persevering to build a future for their children and for America.
Immigrants have built our nation's railroads, have been the backbone of industry which has given us the beautiful buildings we live and study in. They have been the hands that have put fruits and vegetables on our tables. Immigrants are our nation's lifeblood.
We can complain about immigration and the perceived problems that are brought by immigrants, or we can recognize that the benefits in hard work, ingenuity and service brought by immigrants outweigh the negatives.
When you see the beautiful flowers along Locust Walk and when you buy dinner for your friends downtown, think about who has worked hard to make those experiences worthwhile. When you see an immigrant, don't see an anonymous face, see the struggles of an America growing. Most importantly, see your family's struggles in them.
Nicolas Rodriquez is a senior Political Science major from Sanger, Calif. and spokesman for the Latino Coalition.
