Part I: Undocumented Immigrants: Who are they?

I have avoided this post for awhile now because I feel the issue is too complicated and complex for me to ever be eloquent about it in a short post, but I've seen so many comments lately regarding how undocumented immigrants should be excluded from the health care bill that I feel an obligation to write and share what I know and believe about the issue. I'm planning to write in 4 parts: 1) Who are undocumented immigrants? 2) Legality and "the law" 3) A Sense of Entitlement 4) Catholic Social Teaching. I really hope you see me through to the end. Even if you don't agree with what I have to say, I hope it will at least help you to think differently about the issue.

I'll say first that I am not an expert, but after studying the issue and living the issue for 7 years now, I know a little- I know, for example, that it is not as simple as people simply waking up one day and choosing to do something illegal for the heck of it.

For a brief example, I think most would agree there is a difference between the following two scenarios:

A) A starving child steals a piece of bread from the local market in order to eat.


B) A rebellious teenager steals an ipod from Best Buy to show his friends he can.


Both are stealing, of course, but the motivation is clearly different and consequently, I think most of us would judge the youth differently.

I look back at myself and on my life and I see abundant blessings. I see being born to parents who loved each other and made me a priority. I see being born in the United States, a land of opportunity. I see growing up comfortably economically with everything I ever needed and many things I didn't. I see being surrounded by family that loves me and supports me. My parents always there to help me with homework, encourage me to excel in school, enroll me in extracurricular activities, coach my soccer team, on and on. I always lived in a safe neighborhood- never had to worry about crime or not having enough to eat or when I would see the people I loved again. I had hard times, of course- times I felt lonely, I was bullied, I didn't fit in, I didn't have friends... but these are tiny problems compared to what so many others face. I look back on my life and I see a life of blessings and a life of privilege, none of which I necessarily "earned" or "deserved".

I had the great honor of being able to meet my husband, Juan Carlos, five years ago. This incredible man has a very different story than mine. Juan Carlos was born in Mexico. His father was killed when he was only four years old. His mother was left alone to raise 3 little boys- 7, 4, and 6 months old. She did the best she could to provide for them, living with family to have a roof over their heads, selling the little her husband had, but by the time Juan Carlos was 12 years old, she knew there was no future for them if she didn't do something. So, she left her precious children to pursue work in Tijuana and later, in the United States. She didn't see her youngest son for TEN YEARS. She worked and sent all her savings to bring her oldest son to the United States, he worked to bring Juan Carlos and Juan Carlos worked to bring his younger brother and cousin. When Juan Carlos came to the US the first time, they told him to dress in his nicest clothes because he would be going through the line. But the plan changed. In his nicest clothes, Juan Carlos walked for 18 hours in the desert. The shoes he was wearing were comparable to a man's version of high heals- narrow and uncomfortable. By the time he got to California, his boots were torn and his feet were completely torn up, full of blisters and bleeding.

Unfortunately, the story of Juan Carlos and his family is not unique to immigrants now living in the United States. Many stories are probably even more tragic. How many people have worked their whole lives just to save enough to make the journey, to risk their lives to cross the border? How many people have died trying to make the trip? If you don't believe me, visit the border- see for yourself. Count the white crosses with the names and ages of all the people who have died- children and adults and those are just the people they have found. I have met people who spent 30 days trying to get to the United States, who practically starved to death, who will probably be in debt trying to pay off the trip for 10 years or more. I have met people who have been raped, tortured, left to die in the desert. And they do this for what? For a chance that I was born with- a chance to be here- no guarantee of a job or health care or education, no guarantee that tomorrow someone won't turn you into the migra and you'll be right back where you started. No, they have no guarantee they'll arrive alive, let alone work and be able to make a life here. But something makes it worth the risk...

I'm not sure that in the US most of us have any concept of the kind of poverty people in other countries face. In Mexico, there is no welfare, no medicaid, no social security, no food banks. In Mexico, if you don't have food, you don't eat. If you get sick and you don't have money to pay for medicine or go to the hospital, you either recover on your own or likely die. There is no safety net, as so many of us in the United States have grown up living with. In Juan Carlos's town, the average pay was around $10/day ($1 an hour). Most go without meat and sometimes eat tortillas with beans 3 times a day because there simply isn't enough money for anything else.

People who cannot earn enough to take care of their basic necessities tend to want to move. Wouldn't you? And oftentimes the opportunities to move up in their own country just aren't there. Not only is it difficult for children who have to work to focus on school, but there is also little hope for many of them that it will make any difference. Too many students continue on to graduate with a bachelor's degree only to become taxi drivers and waiters and never have an opportunity to use their education. Sometimes the jobs just simply are not available.

So, with little to no food, no hope of moving up, and stories about how in the US, you can earn as much in one hour as you do in Mexico in one day, naturally they shift their sights north toward the land of opportunity.

But why don't they come here legally? Why don't they play by the rules?

Good question. I'll tell you. According to current immigration law, there is essentially no way for someone without a very unique, special job (specialized chemical engineer, famous artist, priest) a million dollars to invest or a family member already in the US to get a visa to work/live in the United States. Just to travel to the United States on vacation, people are often required to show they have an investment, property, a business, or some compelling reason to return or they are not granted tourist visas (compare this to what US citizens have to do to travel to Mexico!) So, in short, people generally do not come here legally because they can't. It is either a wait time of anywhere from 10-30 years or there's not even a waiting list.

The US needs manual labor from other countries, but has failed to establish an effective system to legalize the process for workers from other countries to come, even temporarily, to do manual labor in the US. If there were no jobs to be had here, I can assure you no one would be risking their lives, leaving their family, and paying exorbitant amounts of money to make the trip. We've even seen it- the economic downturn has caused thousands to return to their home countries- why would they want to be poor and far away from home? But the reality is if they are coming, it's because there are jobs to be had and opportunities here they could never dream of in their home countries.

Rather than be the baker that slaps the wrist of the starving child and throws him in jail, might we, instead, be able to count our blessings and thank God that we inherited a bakery from our parents and never have to worry about what we're going to eat? Might we be the baker that sees a justice beyond what is in the law that man wrote and do what God would have us do? I believe with all my heart if that baker was Jesus and a starving child stole a piece of bread from him, Jesus would give him another piece.

Immigrants are not even stealing from us- their only "crime" is seeking opportunity, just as so many of our ancestors did so many years ago. Yet, like small children, we tell them "I was here first- this is MY country and I don't want to share it." We forget that nothing on this earth is ours, but that it is all God's. That we were given a gift and a responsibility to use it wisely...

May we see the stories of the people behind the faces of immigrants and may we approach this issue out of love and with hearts of generosity, rather than fear.