Picture by Nick Oza.
By Valeria Fernández
Are you even an American?
I turned my video camera towards the woman clearly angry at me because I had just asked a question using the term “undocumented immigrant”.
And I enraged her even more when I asked in my Uruguayan accent: “Do I have your permission to use this in a documentary?”
We were at a Tea Party gathering in Tempe, Arizona. I was following Sen. Russell Pearce just a few days before his SB 1070 was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer.
As I covered the bill’s passage in the days that followed, others asked me similar questions about my nationality and it started to get to me.
I was hurt.
It wasn’t just my technical citizenship that was brought into question, it was the very essence of the American in me.
We read headlines that describe Arizona as ground zero for the immigration debate. I have said so myself.
But more and more Iʼm convinced that this is more than a debate.
This is a fight.
And what we are fighting about is more than immigration.
It is about America’s identity.
What does it mean to be an American?
Is it defined by being born in a place? Is it the color of your skin? Is it the papers you carry? Is it marked by the desire to defend the Constitution? Or is it to be a Tea Partier?
More important, can a person who crosses the border illegally be an American?
Our politicians don’t think so. They want to banish 460,000 people, some of whom have lived here for decades, for not having the papers to prove that this is where they belong.
I have seen the anti-immigrant climate escalate over the past three years as I’ve worked on a film about the politics of immigration in Maricopa County with director Dan DeVivo. And recently we created wwww.90daystoPhoenix.com to document the three-month period before SB 1070 goes into effect on July 29, barring a successful court challenge.
Latinos have a reason to be upset, worried and even fearful about a law that is breeding hatred and resentment against them.
Yes, I know there are provisions in SB1070 supposedly intended to prevent racial profiling, but the other language of the law encourages it. I donʼt believe that all police officers in the state want to racially profile people. But they are required to enforce SB 1070, and if they don’t, their bosses–the cities, counties and the state itself–face citizen lawsuits.
The police find themselves between a rock and hard place.
Just watch this video of Juan Miguel Gonzales, a U.S. citizen whose wife was detained and deported after they were pulled over for a questionable traffic infraction last month. Despite being a U.S. Citizen he feels this will result in his own “deportation” because now he has to leave Arizona to reunite with his wife.
Other harsh immigration laws in the state target the economic migrant and mistakenly racially profile Latinos citizens too. Such cases have already made their way into federal courts in Arizona.
A law like SB 1070 didnʼt happen overnight, it took a long time for politicians to convince Arizona voters with the idea that we are being invaded by “illegal aliens” who sell drugs, cause mayhem and take American jobs and deplete public benefits.
These lies have become sound bites that voters believe. In truth, crime is down in Arizona and unauthorized migrants are barred from most public benefits.
We donʼt have to wait for SB 1070 to take effect to see the wounds it has already caused. I worry most about the young Americans (with our without documents) who feel the hate. I think about Kathy Figueroa, the 10- year-old-girl who saw on TV how Maricopa County Sheriff deputies arrested her parents in a car-wash raid. She recently testified in Congress about her fears, she spoke with the innocence of a child about things that only adults should be talking about. And when she stepped out of the massive hearing, away from TV cameras she told us she was anxious for being separated from her parents again, fearful that when she returned to Arizona they wouldn’t be there.
Today, there is a new invisible border wall separating Americans. It was laid first in Arizona. It divides the country between those who fear and hate Latinos –or all those who are different- and those who do not.
We are deciding whether as a nation we will embrace or mistreat those who are different from us.
A battle for America’s identity began in Arizona and spread throughout the United States. And it’s not about where we were born or the kind of papers that we carry in our wallet. It is about how we choose to see our own humanity in each other.
I know this to be true because I’m an American.
90DAYSTOPHOENIX.com is an independent media project that documents Arizona’s ongoing struggle to sift through the truth and lies behind the immigration debate. Journalists, photographers, filmmakers and citizens come together to provide a real-time on-the-ground account of SB 1070 developments, and give a larger audience an inside look at this unfolding historic moment in Arizona.
I feel that part of this statement, about a “new invisible border” is incorrect. I am not denying that it seems there is an “invisible border” – but, I disagree that, “It divides the country between those who fear and hate Latinos –or all those who are different- and those who do not.”
I feel the division in the country is between those who have a problem with people doing something illegal, vs. those who feel we have laws that should be (and should have been) followed. People are supposed to abide by the law, and many do not feel condoning illegal activity is justified. (Supporting illegal immigrants is, in essence, condoning their illegal actions of coming/staying here). There are means to becoming legal citizens – for those who want to become Americans, and proclaim allegiance to the USA. Those who enter illegally, are not taking the steps to become citizens, therefore, may very well proclaim absolutely no allegiance to America.
In my opinion, it is a case of ILLEGAL vs LEGAL (regardless of skin color, background, etc.). It is a case of TAKERS vs. GIVERS (those taking the benefits they can from the country without pledging any allegiance to it, vs. those giving of themselves to work toward becoming legitimate U.S. citizens proud to be Americans, and giving back to the USA).
It’s not racial. It is about abiding by the law. Allowing it to go on for so long, the situation is massively magnified, but that doesn’t mean we should continue to overlook the fact that these people are here illegally, or grant them outright amnesty (thus rewarding the fact that they broke the law in order to be here in the first place). People should not be able to enter our country, and stay here, illegally, without any repercussions – they are breaking the law.
I can’t understand, why ALL immigrants who came here and became legal citizens aren’t angry that they abided by the law, and worked hard to become US citizens, while Illegal immigrants reap benefits from living here illegally, and have many fighting for blanket amnesty for them?
I can’t understand, why all Americans (of all races, colors, etc.), aren’t worried that our porous borders might be allowing illegals into our country that may very well wish us great harm?
I can’t understand, why all Americans, (of all races, colors, etc.), aren’t angry at the number of jobs and benefits these illegal people take from legal citizens?
I can’t understand, why all Americans aren’t angry that our school systems are overwhelmed with budget constraints, yet we must continue spending the amount of funds we spend on the children of people who are not American citizens in the first place?
I can’t understand, why all those struggling to make ends meet, aren’t angry that illegal people reap free benefits while they struggle day-to-day to keep a roof over their heads, pay their bills, feed their families, etc.
I can’t understand why there is so much support for people who are here illegally, when we have so many American citizens that are homeless, or who go hungry day-after-day … how much of the money that is supporting illegals could be used to help them?
I just can’t comprehend why this issue always seems to become a case/an argument about fear or hatred based on difference of race, skin color, etc. In my opinion, it’s NOT a case of race, color, etc., it’s a case of what is legal, and what is not, and what benefits are given to, or taken by, those who are not here legally.
It’s a case of protecting our borders so that we, as Americans, are protected against harm. (The physical, economic, health, employment, and educational harm caused by those in our country illegally).
[...] was taken from an article by Valeria Fernández, at 90DAYSTOPHOENIX. You can read the full story here. This is part four of an ongoing series of videos I’m using with [...]