The Hill (Op-Ed)
By Annaluisa Padilla
September 21, 2015
As
the world wakes up to the Syrian refugee crisis and Congress returns to
D.C., the news, social media, and watercooler conversations continue
to be plagued with ugly
and xenophobic rhetoric regarding the undocumented population in the
U.S. Policies of exclusion without orderly, fair and reasonable methods
of population influx are being thrown around and if compassion isn’t
enough to see why we should love our neighbors,
perhaps cold hard economic facts can open some eyes.
America
is home to 11 million human beings who are living an incomplete life.
Notwithstanding the ray of light in the form of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),
allowing hundreds of thousands to step out from behind the shadows and
proudly join the communities in which they have long lived as
“unknowns,” there are millions who have no line to get into and no way
to move forward. Many still hide, struggling to keep
a roof over their heads, earning below poverty-level wages because they
lack documentation to work; fearing they will be stopped and taken by
federal authorities on their next morning commute or that Immigration
and Customs Enforcement officers will pound
on their door at 3 am looking for their spouse or relative.
What
are we missing out on? A recent survey of DACA recipients by the
National Immigration Law Center showed that most recipients have been
able to make the most of the
program and better their work situation with an average wage increase
of 45 percent. They’ve bought their first car, paid for college, helped
their families, and spent money in their local communities as they’ve
moved up the economic ladder. These talented
young men and women now wave their employment authorization card with
pride and a feeling of belonging to the one country they have called
their home since their childhood.
As
a result of the lies and inaccuracies that continue to be spread by the
restrictionists, Americans have been fooled into believing we must
protect ourselves from our
neighbors whether they come from next door or from across the ocean.
But the reality is that welcoming immigrants and refugees who will
enrich our nation isn’t just living up to our American heritage, its
good business. AOL founder Steve Case bluntly wrote
recently that “Our head-in-the-sand policies put our future at risk,
and our insensitive language may scare away the very people whom we need
to attract.” He is right. We need an immigration system that recognizes
the value of those who are already contributing
to our economy and allows for the orderly influx of those who wish to
put their talents to work for America.
It
is disheartening that we have not been able to appreciate the gifts of
the immigrants already among us and that we continue to demonize those
who dream of coming to
our soil. Some have labeled them “criminals,” “thieves taking our
jobs,” or “leeches depleting our public benefits.” But they are none of
those things. They are no different from any of us and are simply
trying to live the American Dream.
It
is not that solutions have not been presented. The Senate presented an
imperfect but workable solution in 2013, but the House stalled.
President Obama’s administration
delivered a workable remedy with Deferred Action, yet it is temporary
and fragile. With this administration ending in 2016, those same
talented young individuals who are already making valuable contributions
to our economy are living with the anguish of a
possible “end date” to their opportunities. Although exclusion is
easier than inclusion, it comes at a high price: the loss of a treasure,
an opportunity, and progress.
Despite
evidence of the endless contributions of immigrants, our leaders
continue to use them as scapegoats for our social and economic problems
using derogatory terms
and spreading xenophobia and fear. We need to turn away from that
hostile rhetoric. We can recognize the benefits and contributions of
immigrants, the value of refugees’ lives, and the wealth of our humanity
in creating a reasonable and orderly immigration
system based on humane, fair and rational laws. Let’s show the world
we can come together to relieve despair, and to embrace the human behind
the “immigrant” label.
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