Would Cinco de Mayo be a day of much celebratory significance for Mexican-Americans if, back on May 5, 1862, more than 8,000 French men had invaded Mexico looking for low-end jobs such as picking produce or pruning hedges? Probably not.
That’s something to think about this Cinco de Mayo weekend at a time when America faces tough questions concerning illegal immigration.
On Monday, the “Day Without Immigrant” rallies headlined front pages across the nation. Downtown San Jose had an estimated 100,000 demonstrators, and Los Angeles had more than half a million. Here in the South Valley, Gilroy had a march down 10th and Rosanna streets of more than 600 people.
Made up mostly of Mexican-Americans, the peaceful marches made a point to those in political power that – whether they are legally here or not – immigrants do play an important role in our society.
One reason for the rallies was the U.S. House’s passage of a bill making it a felony to be an illegal immigrant in America and turning into criminals those who aid any of the 12 million people illegally within our borders. This harsh political measure seems an overreaction to dealing with an issue demanding much more sensitivity.
Historically, there’s been hypocrisy in the American character toward immigrants. In the past, the Irish, the Italians and the Chinese were tolerated because they took the jobs no one else wanted. But for some, these immigrants’ assimilation into American society was considered outrageous. Overtime, however, they successfully integrated as patriotic U.S. citizens.
Now we face the same debate with those of Hispanic heritage. There are some who believe “invading” immigrants from Mexico undermine American culture.
They propose building a towering wall along Mexico’s U.S. border to “protect” us.
Others, including President Bush, want to create a temporary guest-worker program – a far more practical proposal than a border fence.
A recent study released by Pew Hispanic Center found that most recent Mexican immigrants – about 71 percent – would prefer to stay in the United States indefinitely, but they would be willing to participate in a temporary work program allowing them legal status for a limited time before returning to Mexico.
But before we start such a program, we must remember that Mexico and the United States tried it once before – beginning more than 60 years ago – with mixed results. During World War II, when many American farm and railroad workers went overseas to fight, men from Mexico came to replace them. These guest workers were called “braceros” because they worked with their “brazos” (arms).
Millions of men received identification cards and worker papers at five government centers on the U.S.-Mexico border. They then were sent to various farms participating in the program. Many long-time residents of Santa Clara and San Benito counties still recall seeing the braceros toiling in the fields of the South Valley during this time.
When the farmers treated them humanely, many braceros enjoyed their time in the United States. But others faced hardships when bullying foreman brutally mistreated them. Many lived in dismal conditions. The braceros wired a portion of their hard-earned money back to Mexico for safekeeping in pension accounts. Unfortunately, due to corruption in the Mexican government, many never received their money. The Mexican Congress is now considering whether to repay the $27 million still owed to about 80,000 former braceros.
The guest-worker program lasted from 1942 until 1964, when the U.S. government officially ended it. Now our government proposes restarting the program. If we do, we must properly protect the human rights of these guest laborers.
Like it or not, legal and illegal immigrant workers from Mexico are vital to America’s economic strength. Employed in menial tasks many U.S. citizens refuse to do, they are the unseen bricks in the foundation of our nation’s industry.
But these workers are also vital to the economic stability of Mexico. According to Stephen Haber, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, every year, these immigrant workers send $18 billion in American money to their loved ones back in Mexico. Haber calls this money “the lifeblood of many rural communities.”
The money serves to help bolster the Mexican economy and provide some stability to a society on the edge of civil unrest. If a Draconian American immigration policy dried up this source of funds, the resulting economic devastation for Mexico’s poor might lead to a revolution in that nation. This in turn would create a tidal wave of major social and political problems for the United States.
One thing the current immigrant question has spotlighted is a degree of ugliness in our nation’s character. Many of us who were lucky enough to be born Americans look down our noses at those who risk their lives to come here with hope for a better life and the chance to become U.S. citizens. Maybe we have created a myth of what it means to be a real American. It’s not so much about geography as about a longing of the heart.
We tend to hide from the fact that the raw material of our national character is immigration. America is a land built by immigrants as well as by the sons and daughters of immigrants. Whether it be Native Americans who crossed the ice-covered Bering Strait thousands of years ago, the Puritans who crossed the Atlantic, or those who followed in later centuries, all Americans are connected by a common national heritage of the immigrant experience.
This Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend commemorates a victory of 4,000 Mexican soldiers over 8,000 invading French troops at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. For many Mexicans, that victory inspires feelings of patriotism.
And, when they become U.S. citizens, many of these same people feel just as patriotic about their new home north of the border. They don’t call themselves “invaders.” They call themselves “Americans.”
