THE PRICE OF A MEXICAN PART 2

COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS
APRIL 14, 2008
BY ROBERTO DR. CINTLI RODRIGUEZ
THE PRICE OF A MEXICAN PART 2

In early December, a Mexican family is pulled over by a Tucson police
officer who promptly calls immigration officers to the scene. In the
meantime, a passenger, Miriam Aviles-Reyes, goes into early labor on
the street. While her husband is deported, she is taken to a hospital.
There, an immigration agent prods her to "push." Outraged, she demands
that he leave the hospital room. After he leaves, she gives birth, and
is subsequently ordered to leave the country by the end of the month.
Appeals to allow her and her newborn to keep their doctor appointments
are denied.

Not coincidentally, her departure was set to coincide one day before a
new draconian anti-immigrant law (HB 2779) in Arizona went into
effect.

As abhorrent as this traumatically induced birth was, she is actually
one of the "lucky" ones. This is a part of the country in which since
the mid-1990s, some 5,000 migrants from Mexico, Central and South
America have died attempting to cross inhospitable deserts and
mountains for a chance to work in this country. Many others die in
horrific crashes as smugglers increasingly attempt to evade "the
migra." Some are killed by rogue agents, whereas many women are
sexually assaulted. Few perpetrators are ever convicted. This is also
minutemen vigilante country. It is where migrants get blamed for the
failure of politicians to pass just and humane labor and immigration
agreements. As a result, migrants continue to die and millions of
dollars continue to be wasted to erect walls of fear and hate along
the southern border.

Similar to the more than 1,000 laws that have recently passed
nationwide, the Arizona law panders to those that scapegoat Mexicans
for the nation's problems. They also conflate immigration enforcement
with the "war on terror" and the need to "protect the homeland." This
state law severely punishes employers for hiring undocumented
immigrants. Not unexpectedly, along with hate crimes, reports of
employment harassment and discrimination are on the rise.

Down the highway, under the guise of crime suppression, Maricopa
County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has gone wild, initiating massive dragnet
raids that target Mexicans, resembling a modern version of "Indian
Removal." Similar raids are taking place around the country, though
not against Canadians or Europeans, etc (nor should they). Nowadays,
there are special inhumane holding facilities for immigrant children
and families (T.D. Hutto Res. Ctr, Taylor, TX) – run by the for-profit
Correction Corporation of America (CCA). There are also expedited
immigration courts on military bases (Davis Monthan Air Force Base)
with the objective of criminalizing en masse as many migrants as
possible. Also profiting from such kangaroo courts is CCA.

The entire country is going through a convulsion, fueled by fears over
who belongs and who doesn't. Mexicans have gone from being "others" to
enemies. Extremists want them all deported – regardless of their legal
status. Yet even some "progressives" see them as but part of a
subservient class. Yet, there is hope.

At the recent annual banquet in Tucson held by the Coalicion de
Derechos Humanos organization, I approach a woman with a cane.
Sometimes I see her walking with the aid of two canes. I ask Raquel
Rubio Goldsmith, an immigration rights veteran and the director of the
University of Arizona's Binational Migration Institute, how she
maintains her sanity in this environment.

She says few words. It's her eyes that tell the story. Her eyes do not
well up nor is there a sign of anger. Instead they reflect
exasperation, not with right-wingers, but with the complacent middle.
Thousands of migrants die and people just go on with their lives,
unmoved to action.

At this banquet, Gerald Lenoir, head of the Black Alliance for Just
Immigration, delivers the keynote address and along with it hope as he
links the historic struggle of the African American community with the
struggle for the dignity of migrants – peoples who are nowadays
viewed as less than human. By his very presence, both he and Derechos
Humanos show a different way.

After a subsequent conference (No Vale Nada la Vida? – Is life not
worth anything?) in which death on the border is the focus, I again
ask Rubio-Goldsmith how she maintains her sanity amid the
indifference. The exasperation she feels also extends to the media,
she confides: "me dan tanta rabia" (the media infuriate me), she says.

What I really want to ask her is: What indeed is the price of a
Mexican? A few years back, a Texas court determined it was $6,000. In
today's climate, probably about as much as that of an Iraqi. Yet I
think of the migrants that are continually found in the desert and I
think of Rubio-Goldsmith's reactions.

For updates regarding immigration related issues, go to:
http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net

(c) Column of the Americas 2008

Rodriguez can be contacted at: XColumn@gmail.com or 520-743-0376
Column of the Americas - PO BOX 85476 Tucson, AZ 85754 or
http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html