IN DEPTH: Undocumented, uncovered
Josué Flores has lived in the United States since he was 11 months old. He attends USU, studying international business. He speaks Spanish and English equally well, as well as German and some Dutch.
The biggest thing that makes him different from the majority of USU students is that he crossed over the border from Mexico illegally, with his family.
According to a New York Times article, migrant shelters along the Mexican border are filled with seasoned border crossers, often deportees braving ever-greater risks to get back to their families in the U.S.
“I believe in American ideology,” Flores said. “I think other immigrants do too. They work here and try to make this place their home. We try to learn the language. I don’t like how politicians see us as an enemy.”
Esmirelda Ayala, a constitutional law major, is another undocumented immigrant who grew up in the U.S. She said she grew up in Logan, speaks English without an accent and has no memory of where she was born. She said she considers herself an American, even though she doesn’t have any of the rights and amenities of a citizen.
“It’s crazy-hard sometimes,” Ayala said. “I’ve been here since I was two. I know nothing about El Salvador.”
Elizabeth Garcia, a sophomore majoring in pre-physical therapy, agreed.
“For my sister and I it’s also been hard. We have been here for seven years,” Garcia said. “We don’t have social security numbers. It’s almost impossible for us to find work to even survive. My mom owned a store for a while and made some money that way, and my dad works in Mexico and sends money. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to attend college.”
Alejandra Gorostieta was attending college, but said she had to drop out, because she could no longer afford it.
“We can’t apply for FAFSA, we can’t apply for scholarships, we have to pay it all upfront,” Garcia said.
Not only do illegal immigrants have no financial aid, Ayala said, but for a while she even paid international student tuition. There was virtually no upside, she said, she was also deemed ineligible to apply for any international scholarships.
According to The Times story, there are currently about 11.2 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. And 2.4 percent of Utah’s population is estimated to be illegal immigrants.
Both the Office of Analysis, Assessment and Accreditation and the USU Admissions Office were unable to provide conclusive statistics regarding illegal immigrants.
“I almost never tell anyone about being illegal,” Ayala said. “They usually react negatively.”
Crossing Over
Many of the immigrants know nothing about the place they were born, Flores said, and many of them came to Utah by their parents’ choice, not their own. Flores said he was one such immigrant.
“Because infants don’t need passports, it’s fairly easy to bring a baby across the border,” Flores said. “My parents trusted an American family to take me in their car across the checkpoint, while they swam across the river. They met the family on the Texas side and got me back. I’m glad I don’t remember it. Swimming the river at night sounds terrifying. It reminds me of the stories you hear about people sneaking out of the Soviet Union.”
Some immigrants pay high tolls to “coyotes,” experienced border guides, to help them across, Ayala said. That is what her family did. Others just overstay their visa.
Immigrants and Crime
There is definite racial discrimination that occurs regarding undocumented immigrants, Ayala said. One of the most common misconceptions is that undocumented immigrants are more likely to commit crimes than other groups.
“My personal opinion is that Mexicans have a more violent culture,” said Golden Zollinger, a USU business major. “They definitely contribute to our crime.”
Presidential candidate Ricky Perry, quoted by CNN, said, “It is not safe on that border.”
According to USA Today, Americans living near the U.S.-Mexico border are generally safe. A USA Today analysis of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California in July found that crime within 100 miles of the border is below both the national average and the average for each of those states — and has been declining for years.
Despite this, Americans continue to associate undocumented immigrants with drugs and thievery, Flores said.
“People think that by building a wall along the southern border they are going to stop drug trafficking, but they are focusing on results, not causes,” Flores said. “Until Americans control their own drug consumption, the problem will always be there.”
In fact, Flores said, the drug cartels have gotten stronger since security on the border has increased. Ayala echoed this sentiment.
“Things are getting so much more strict along the border,” she said. “It used to be a lot easier to cross the border by yourself, without a coyote. Now the only way to get across is if you ask the drug cartels for help, and so a lot of them have been able to build up their little kingdoms.”
Cartel problems do not exist all over Mexico, only in the border towns, Flores said. The unique situation along the border has helped them to find a lot of recruits, especially as the U.S. continues deporting thousands of people to border towns — people desperate to get back to their families and homes.
“When we go back to Mexico, we go through Laredo, (Texas,) which is generally safe,” Flores said. “But if you are a Mexican, then towns like Tijuana are extremely dangerous. The drug cartels own those towns. They
have AK-47’s, and if you are lucky, all they do is ask you a few questions, maybe take your car. If you are unlucky, they take you hostage and make your family pay $3,000 or $4,000 to get you back.”
In towns like Tijuana, Mexico, it is unsafe to be out on the streets past 7 p.m., said Jaqueline Garcia, an undeclared sophomore and sister of Elizabeth Garcia.
Flores said hundreds of deportees are brought daily into Tijuana, Mexico, more than any other city. Many of the deportees are women and children, he added.
The Immigrant-Driven Economy
Many Mexicans are accused of “stealing our jobs,” Ayala said. Her mother gets rude comments on her accent at work, she said, and her father, who is a construction foreman, once got in a fight with one of his employees, and the employee told him to go back to his country and stop taking our jobs away.
What many people fail to realize, is that an increase of people does not mean a decrease in jobs, said Tyler Bowles, head of the economics and finance department. It may be that immigrants, through the self-selection process of coming here, are more likely to create jobs, he said.
Steve Jobs was a first-generation American, Bowles said. His father was a Syrian that came to the U.S. to go to college. Jobs grew up American, and knew little of the land from which his father came — just like many of the immigrants today, he said.
At a young age, Bowles said, Jobs was an economic powerhouse. He created thousands of jobs and created a market sector that employs hundreds of thousands.
“Thank heavens Steve was born here,” Bowles said.
Many Latin American immigrants are also job-creating entrepreneurs, especially because many of them cannot apply for employment, Garcia said, whose mother owned a store for a while.
Ayala said her father employs quite a few men of all races in his construction business.
“If you took all of these millions of people and sent them back, our economy would go downhill,” Ayala said. “I don’t think you should blame other people just because you are unable to find work.”
Zollinger’s father owns a dairy farm, he said, and without immigrants it couldn’t function.
“I’ll tell you, agriculture wouldn’t work without illegals,” Zollinger said. “I’m against illegal immigration but at the same time I’m for it. They fill our low-end jobs.”
Well over half of the 1.9 million cows in the U.S. are milked by people who are here illegally, said Justin Jenson, professor of animal science.
“At first I was totally against (immigration) until I took global economic institutions,” Zollinger said. “Since then I have come to realize that an increase of people doesn’t mean an increase in unemployment. Many Mexicans have great work ethic and they pay taxes. They are a boost to our economy.”
According to a study by Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, a UCLA associate professor of Chicano and Chicana studies, immigration benefits the economy. According to Hinojosa-Ojeda’s report, comprehensive immigration reform could increase the country’s gross domestic product by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
However, right now the U.S. is losing money by deporting undocumented immigrants, Flores said.
According to the New York Times, deportation costs the government at least $12,500 per person, and it often does not work. Between October 2008 and July of this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent $2.25 billion sending back 180,229 people who had been deported before and come back anyway.
The Bureaucratic Nightmare
Many wrongly assume there is a process you can easily go through to become legal. In reality the system is a mess, Ayala said.
“It’s very hard,” she said. “My parents have been filing paperwork and talking to lawyers for 18 years, and we still do not have citizenship status.”
Flores said he attained his citizenship status last year, after 19 years of waiting.
In the meantime, immigrants have to find other methods. One of the most common ways is to apply for temporary protection status, Ayala said, which does not give you the same rights as a citizen but keeps you from being deported.
“You have to reapply for the status every 18 months, and it costs $500 to apply,” Ayala said. “If it is not approved then you are out $500. My friend Jasmine’s parents both applied but didn’t get it. Now they both have to leave. She’s staying by herself.”
– evan.millsap@aggiemail.usu.edu
A MONUMENT ON THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN BORDER reads “amistad,” which means friendship in Spanish. However, approximately 700 USU students endured countless trials when crossing into America. Photo courtesy Jacob Keyes (Jacob Keyes)