Immigration in the United States

In October 4, 2006, students marched onto the stage at an auditorium in Columbia University and held up a banner that declared, "No one is ever illegal." The students were protesting a speech being given by Jim Gilchrist, the leader of the Minutemen Project, a group that helps patrol the border at Mexico. Gilchrist, 62, is a former Marine and is described on his website as a "passionate defender of the First Amendment... and an avid supporter of law enforcement organizations." Gilchrist founded what he calls the "multi-ethnic" Minutemen Project on October 1, 2004 because he feels that the U.S. government is not doing enough to enforce stricter immigration laws. The project's website encourages readers to join in the dedication to "protecting America against invaders" that will never show "appreciation nor gratitude [towards America], but rather more demands." The website declares that supporters of illegal immigration are only giving in to "the biggest thugs with the biggest clubs."

Gilchrist, an avid Republican, has joined forces with an unlikely individual, Ted Hayes, a homeless activist working for more rights and better living conditions for African Americans. The two are supporting one another in their efforts to stop what they call the "invasion" of illegal immigration. Hayes is co-founder to the Hayes' Crispus Attucks Brigade, a project that shares the Minutemen's goal to stop illegal immigration into the United States on the Southern border. The website for the Crispus Attucks Brigade lists reasons to join their fight: "Illegal immigrants are claiming rights that had nothing to do with them, nor did they fight for, nor do they understand, yet they enter the United States over the heads of American black citizens who fought for those rights."

While immigration in the U.S. is certainly not limited to only one ethnic group, the focus of immigration has narrowed in on immigrants that come up from Latin America, particularly Mexico. Jim Gilchrist, Ted Hayes, and the Minutemen deny accusations that they are racist against Latinos, yet their websites are filled with prejudiced and ignorant descriptions of Latinos. Gilchrist and Hayes like to point out every crime committed by a Latino in the United States, completely ignoring the vast amount of Latinos that contribute in so many ways to American society. They seem to follow the common misconception that Latinos who migrate to the United States will in no way give back to the community, and that all immigrants come because they want to, rather than the idea that most come because they have to.

Mexico is a politically, socially, and economically unstable country that has been ruled by corrupt governments for a long period of time. From the 1910 to 1920 the Mexican Revolution took place, and an uprising was led against the dictatorial General Porfirio Dìaz. During this revolution, 900,000 Mexicans fled to the U.S. due to social and economic disorder. Although this was the first historically noted mass migration from Mexico into the U.S., some argue it was not actually the first mass migration.

Prior to this, Mexicans were recruited Northwards from central Mexico to work in California at the orange groves, or in Texas and the rest of the Midwest in mining camps. Housing was provided for the workers; and thus small Mexican communities were created in the wake of American industrialization. Gilbert Gonzalez, professor of Chicano Studies, argues that segregation and prejudice against Mexicans started in Mexico and moved up into the U.S. alongside work migration. American mining industries that were initially started in Mexico had the same Mexican labor communities, with Mexican workers living in shacks underneath the larger houses of the American managers. It was here, in these camps, that segregation first began between Mexicans and Americans. As more Mexican laborers were recruited further Northwards, eventually into the United States, the segregation picked up and followed with them.

Mexicans have been pushed and pulled between the United States and Mexico since the Mexican American War of 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war, guaranteed full U.S. citizenship to all Mexicans that remained settled in negotiated territory. Most of those Mexicans never realized this promise; they were prohibited from voting, going out late at night, and equal opportunities for good jobs and an education. Still, despite the growing racism against Mexicans in the United States, they were allowed to migrate over and work. Mexicans were even exempt from acts like the National Origins Quota of 1924, which limited the number of immigrants that could enter the U.S. each year from certain countries, but allowed an unlimited number of Mexicans to bring cheap labor across the border.

In the 1930s some 500,000 immigrants were deported back to Mexico due to the Great Depression. During the 1940s World War II broke out and most men were sent abroad to fight. This created a demand for agricultural labor. This demand led to the creation of a 1942 "guest worker" program called the Bracero Program, which employed 50,000 Mexican workers in the United States at one time. This "guest worker" program ended in 1964, marking an influx of undocumented Mexican workers into the U.S.

The Minutemen and supporters of the Hayes' Crispus Attucks Brigade are so adamant about helping the Border Patrol catch Mexicans and other immigrants trying to cross over that many do not realize the irony of the fact that the Border Patrol the border was created in 1924 initially for the purpose of keeping out Europeans and Asians who were trying to enter the U.S. through Mexico. Mexicans, however, were granted access to cross the border.

The greatest irony about the opposition to illegal immigration is the vast amount of immigrants that make up the opposition. Today, it is not uncommon to hear one Hispanic immigrant commenting on the "invasion" of immigration, despite the fact that he once arrived here illegally as well. Since it has recently become harder for an immigrant to obtain legal citizenship, many immigrants who became citizens years ago believe that others are not entitled to the same privileges they once had.

The constant influx of immigration is not a new phenomenon, but is currently seen as a problem because there is not a large demand for cheap labor from new immigrants. The U.S. has had a way of manipulating laws and rights so that a group of people, in this case, Mexicans, are "banned" from the country when they are not needed, and allowed back in when their labor is again needed.

Many American employers view Mexican labor as easily accessible and disposable labor. In many ways, U.S. immigration policies have adjusted to this perspective. Lately, the addition of groups like the Minutemen Project and the Crispus Attucks Brigade have created a very biased, sometimes even racist view of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. Some knowledge of the history of Mexican immigrant labor in the
United States may help to explain the side opposing the Minutemen Project, and to show that no one group can claim all rights to being a citizen of this country.

U.S. Customs & Border Protection budget is $8 million... and 13,000 border patrol agents watch what is close to 2, 0000 miles along the border.

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