Have you ever thought about what it would be like to immigrate to another country and all the hardships of becoming a citizen in that country? How about trying to get into another country illegally? These are problems that many people experience all too often. A lot of the hardships are due the lack of help people receive in such situations.
These were the issues that were addressed in suite 1800 in Driscol hall on Thursday Feburary 10th in a small intimate group of people at the University of Denver. We were in a small circular group with no more than 20 people. After the introductory remarks the two rhetor’s were introduced, being Miguel de la Torre and Richard Froude. Richard Froude being more so concerned with the obtaining of a green card in America and the difficulties of that and Miguel de la Torre is an activist fighting for a better boarder system and to help illegal immigrants. This event was held as an information session more so than an open debate about Immigration and boarder control of our country. It touched on aspects of foreign policy and local policies for things such as obtaining work visas, green cards, citizenship and the reason why so many illegal immigrants especially from Mexico enter our country. Richard Froude had a very interesting story to tell the group however, Miguel de la Torre’s segment was much more provocative in its material.
One such man who tries to help these illegal immigrants is Dr. Miguel de la Torre. He is from Cuba and is all too familiar with our countries immigration policies and the hardships that come with them. On April 3, 1961 he was asked to leave the country or face being deported because his work visa had expired. He works for a group called “No more Deaths”, in which they support immigrants who cross our border illegally. They are not assisting these people to cross our boarders illegally but, instead to give them resources such as food and water so that they don’t die. Miguel is an activist that is trying to change the way our boarders, especially on the American side, are handled and to stop the unneeded deaths. No country is perfect however; there is no need for deaths to occur to people who are trying to better themselves and their families.
In a Country that uses 60-65% percent of the world’s resources for only about 6% of the world’s population, it is no wonder that people are trying to get into our country any way they can. However, as stated by Dr. Miguel this is not the only reason why there has been an influx in people trying to enter our country. Due to globalization, free trade, and certain US policies the United States has been able to subsidize goods that Latin American countries produce at a much lower price. These prices are so much cheaper that people like farmers, cannot compete in the market. Think of it this way, if the skill set you had developed your entire life suddenly became overshadowed by the most powerful country in the world, what would you do? Your profession and product you make becomes useless because no one wants your goods for the price you have to sell them for because they can get the same product for much cheaper. This leaves a person with very few choices, and in the case of Latin Americans, especially Mexicans, the choice becomes obvious. Get into the country that has taken your business and start to work and make a living there.
When Dr. de La Torre presented our group with this scenario it invoked a lot of different emotions. Especially when he said that there have been over 3600 deaths trying to cross our boarder and this number could easily be underestimated by 60%. However, when he was asked for his personal opinion on how to fix these problems he had no solution. This was quite disappointing because he grasped the attention of the entire audience through his pathos but, didn’t deliver a final all inclusive solution.
I do see the flaws in our system, however it is entirely too complicated of a system for a quick fix. The first steps are to remove the inhumane aspects used on border patrol, deportation, and immigration. The unprovoked beatings of illegal immigrants cannot continue to occur, and the repercussions of these beatings should be enforced. It’s impossible to please everyone however this doesn’t mean that we cannot protect people’s personal safety. In a world where being internationally conscious because of the continued growth of globalization can be seen everywhere there will have to be changes in certain policies or we will never be able to coexist being free of fear or racial tensions.
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