In a recent on-campus lecture discussing immigration, Dr. Miguel De La Torre of Cuba and Richard Froude of England discussed the issues of immigration as well as the perception of immigrants in the United States. They conferred their experiences of coming to America, addressed the various generalizations made by US citizens about immigrants, and compared their stories for the audience. The audience consisted of students, professors, university staff, and others from outside the DU population. We all sat in a circle to generate a sense of community as well as to foster conversation. The environment was as first awkward however became relaxed as Dr. De La Torre and Froude spoke of their immigration.
Richard Froude spoke first of his arrival in the United States as a student. In 2002, he traveled to Boulder with a two year visa and the hopes of achieving a master’s degree. After receiving his masters, his visa expired which meant he needed another in order to work towards a graduate degree. With each new visa, his desire to live in the United States heighted tremendously. There are many differing types of visas based on conditions and time lengths. Richard began with the F1 Student Visa. The last visa he lived on was the H1B Visa which allowed him to work in Portland. Applying for a visa is an incredibly expensive and lengthy process. They can range from $50 to $2000 in addition to filling out six or seven forms. Many are exceptionally confusing which he pointed out is even more challenging for an immigrant with a language barrier. He and his current wife decided to wed not solely for the purpose of obtaining a green card, but he had few other alternatives. Richard continuously stressed how difficult this process would have been had he not spoken English and come from such comparable culture. He stated, “I have a huge respect for those people and their families,” when referring to language barriers. Richard Froude’s experience was certainly no walk through the park and he had much more in favor of his immigration than most. As spectators, we felt sympathetic to the people who are subjected to such a confusing system standing in the way of their freedom.
Froude was rhetorical in the narration of his story through his emphasis on culture variations and language differences. He stated, “I pay taxes, more than actual citizens, yet I can’t vote or claim social security.” Immigrants pay thousands of dollars to stay in the country whether gaining citizenship or reapplying for visas and green cards. His appeal to pathos in these comments forced the audience to step back and appreciate our natural citizenship as Americans. Most Americans do not understand the process and its difficulty, yet we create biases and hatred towards ethnic groups in our nation. He is persuasive simply in communicating the process of immigrating because it is strenuous and over-whelming. In addition, he depicted to the audience that he is an invisible immigrant in our community. He looks American and blends in racially until his accent is heard in conversation, then he is considered “different”.
The second speaker, Dr. Miguel De La Torre, faced a dissimilar migration. Dr. De La Torre has been a citizen of the United States for over 50 years and was granted citizenship as a child because he was a Cuban resident. During his time of exodus, Cubans were automatically granted naturalization if they were able to reach the US. He began his lecture by stating that he was here because of the US foreign policies in Latin America, not to take advantage of the systems like most Americans assume. This comment was powerful in addressing the immature stereotypes and accusations we place on immigrants in our nation. Furthermore, Dr. De La Torre established his ethos in declaring that, “We didn’t cross no borders, the borders crossed us.” During the Mexican-American War, the US seized hundreds of thousands of acres of land from Mexico to further establish this economic powerhouse of a nation. Our economy is extremely influential in Mexico and due to our significant agriculture industry, we export much of our crops to Mexico. This exportation drives up prices in Mexico. Consequently, the citizens of Mexico who are paid twenty dollars a week must pay US prices for goods which are contributing majorly to the poverty rates. Dr. De La Torre referred to a quote from a man he met while working on the border to support his pathos, “I make $20 a week when the pimple-faced kid over the border at the Golden Arches makes $20 in two or three hours of work.” This is a brutal truth that is unfortunate and devastating because the poverty levels are brought into realization.
One of his major points though that hit the audience hard and perturbed many people was that our country’s attempt at deterring people from crossing the border is by allowing some to pass only to die in the process. He averred, “A sprained ankle or blister is a death sentence when crossing the border.” To affirm the comment he provided an example of a thirteen-year-old girl that died crossing the border after spraining her ankle. Again to add to his pathos, Dr. De La Torre passed a picture of the girl around for everyone to view. The picture made us feel truly sad and genuinely reflect on the process of immigration. Seeing the face of a child, who should have had a long life ahead of her that died because of crossing the border, is upsetting. Personally, I felt extreme anger towards our government and border patrol at this point of the lecture. We treat immigrants, particularly those coming from Mexico, like dogs, which is inappropriate for such a “great nation”.
Dr. De La Torre was much more persuasive in his arguments because he works with immigrants to help in crossing the border safely and successfully whereas Richard Froude talked only of his personal experience. Dr. De La Torre added kairos into his discussion through addressing the major concerns and controversies surrounding our current border patrol. He disagrees with Obama’s stance on border patrol and the minute men. In regards to the US soil being previously owned by Mexico, he stated, “Obama needs to realize the United States builds roads to take cheap labor and natural resources from Mexico and the immigrants are taking the roads we build to find what was taken from them”. We receive fifty to sixty percent of world’s resources for only six percent of the world’s population, according to De La Torre. These facts and astonishing numbers were eye-opening to audience because we are ill-educated about this information.
Overall, the United States is a very selfish nation and the majorities are not willing to give up what we have so others we do not know can eat. Emigrating from another country into the US seems like an impossible process that should be an equal opportunity. In order for nationalism to ensue we must realize these people from other nations are contributing members of our society that deserve respect. The challenges these people face in order to gain American freedom are grueling obstacles that we frequently disregard. Many of us take advantage of our freedom and immigration is going to continue whether we like it or not. We need to be respectful of foreigners in our country and work to tolerate these racial differences that are ever prevalent in our communities. The US is evolving and as citizens of a great nation, we must embrace diversity.
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