Why Immigration Reform has become the new Catch 22
A couple of days before the disastrous midterm elections, President Barack Obama sat with comedian John Stewart and discussed the success and failures of his administration during his first two years in office. When Stewart referred to healthcare reform (affectionately named by Republicans as “Obamacare” and the highest achievement claimed by the 111th Congress led by Democrats) as “timid,” we saw the President react with a defensive tone and small dose of indignation. Healthcare reform was not “timid”, he said. On the contrary, like “every piece of progressive legislation” the administration had “created a structure” for improvement and change. A structure with more than 50 years in the making, with President Truman being the first proponent of reform. But now that the battle is over (or is it?), I can agree with the President in saying that healthcare reform was not timid for the majority of Americans.
However, it is “timid” for me.
I realized this a couple of days after I turned 21 and I received a call from my mother letting me know she had been informed that my Medi-Cal benefits had been terminated. As an adult, the state can no longer provide me with free medical coverage. For the moment, there are two options for me. First, I can begin to make use of the school’s healthcare coverage. However, this is not a permanent solution as I am scheduled to graduate within 8 months. My second option is to make use of the new healthcare law which allows me to be in my parent’s plan until age 26. The problem with that option is simple: my single parent is not insured. And until a year ago, she was not a documented resident of the United States.
As a refugee in the United States, she was issued a U-Visa due to the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of the U.S. resident she married more than ten years ago. Yet her visa was only awarded almost ten years later. In this sense, immigration reform mirrors healthcare reform in failing to provide solutions to every day Americans who are suffering with debt, insecurity and uncertainty. Like healthcare reform, immigration reform has a long political history, mostly unfavorable, and until now sadly unsuccessful. Once more we’ve seen an issue of vital importance to millions of people become a political game.
We can trace back the arguments for current reform to the 1980s, when Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) which for the first time created penalties for employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers. It was in this period when the “immigrant scare” began, partially justified by a great influx of migration into the United States from Mexico and South America. However, the response to this economy driven migration by leaders from the past three decades can be described not only as “timid”, but undoubtedly as spineless. The 1990s was no different. The creation of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, whose finds recommended a policy of improvement in border security and internal enforcement of employment laws, the administration of legal immigration issues concerning immediate family members of immigrants and skilled workers for the legalization of their status, refugee and asylum issues, and the need for a new immigration policy, found little acknowledgement in Congress and only few of the suggestions were implemented.
The 2000s brought only more paranoia to the immigrant scare started in the 1980s. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a heavy focus on security has been present at the expense of the social and human cost of immigrants being driven towards migration for economic and safety reasons. While in 2006 we saw then President Bush become a strong advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, once again politics failed to deliver results and compromise has not been yet achieved. More alarmingly, as party politics becomes more cynical and the party of “no” transitions into becoming the party of “not unless we say so”, immigration reform has been transformed into the “Catch 22″ issue of our lifetime. While many other issues may qualify for this title, let us remember that immigrants (particularly those who are undocumented) have little to no representation in government. Their voices are not heard and their faces are obscured with the fear and paranoia of another attack in U.S. soil. The fact that a Democratic controlled Senate (which included Republican leaders that once favored reform) failed to even pass the DREAM Act (which would have allowed undocumented minors to receive legal status if they completed a Higher Ed. Degree or served in the military) is a testament to the little concern the issue has in the political arena. Jobs, education, clean energy reform, and equal rights issues are likely to dominate the next sphere of influence in Washington. Once again we’ve come at full circle, and we’ve failed to solve a humanitarian issue growing within our own country.
Sadly, I predict this will continue to be the case in the near future. Economic issues will suck away the focus of Democratic leaders in Washington, at the fear of the election nightmare of 2010 repeating itself in 2012. And with leaders in both sides of the aisle only appealing to who they refer to as the “American people” (and inherently excluding all undocumented immigrants and their children) we will see the issue fade away into oblivion. It will take a push from either the Latino community, as seen years ago during the Labor Day’s rallies, or a matter of national public and safety concern for the issue to be brought back to national attention. Again, I predict this will not happen because our attention will be focused elsewhere (It’s the economy, stupid!). As such, immigration reform has now become a Catch 22; a political third rail for Democrats to even consider and an incendiary flame for Republicans to use. At this point, I can tell you that all those 11+ million undocumented immigrants would welcome any type of reform and would probably celebrate anything that comes remotely close to being considered “timid.”
-Jonathan Uriarte
Finance Director, Cal Berkeley Democrats