A Reflection on Immigration

There was a time when man was free to roam and borders were unknown. The fight for survival was the only struggle. And food was the sole determinant of human behavior, man as a prey or as a predator, hunter or hunted. As population increased and food decreased, the “Malthusian Theory” paved way to the “Theory of Evolution”. Survival of the fittest conquered the patterns of supply and demand. As a social being, man emerged with a solution to create alliances that made hunting and farming less chaotic. As a hunter, man became a traveler, a warrior, a producer of weapons, a killer and a wanderlust. And as a farmer, he functioned as a landlord, a tenant, or king. The hunter targets another living being to sustain his own life. The farmer produces life to maintain his own. The former knows no bounds in his search for a victual. The latter will protect his land as the source of his livelihood.
But the wanderlust did not quit while the farmer always desired to be a king. Frequently they suffered identity crises, switched roles, and established the art of politics as the skill of using the most appropriate mask until the object of desire is obtained. The big wide space they once shared is now allocated amongst their tribes. First there were invisible demarcation lines, then there were fences, and then there were walls. Land, once a universal property like the air we breathe, now became a cultic territory for those with common linkages. New frontiers that were discovered became borders that were invaded. The natural course of immigration got messed up with the artificial process of conquest and invasion. The illegal alien emerged. Invasion was frowned upon. The “United Nations” was born.
Last week, President Obama was in Chicago, heckled and interrupted while giving a speech regarding immigration reform and the executive orders he tried to introduce. So far, the controversy has not weathered. The yearly marches are gradually becoming like a traditional event. It is still not easy for everyone to work as an immigrant. The government is still being blamed for the broken families of those who decided to leave their families to come to the United States. And the cost to prevent and discourage illegal immigration is still staggering. Almost ten years ago, there was an inflow of 11 million illegal immigrants at the cost of 126 billion dollars. The hecklers during President Obama’s speech alleged that he was doing things too little and too late. After all, he has only about two years left to fulfill what his campaign promised.
My early analogy of the strife between the farmer and the hunter as applied to the conflicts of contemporary immigration policies may be considered as a portal to a better understanding of possible solutions. The farmer has the land. The hunter wants the products. The farmer is the king. The hunter is the immigrant. When borders are open and rules are non-existent, there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant. Yet borders can no longer always be open. And rules cannot be wiped out. While more laws are legislated and open borders are closed, the number of illegal immigrants will rise. This is not to say that borders should be left open. Nor does it imply that immigration policies should be removed.
Although it seems that President Barack Obama is acting too little too late, that is because the other branch of government has placed too much checks on immigration issues that time lapsed and nothing was done. Besides this, the complexity of the problem does not provide a simple solution. More than often, immigration problems have been fixated on the southern border where the southernmost member of North America allegedly crosses.
For this reason, members of the opposing party concentrate their immigration efforts on border issues. Evidently, they are ignorant of the fact that the dominant source of immigrants is not from Latin America but from Asia. Immigrants from Asia do not cross land borders. They take the plane and pass through customs. Many come with legal papers as opposed to those who cross the border without any documentation whatsoever.
The Asian immigrant has other problems, most of which are not even discussed within the templates of immigration reform.
In Chicago, Filipinos and other Asians have joined marches pertinent to immigration reform. We have blended with Latinos whose voice dominated immigration demands. Our needs seem to be focused on certain benefits specific to our demographics: family reunification, immigration through kinship and professional preference, to name a few. Filipino immigrants cry over the fact that our brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, cousins and adult children take forever to follow us. Our concept of family reunification extends beyond the mind or dependents and spouses of a nuclear family and goes all the way to the distant members of an extended family. This concept of family is our own border issue.
Immigration to the US from those who come is triggered by economic needs and employment opportunities. Immigration to the US from those who receive is framed within the needs of the American society and what they lack. Back to the Philippine background, Nurses used to be the latest immigration craze before the 911 event. Nurses and their families were offered sign in bonus, relocation allowance and immigration papers to the Nurse’s spouse and minor kids. All those disappeared together with the so many nursing schools that popped up back home. Moreover, American schools realized the shortage and faculties from everywhere initiated nursing programs, thereby obliterating any need of foreign help.
The year is almost over. As immigrants, what is it that the Filipino community truly needs? Talk it out. Employment issues of immigrant workers and the conditions that contain them are perhaps not within the framework of immigration reform, but within the loopholes of labor laws. Maybe family reunification requires a change of definition; or perhaps we need to realize that sponsoring a nephew, a niece, an adult child, a cousin, a brother or a sister is more of a benefit than a real need. Think again. Then talk it out.