By Jesus Cortez
After more than twenty years of living in Anaheim and experiencing segregation in schools, police harassment and poverty, the nation has finally seen the reality most of us have been voicing, but had gone ignored. As an undocumented immigrant, the threat of the police doubles, once we take under consideration the fact that the police has worked with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for years and has deported people whose only crime was working to survive and take care of their families. Additionally, those of us who grew up in neighborhoods that do not resemble any of the images sold to the public by Disney know a little too much about police surveillance. The recent events and reaction of the people to police brutality and the murder of unarmed men of color have shocked many “Latino leaders” and Latinos who seem more interested in not “looking bad”—but not those of us who have grown up here, we were not surprised at all.
Many of us proudly call ourselves Anaheimers (someone from Anaheim); but, we do not call ourselves “Americans” as many of my undocumented brothers and sisters do. For me, as for the Anaheimers I know, some who were actually born in the U.S, our identity is attached to an Anaheim that we have made ours, an Anaheim that does not resemble the farce that people see in the media, an Anaheim that those in City Hall have ignored for years. Our identities are attached to places such as Bella Vista Street, Pacific Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, not the land of fairy tales. Having said this, how can I call myself “American,” if I know the America being offered has nothing to do with my identity? If being American means trusting the police will keep me safe, I am not and will never feel American; if being American means I will be accepted by society and will never be racially profiled or harassed by the police, I will never feel American; and, if being American means that I will only focus on my individual success, then I hope I never become an American.
Growing up in a situation of constant uncertainty, I have realized that I must voice my opinion and speak what I believe is true, because after all, I doubt I will ever “pass” or “fit in;” and after all, what do I have to lose? So as I hear news about deferred action and the excitement it is creating in many undocumented youth, I am critical of myself and my feelings for no longer qualifying and what is to become of those who receive deferred action. Will my undocumented brothers and sisters (whom I love wholeheartedly) feel like they have “made it” and no longer challenge unjust laws for fear of losing their deferred action? Will the “radical Dreamers” become passive? Will the focus continue to be immigration reform and Dream Act or will undocumented people now focus on issues such as police brutality, poverty, imprisonment and other issues that affect the undocumented community as well.
Will those who already feel “American” continue to fight with those who do not qualify or feel even more “American?” My Anaheim identity, an identity that grew from the violent environment created by a system that oppresses and creates poverty and violence, has taught me to question. My Anaheim identity was also born from the love of my neighbors, the support of my community, and the everyday struggle many go through, has taught me to have hope. But as I have seen the violence of the system with their armored vehicles and camouflaged police officers in downtown Anaheim to “protect” the city from people protesting police brutality, I wonder if we are truly Undocumented and Unafraid, or are we just trying to get papers. Do we want to feel “American” or do we want to change the reality we live in so that we can live as human beings in a world where papers are not needed and our children do not have to fear the police? And how bad do we want to be “American?” I am reminded of a phrase I heard from a friend, he said, “How can I feel American, if I get pulled over by the police and tell him I feel American, will he let me go? No, he’ll probably arrest me and call ICE on me.”
As for me, I am an Anaheimer from Bella Vista Street and all the other neighborhoods I grew up in, where there is poverty, crime, violence and police surveillance, but where I learned to lose my fears and I learned to have hope, but most importantly where I learned to fight against what I felt was wrong. We must continue our commitment with all of our community, and challenge a system that creates poverty, a poverty that creates violence and crime, for which we are later punished with imprisonment or death.
The undocumented population has been primarily used as a complementary and affordable labor force, and many times as a scapegoat especially during hard economic times. The neighborhoods where they live in Anaheim do not get the quality services as other parts of the city, and their low income level makes them more vulnerable to the ills of society. I sympathize with the problems and dreams of these neighbors. One of the problems is the perception, or reality, that overt criminal activities and gang culture plague most of the neighborhoods. Appropriate policies to promote sustainable communities, will hopefully reduce the criminal activities.
I have not experienced the fears, uncertainties and struggles that Jesus describes. I was a documented or “legal” immigrant, and I am a naturalized American citizen now.
I embrace the American ideal of “Justice and Liberty for All”. It is not a perfect country. Americans like Dr Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Cesar Chavez are heroes that made this country better.
I wonder how Jesus challenges “a system that creates poverty , a poverty that creates violence and crime”. Conservatives, so far the largest political force in our city, have a vision of how to challenge poverty. Occupy Wall Street offers another explanation.
We can change the reality, starting at our local level. Police brutality will end when the grievances and problems of the community are addressed. In our city means changing the majority of the current city council.
Does Deferred Action status make one “legal” – or does it say that person is not necessarily legal, but we will not prosecute for now and talk about their status at a later date?
Deferred action is just that. There’s no pathway to citizenship entailed at all.
So their status is still illegal – but no action will be taken against them for a certain period of time – is that it?
“Until further action is initiated,” is how I recall it. Implicitly, “and don’t wait up for it.”
This comes up in asylum cases, which was a large part of my practice in NYC, sometimes. I had a client that I could not convince the judge was not barred from removal on the letter of the law (it was a national security thing, being misused by an overzealous prosecutor), and it was likely but not quite likely enough that he’d be harmed if he went back — but it was clear that justice was on the side of not sending him back. He got withholding of removal — no legal status, but indefinite and extended sanctuary here.
That was one of my proudest moments as a lawyer. Eventually, after I left NYC, he was allowed to get asylum when the Administration changed its stupid and strained interpretation of the relevant law — proof that it was really stupid is that even the Bush Administration felt the need to fix it. I’d like to think that I played at least a small role in that.
Then it is defacto amnesty … no it is amnesty.
If you say so. Nowhere near as big as Reagan’s amnesty though.
Unlike true amnesty, it is revocable at any time (though usually only for cause.) As in “don’t commit any crimes, sir or madam.”
illiegal is illegal you broke the law . no one ever talks about what about the people who DO IT THE RIGHT WAY . its always the the same old story conchita works hard trying to feed her 6 kids and has a phony drivers license to get to work to feed her family needs making $ 5.00 a hour .. its sad but we cant take on all the wolds problems and a mass inportation of proverty that is killing our sytstem . all then our so called leader NOBAMA WONT DEPORT LAW BREAKERS and signed that stupid dream act bill putting all these ILLEGALS INTO THE WORK PLACE WHERE THEY SHOULD NOT BE PUT AHEAD OF AMERICANS .. law makes no sense because ITS ILLEGAL FOR THESE PEOPLE TO BE WORKING ..
I don’t think that Reagan would have made the same amnesty mistake twice.
Who said it was a mistake? It was one of his better calls.
AGREE he tried it once it failed , now these guys want another one .
Gabriel
The link below describes experiences similar to Jesus. He maybe interested on reading it.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/169694/undocumented-and-unfraid-undocubus-riders-lead-example
Police Misconduct has gotten so bad that we have started a website to track it: http://www.policebrutality.co.uk