What is a “True American Family”?

What is a “True American Family”?

Carlos T Mock, MD
Chicago

As a Latino living in Chicago, I find the current Immigration crisis quite distressing. It is as if The USA as a Nation has not learned from its past mistakes.

The Europeans came to America escaping persecution. As soon as they set a foot on the New World, they introduced killer diseases to the indigenous population and cheated them of their land. With the slogan of “Imminent Domain”, they expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific, buying, stealing, and fighting wars to get more territory.

The Irish Potato Famine in 1846-1850 was the first grand scale immigration problem to the new Republic. Starving families that could not pay their landlords faced no alternative but to leave their country in hopes of a better future. Thus, the steady flow of Irish who entered the U.S. between 1820 and 1830 skyrocketed in the 1840s; nearly 2 million came in that decade. The trend persisted increasingly for another five years, as the first immigrants began to earn the means of sending for relatives and friends. Many Americans during this time held the view that Irish-Americans were dirty, lazy, and stupid. They were credited for the economic problems and the degradation of American society.

Discrimination did not stop with the Irish. As they were being assimilated into American society, The US fought a Civil War to free the slaves, yet it was not until the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s that the African American population gained some basic rights and privileges. Many Americans during the 1960’s held the view that African-Americans were dirty, lazy, and stupid. They were credited for the economic problems and the degradation of American society.

Today, the plight is with the Latino. America has approximately 12 million undocumented workers in the country (primarily Latino) and they do not know what to do with them. Many Americans today hold the view that Latinos are dirty, lazy, and stupid. They are credited for the economic problems and the degradation of American society. Bigotry this time requires that America builds a Wall to keep their neighbors to the south from entering the country.

Behind these new issues of immigration, we also have the plight of American Families. We have Josefina Ruiz (not her real name) who works 6 days a week as a hotel maid. Her husband, Paco, worked in a restaurant. They have two children: Francisco and Maria. Both children were born in the USA. Paco was deported one day from work. Josefina now has to care for both children. Meanwhile, Paco is trying desperately to reunite with his family. At the same time that Paco exhausts all the legal ways to enter the USA, he is raising money to be smuggled back into The USA. Paco has not seen his family in two years. Josefina is afraid to go visit her husband because if she leaves America, she will not be able to return. Josefina lives in fear. Fear of losing her children if she’s caught, fear for her husband, fear for her children—who have lost one parent already and could, easily, lose the second one.

Within the next two weeks, the United States Senate will decide the fate of tough legislation aimed at restricting illegal immigration. I say that Paco and Josefina Ruiz and their family are not dirty, lazy, or stupid. They are not the cause of the economic problems and the degradation of American society. They are just another American Family.

It is up to the US Senate now to make sure that True American Families get a chance to realize the American Dream. Please write them and let them know.