Let’s Talk Immigration
Should We Shut Them Out?
Presidential nominee Donald Trump believes the United States should build a wall between the United States and Mexico. Many find this approach quite humorous; others find it unreasonable. A recent poll showed 58 percent of Americans opposing the wall, compared to 41 percent supporting it-a surprisingly close margin. Trump has insisted on building a wall that Mexico will have to pay for. The real estate mogul has not been clear about the estimated cost of this wall, saying it could be anywhere between $5 billion and $10 billion. The Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto, has flatly dismissed the idea that Mexico would pay for the wall. A translated quote from a tweet Enrique Peña Nieto posted stated “At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall.”
The back and fourth bickering between both presidential candidates about this immigration policy is also backed up by the crude rhetoric Trump has used towards Mexican Americans. Trump stated in a speech a few weeks back, “Tonight I am asking for the vote of every African American and his hispanic citizen in this country who wants to see a better future, who wants to see real positive change.” Donald Trump clearly wants to see change but consistently is found going back and forth on how he treats illegals within this country, making thousands wonder what the goal truly is.
Donald Trump has made generalizations about almost all minority groups throughout the election, specifically targeting Mexicans. In a conference about the role of immigrants in the United States, Trump stated,”They’re incarcerated. Many of them are in jails. You have hundreds of thousands of people going to state and federal penitentiaries. That just came out in a Homeland Security Report.” However, Trump defended comments he made back in June 16 while announcing his presidential run, in which he said Mexico was sending illegal immigrants that are “Bringing crime. They’re rapists.”.
Despite Trump’s depiction of Mexican immigrants, most have impacted our country in different ways other than being “criminals”. The American people forget that the very core of our country is composed of immigrants, and that most of our relatives once had an American dream, just like many of these hardworking people. While many immigrants struggle to achieve this dream, Trump neglects the intelligible, hardworking Mexicans who’ve been able to fulfill their American dream. With nearly forty percent of Fortune 500 companies were started by first or second generation immigrants, there is still very little exposure on immigrant success stories. So who are they?
Meet: Félix Sánchez
Félix Sánchez de la Vega Guzmán was featured in a 2011 edition of the New York Times for being a successful entrepreneur who is non-English speaking. Sánchez de la Vega immigrated to New York from Mexico while in his twenties. At first, he worked as a dishwasher. Later, he and his wife pooled their money to begin a tortilla business and sold their products by going from door to door. Today, Sánchez de la Vega, despite his still limited English, is the owner of Puebla Foods, a New Jersey based company worth around $19 million. According to Mr. Sanchez, “The entire market is Hispanic,You don’t need English.”
Meet: Cesar Millan
Born in Culiacán, Mexico, César Millán immigrated from Mexico to California in 1990. When he arrived, he spoke no English and was homeless for two months but he knew he had a gift for working with dogs. Millán worked towards his passion and was offered work as a dog walker and dog groomer. People began to take notice of how he was able to understand dogs in a way humans do not. When Millán was featured in the Los Angeles Times, he became famous. He gained greater fame than he had ever imagined and was approached with the possibility of starting a TV show. Millán´s reality show “The Dog Whisperer”, sponsored by National Geographic, ran from 2004 to 2012. On it, Millán helped people work through behavioral issues they were having with their dogs. He also opened the Dog Psychology Center in South Central Los Angeles which serves as a dog rehabilitation center. However, like Millian there are more who have made it big.
Meet: Patty Arvielo
Patty, Mexican-American, started at the bottom, having the bare minimum. She came from a family that struggled with achieving a well rounded education, but like most people in our country she set out to accomplish more exceeding her highest expections. Patty at the age of 16, began a mortgage industry which later turned into a million dollar company. Within a blink of an eye, Patty partnered up with a National American Funding servicer which lends 900 million dollars to homes each month. Patty landed a well paying job without a college degree.
So Where Do We Leave off
Although it is unrealistic to have open borders, we should be responsible for breaking down barriers, not building them up. If we continue with this negative rhetoric towards immigrants, the “American Dream” will die with them. So, with the foundation of our country being crafted by those who wanted to fulfill this American dream, can we really stand for it to fade away?
