Critical Reflection One: The Power of Discourse

What? First of all I would just like to say that the quote from page xi that reads “Words are powerful tools. They shape attitudes, set expectations and determine behavior” holds so much truth. I feel like there is always the attitude that actions speak louder than words, but it is has been a long time belief of mine that words truly have the most impact. I think in both negative and positive contexts words hold power and through the use of words one can shape an infinite amount of feelings and opinions and scenarios to have these conditioned feelings and opinions. Many of the words used to describe Jose Angel N. in his book Illegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant are used with extremely negative connotations. Some of these words include criminal, illegal, and unlawful. Most of us do not have particularly positive associations with these words nor many others that the author uses. A criminal is seen as a bad guy and someone who should be prosecuted. A criminal is someone who commits crimes; that’s the association. The term illegal is often used incorrectly in the context of immigrants. Technically speaking someone can’t be illegal. One cannot exist illegally. Their actions can be illegal, but their simple being cannot be. It is wrong to say that someone is an illegal. Illegal isn’t a way of being. Despite this though when someone is pegged as being an illegal other people do not see them in a particularly positive light. As soon as someone is given this title the negative association sets in, the stereotypes take over and in turn this person who is “illegal” becomes a label and a stigma and the fact that they are a real living human being is completely washed. The same goes for the term unlawful. One of the many laws that Jose Angel makes reference to in his book is the Kennedy-McCain bill. In the beginning of chapter five he writes about all of the legislation that he has followed closely since his time here, and in regards to the Kennedy-McCain bill he says he followed it, “from the birth of [the bill] to its demise at the clapping hands of House Republicans” (78). From the context we can gather that the bill never passed, but I had to do some research on what the bill was proposing. At first read it isn’t surprising that it was shot down by the Republicans. What is surprising though is the fact that it was developed and proposed by and also named after a republican. The bill seemed to be both in favor of the country but also in favor the immigrants. I guess it was designed to allow employers to hire foreigners under a temporary visa program if they can prove that an American couldn’t do the work. It also allowed visa-holders to change jobs if they so choose. These workers would also be issued some sort of identity paperwork that would have cut down on the amount of fake social security numbers used. It is speculated that the most controversial part of this bill was its language dictating that the illegal immigrants who were already here could legalize their status. If the bill passed they would have to go through a number of incredibly difficult steps in order to get this status. They would have to pay a fine, they would be put at the end of line when it came to becoming legal, they’d have to employed for a certain amount of time, and they would have to pay back taxes. Reading it in laymen’s terms I can see where Republicans could be so objected to it, but I honestly thing the bill did a good job at not only acknowledging the wrongdoings of the people who have entered this country illegally, but also did a good job at offering options for those who have done that. I think it really would’ve have been interesting if this bill had passed.

So What? Jose Angel discusses throughout the book how his relationships with people and even himself have changed due to his coming to America. One of the first instances of this is found on page 15 when he says “every time [my coworkers] ask me to join the for a drink, I have to politely decline” (15). During this section he talks a lot about how he has to hide who he is out of fear of what would happen if they found out his illegality. He talks about how his coworkers all know someone who is in similar situation, but they see it as a nuisance. Another spot in the book that a relationship shift occurs is on pages 54 and 78. On each respective page Jose Angel discusses a paradoxical shift. The instance on page 54 talks about his experience with the LSAT. He is discussing the anxiety he felt going into that as it required that each taker prove him or herself with a valid SSN. Ultimately he jumps ship on the law test and law career as a whole. In my opinion, I see this as huge irony. The way it is presented in the book really caters to this opinion. He talks about how once again he was trying to sneak in somewhere that was determined to keep him out. The next paradox that he talks about is on page 78 when he is talking about how he has this capability now to sit at a desk and read about the law that is passing in Arizona. He talks about how the fact that he is an “undocumented professional” is the “greatest irony of [his] adult life (78). These two instances represent relationship changes with himself. A number of times throughout the book he often has this I made it, but I shouldn’t have type mentality. This shouldn’t have feeling is not in the sense of I shouldn’t have made it because it is a difficult feet. Rather this shouldn’t have feeling is more comparable to guilt. I think he feels a lot of guilt. This can also be seen in some interviews that he has given in regards to this book.

Now What? Jose’s story offers a fresh perspective on how things work in this country. Rarely does anyone get the chance to see something of this sort of gravity from the perspective of someone who has lived it. I feel like it is one of those things that unless you’ve been through it you can’t even begin to fathom how trying this is to go through. No matter how well the book is written or how articulated the speech is the real and true experience of what Jose N and others like him went through and continue to go through can only fully be understood by them. I will say though, that reading this book and discussing it in class did have an impact on me. One of the things that I was really just naive about was why people chose to come into this country illegally. I didn’t understand that America makes it incredibly difficult to get into this country. That is my stupid American naivety. I don’t really have a strong anti-immigrant opinion, but for the longest time I was just really confused on why people would come here under such drastic measures. But through this book and its related discussions I realized that this great country of ours really makes it purposely difficult for certain people to get into this country. And so then I really realized why people do that. And then part of me feels bad that 1) our country does that and 2) despite that people still want to come here. Our country, for as good as it is, has an abundance of flaws especially centered around immigration and the fact that so many people still try to get into the United States is baffling to me. I feel like Jose Angel’s story is very much one of those started from the bottom, now I’m here type of stories. In a very quick blip one could summarize his story as going from illegal immigrant to becoming a higher up professional. And relating back to the first section of this reflection, depending on how one spins that story it can interpreted in a number of ways. The way Jose writes his story is with honesty and with trials and tribulations. Someone else, though, could write the same story purposely slanting the story to make it seem like Jose came into this country and worked his way through the system, took away from an equally hard working American and now gets the luxury of holding degrees and a well paid job. This spin, this negative spin is comparable to a propaganda tactic. I think that certain higher ups in this country try to persuade us to think of the people who have come here illegally as stealing from Americans. I think we are influenced this way without really realizing it. Just the fact that we casually drop the phrase “illegal immigrant” puts a negative connotation on who these people really are. And as far as the stealing thing goes, what exactly are they stealing? They’re taking advantage of the same resources that you and I have access to, for the most part. It is frustrating to hear some of the sophomoric and underdeveloped opinions some people have on this subject matter.