Papeles...

Papers...lots of people need them...not many can get them. Most of my Mexican friends in the U.S. are undocumented, and I think for that reason the struggle that many Mexicans face to go to and live in the U.S. is very poignant to me. I had a conversation this week with a friend about illegal immigration, and I'm really excited because I feel like I have the opportunity here to come to understand more deeply the push and pull factors that influence decisions to migrate. There are the typical reasons that we learn in school...that people go to the U.S. to send remittances home to impoverished families, or simply to attain the "American Dream (?)." But really, I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons why people migrate, and if we could understand the push and pull factors better, we could figure out a better solution than criminalizing a population that for the most part, only wants a better life. I feel like for U.S. citizens, it's very easy to condemn undocumented immigration and to agree with the hegemonic belief that people should just wait their turn to come here legally. In reality though, it's not that simple. When these immigrants become people with names and faces and stories, how can you look them in the eye and say: "Nope, you don't deserve to be treated as a first class human being. I was born here and therefore I deserve more than you."