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 Editorials | Opinions | August 2005 
Immigrants Wield More Power Than In The Past
 Juan Esparza Loera - The Fresno Bee
In the early 1980s, a farmworker family near Patterson complained about squalid living conditions in a migrant labor camp. As a reporter for The Modesto Bee back then, I wrote a story about their plight.
An advocate with California Rural Legal Assistance who told me about the family figured publicity about a leaky roof, broken water pipes and rodent-infested rooms would trigger support for better farmworker housing.
A week later, the family had been rounded up by the U.S. Border Patrol and deported. Their picture and the general location of the migrant camp were published in the newspaper, giving immigration officials all the information they needed to take action.
Fast forward to the present.
Leonel Flores, a co-founder of the immigrant rights group Unión de Exbraceros e Inmigrantes, appears regularly at news conferences in support of drivers licenses for undocumented residents, payments owed former guestworkers known as braceros, or legislation that allows Mexican nationals living abroad to vote in México's presidential elections.
He even went on a hunger strike to remind Mexican President Vicente Fox about his campaign promise to forge an immigration accord with the United States.
At a news conference earlier this year in Fresno where he and others called for immigration reform, Flores was asked why he showed no fear of letting the media know that he was undocumented.
"Se respeta cuando uno habla con honestidad," said Flores in Spanish, meaning that one's position gets more respect if he speaks with honesty.
So what's the difference between Flores' world, where he runs little risk of being deported as long as he stays out of trouble with the law, and the Patterson family's? Answer: Undocumented immigrants have much more power today.
A couple of decades ago, you wouldn't dare protest in public or draw media attention if you had crossed the border without authorization. Today, there is little fear of being discovered and deported. Last year, U.S. Border Patrol offices in Fresno were shut down and staff was moved to the border.
Immigrants such as Flores could keep quiet and go about their business. But it's hard to ignore the fact that there are an estimated 11 million of them, that they send upwards of $20 billion annually in remittances to family in México and other Latin American countries, and that they have become a vital part of the work force in agriculture and the garment, hotel and restaurant industries.
Like it or not, they are flexing their muscle to get better working conditions, an avenue to legal residency, drivers licenses, college educations for their kids and, in some places, even the right to vote in school board elections.
The slew of immigration reform proposals before Congress shows a growing concern about undocumented immigrants. Most of the bills seek ways to make them legal residents without resorting to an amnesty program. Only one addresses "voluntary" deportation.
The face of the undocumented immigrant, as Flores can attest, is no longer the face of shame and embarrassment.
Juan Esparza Loera is editor of Vida en el Valle, The Bee's bilingual publication. He can be reached at jesparza@vidaenelvalle.com |
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