Reflections After the First Week of Delegation

Why did I decide to spend the last summer of my undergraduate experience trying to understand the issue of immigration issue?

The primary reason that I made this decision is that this issue connects very well with my academic interests. I am a public policy major and immigration is one of the top domestic policy issues and it will remain so for some time. Arizona has just recently passed new legislation targeting this issue (Senate Bill 1070) and the possibility of some sort of federal comprehensive immigration reform legislation is in the beginning stages. Any such legislation will have to address both what happens to the undocumented immigrants currently in the country and future immigrants. This problem seems like an especially difficult one to resolve since people have such strong opinions about it. On the extremes, one side wants all the undocumented immigrants deported, while the other wants amnesty for those in the country already and open immigration policies. With the level of vitriol between the two sides and compromise seems unlikely. I am interested in studying the issue and seeing what policy approaches could potentially resolve this gridlock.

Additionally, immigration relates well to my interest in philosophy, which is my other major. Immigration and the way America treats its immigrants is a key ethical dilemma that will define who we are as a country. Currently, we are accepting very few immigrants through the legal mechanisms and so we inevitably induce people in desperate situations to come into this country without documentation. The ways of getting into this country are dangerous and many immigrants die each year coming through the desert. America then exploits the labor of those immigrants that make it here without dying or being caught by having many of them do jobs below minimum wage in substandard conditions. These immigrants face the threat of being deported at any moment even if they have lived in the United States for decades and have family here. If we consider the United States to be a country of strong moral principles, we must ask ourselves whether this kind of treatment of these immigrants follows acceptable standards for morality? What rights do undocumented immigrants have and are we as a country not fulfilling these rights? Who deserves to be a citizen of the United States?

The group has dived right into this issue during the first week here. We have spoken with many of the key players in the immigration issue here in Tucson. One particular speaker that struck me was the border patrol agent we visited. This talk helped put a face on the border patrol whereas previously I had just heard and read stories of abusive and aggressive behavior towards immigrants. The agent seemed like a nice, sociable guy that you would want to hang out with. He made quite a few jokes, which sometimes did undermine the seriousness of the issue we were discussing. Nevertheless, I still formed a positive impression of his character.

However, some of his comments and the way he presented the material made me question some of the organizational attitudes present in the border patrol. The agent showed us the weapons that agents take out into the field. These include a gun that shoots pepper pellets and a shotgun. It may be my underlying bias against guns, but he seemed to be treating the weapons like they were toys and this was just show and tell. But at the same time I realized that these are these guns have likely been used to hurt or intimidate people. So I felt like the situation required a bit more seriousness than he was giving it.

At another point in his presentation he played a video showcasing the new technology available to the border patrol. This video had the feel of a video game trailer and featured heavy rock music in the background. This further undermined the gravity of the issue. People are dying on the border and the border patrol seems to see this problem as some kind of macho game.

I realize that it’s unfair to generalize about the border patrol as a whole. I am sure there are some very nice people that are border patrol agents, and this particular agent seemed like one. But from what I have read about the border patrol and this presentation it seems like they are unable as an organization to take the power they have over the safety and well-being of the immigrants as seriously as they should.

I am not sure exactly what the implications are for the immigration issue. Some ideas I have is for the border patrol to put the welfare of immigrants as a higher priority. Perhaps if the border patrol agents were required to meet with undocumented immigrants and discuss issues with them they would be better able to understand their situation and not see them as much illegals that need to be stopped and deported. Though I am not sure if this would fit with the U.S. government’s attitude towards immigration to not be lenient and so maybe having more sympathetic border patrol agents would not be in the government’s best interest. I am also starting to think that the solution has to come from the top. Whenever someone is given as much authority as the border patrol agents have, some abuse will always follow. We see this among soldiers and police officers alike. So maybe it will take comprehensive immigration reform that limits or better defines the role of border patrol agents before the well being of undocumented immigrants is ensured.