The Root of the Problem

Illegals. All of us heavily rely on undocumented immigrants directly or indirectly.  Undocumented immigrants stealthily tread around their inability to work legally. But how can a person hold a job without even showing a valid ID to a prospective employer? And I’m not talking about in-and-out cash jobs. I’m talking about jobs with established, well-known companies. The immigrant is not to blame when the demand for cheap, illegal labor is so high. The companies that hire these immigrants do so fully aware of this infringement and the potential consequences if they are caught (civil fines, criminal penalties, and debarment from government contracts).

Drugs. Whether you consume them or not, I can guarantee that a friend, neighbor, classmate, or co-worker does. They consume cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, or even heroin. While there are operating clandestine labs where devious chemists craft these illegal drugs inside U.S. territory, the overwhelming majority of drugs in the streets are brought in from the outside. The war against drugs will never be over. At least not until the fierce demand decreases and addiction ceases. Unfortunately, these trends are going in the exact opposite direction.

Alex Samuels, a senior at UT for the Texas Tribune, writes a brief article about these two dilemmas. In this post I will cover the hiring of undocumented immigrants. 

Alex claims that “regardless of promises from politicians to crack down on hiring undocumented workers, legislative efforts have met fierce resistance from business interests”. This is by far the most serious point of this messy issue. Many Americans demand politicians to halt the influx of undocumented immigrants because they apparently usurp jobs from the hands of those who are unemployed. This narrative places the blame on the undocumented immigrant and characterizes him/her as a rapacious, greedy villain. So why doesn’t the media and the general population denounce the multi-million companies who are truly responsible for the hiring of undocumented immigrants? Instead of flushing our tax dollars down the gutter by building a wall across our southern border (because Mexico won’t pay for it), why not invest those dollars more prudently by exposing those companies, holding them accountable, and establishing a mandatory system such as E-verify? If Americans are so bothered by the menial jobs that undocumented immigrants pick up, then why aren’t we zealously fighting to take back these awesome jobs? Let’s be real, Americans don’t want to fight for those jobs that most often pay below living wage, include no benefits, and are mostly temporary. The weed must be clipped at the root. Undocumented immigrants taking up jobs is just a collateral effect of this broken system.  Unless these companies refuse to hire undocumented immigrants, illegal immigration will continue indefinitely. 

Commentary: Texas Divided

Hi Sydney

I suspect that many of us share the same feelings regarding this election. Similarly, I cannot believe that two weeks have passed since Trump was declared president-elect. With each passing day resignation grows and the uncertainty lingers. Trump’s rhetoric during his campaign instilled fear, anxiety, and an uneasiness that us, young Americans, have never experienced during our lifetime. I know that older generations have experienced years of uncertainty in the past—whether economical, social, or cultural. The racial tension that laid seemingly dormant and invisible to the naked eye is suddenly awakening, but it is up to us, sensible Americans, to lead our families and communities in unison. In the presence of uncivility, we must fight back by demonstrating civility.

It’s difficult to fully understand the depth of the divisiveness if you are not the target of direct attacks whether verbal, psychological, or sadly, physical.

An African American ACC student whom I personally know was physically assaulted the day after the election near the capitol here in Austin. Her attackers spewed out derogatory names as they angrily attacked her.

We might feel immune to the prejudice that fuels discrimination because we live in this Democratic bubble called Austin, but the divide is here in our city too.

Recently, I find myself thinking much about Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. This book was written by a French aristocrat about American government almost two hundred years ago. It’s relevance to today’s modern political culture is incredible. Below I share with you a quote from this book that I highly recommend if you haven’t had the chance to read.

            “There are some nations in Europe whose inhabitants think of themselves in a sense as colonists, indifferent to the fate of the place they live in. The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved. They are so divorced from their own interests that even when their own security and that of their children is finally compromised, they do not seek to avert the danger themselves but cross their arms and wait for the nation as a whole to come to their aid. Yet as utterly as they sacrifice their own free will, they are no fonder of obedience than anyone else. They submit, it is true, to the whims of a clerk, but no sooner is force removed than they are glad to defy the law as a defeated enemy. Thus one finds them ever wavering between servitude and license.

When a nation has reached this point, it must either change its laws and mores or perish for the well of public virtue has run dry: in such a place one no longer finds citizens but only subjects.”

-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Dreamers

According to a poll by from UT Austin’s College of Liberal Arts titled “Most Important Problem Facing Texas February 2016”, the issue that troubles most Texans is immigration. Although this poll does not indicate whether this specifically refers to illegal immigration, instinctively, one assumes that it refers to it. The United States was founded by culturally diverse immigrants seeking better opportunities not only for themselves. They traveled to America for a better life for their posterity. Fast forward a couple of centuries. That dream persists today.

Dreamers are a small percentage of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States. Dreamers are young adults who were involuntarily brought to the United States as children by a parent or guardian. These devoted parents acted in the most logical way: to flee the repressing conditions of their native countries so that their children can thrive and dream.

Incidentally, the act of relocating to the United States to provide a better life to their young sons and daughters has quickly morphed into a nightmare for the Dreamers.

The sons and daughters are now men and women sitting in college classrooms, purchasing their first homes, building up their credit, contributing to the workforce as cooks, teachers, artists, nurses, and even a few lawyers. This is thanks to Barack Obama’s executive action named the “DACA program announced in 2012 as a way to address the professional barriers undocumented students in the U.S. face after graduation. DACA protects them against deportation and provides work authorization but is not permanent and doesn’t lead to citizenship”. This policy has transformed the lives of thousands of young adults because it has given them the opportunity to contribute to the only country that they identify as their own. This policy has restored the hope to those living as mere spectators. It has given many the opportunity to step out of the shadow and participate as real citizens of the community. Their economic and civic contributions so far prove that this group of immigrants who are undocumented deserve a pathway towards citizenship.

DACA (Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals) is now in peril of being terminated by the newly elected Donald Trump. The great advancements that thousands of dreamers have made in the last four years could mean absolutely nothing in the coming months. The remarkable strides towards the multigenerational dream that originally inspired those parents to make the difficult decision to risk everything and seek refuge here in the US will matter no more.

With a Republican president as leader of the United States, a Republican dominated House of Representatives, Senate, and state, the odds are against the most deserving group of undocumented immigrants.

Does the Hispanic Vote Matter Much?

In the article titled “Texas Sees a Surge in Latino Voters” by R.G. Ratcliffe in the Burka Blog, the author makes the claim that eligible voters with Hispanic last names could be the potentially factor that determines whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wins Texas or not. He concludes this because “there are 532,000 more registered Hispanic surname voters this year than in 2012”. While this is a good assumption, Hispanic surnames are not clear indicatives of guaranteed Democratic votes. While Hispanic voters do tend to side the Democratic Party in issues such as immigration, a considerable number have a more traditional view on issues such as abortion, marriage equality, and gun control. He acknowledges this point when he provides the fact that "in 1998 Governor George W. Bush received somewhere between 40 percent and half the Hispanic vote". A second reason that might explain why the Hispanic vote is not solely blue is that party identification is a concept that is fairly new or completely new for second and first-generation Hispanics. Because party identification is not a badge worn since infancy for the majority of Hispanics in Texas, the loyalty to either party that most Americans display is merely non-existent.  

He uses very good evidence for his claims about Hillary Clinton’s advantage over Trump’s slow decreasing support here in Texas. He cites an article from UT Austin’s College of Liberal Arts which finds that “the three most recent polls used methodologies, including modes, that were completely dissimilar, yet, as the results below suggest, yielded strikingly similar margins”. The three similar results support the credibility of this data.

Ratcliffe’s audience is mostly Texans who identify as democrats, or in the least, lean democrat because Texas Monthly’s is a progressive and mainly liberal magazine.

Overall, I agree with Ratcliffe’s last words when he states that “if [Hillary Clinton wins], Republicans can blame Trump, and Democrats can praise the strength of a new Hispanic voting bloc”, because I don’t believe that the surge of the eligible Hispanic vote is as powerful as Trump’s damage to his own political career. Although Texas’ Hispanic population is significant, current Hispanic political involvement is insignificant when compared to that of older white Republicans.