"You've been trying to write yourself into America," my dear friend Teresa Moore said after she read an early draft of the essay I ended up submitting to the New York Times Magazine.
I first met Teresa in 1999, when I was a high school senior and wanted to freelance for YO!, short for Youth Outlook, the monthly magazine she edited. She was my very first editor, the one who can most attest to how much I struggled with writing, with finding just the right words, phrases and punctuation (should I use a comma or a dash or a semi-colon?) with trusting the texture and timbre of my own voice. Then and now, Teresa was always exacting, always insightful.
"You're still trying to write yourself into America."
Indeed, I am, perhaps now more than ever.
Beyond the fireworks, parades and barbecues, Independence Day, the 235th birthday of the United States of America, carries a whole new meaning for me this year. Personally, it has meant telling my story in hopes of illuminating the stories of countless undocumented immigrants across the country. We tell stories, after all, to recognize ourselves, our common humanity, in each other. I grew up here. This is the place I call home. I love America. For our small team here at Define American, it means living up to our mission of elevating the conversation around immigration. Stripped of polarizing politics and heated, angry rhetoric, immigration has been one of the evolving stories of our country since its inception. That America is "a nation of nations," built on an idea and "founded on the printed word," is cause for continued celebration and much-needed reflection.
And as we celebrate our country's birthday and reflect on how we define American, I'd like to honor the heroes -- the everyday American heroes -- in my life. They are members of my personal underground railroad, the principals and pastors, the coaches and colleagues, who refuse to sit back and allow undocumented immigrants like me to slip into the cracks of a broken system.
They are the ones who, early on, recognized the America in me; who, in the case of Peter Perl, a senior manager at the Washington Post, risked his own career to ensure that I had mine and that I kept on growing; who, in the cases of Pat Hyland (my former high school principal) Rich Fischer (my former high school superintendent) and Jill Denny (my former choir teacher) all educators, guaranteed that I got an education like the rest of the students who showed up at Mountain View High School, regardless of my undocumented status; and who, in the case of Teresa Moore, whom I confided my secret to years ago, when the guilt and shame, the fear and frustration of working as an undocumented immigrant in the nation's capital weighed heavily on me, encouraged me to keep writing -- to keep telling stories.
I am an American, in my heart if not on paper, because of them. There are Peter Perls, Pat Hylands and Teresa Moores all across America. They define American.
This blog originally appeared on DefineAmerican.com.
My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant - NYTimes.com
Will Journalist Face Deportation? Signs Point To 'No' : NPR
Under current law (10 USC § 504), the Secretary of Defense can authorize the enlistment of illegal aliens. Once enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces, under 8 USC § 1440, these illegal aliens can become naturalized citizens through expedited processing, often obtaining U.S. citizenship in six months.
I admire you and your tenacity and wish you the best. What your doing is important to many Americans....
George Washington
There never was a law yet made, I conceive, that hit the taste exactly of every man, or every part of the community; of course, if this be a reason for opposition, no law can be executed at all without force, and every man or set of men will in that case cut and carve for themselves; the consequences of which must be deprecated by all classes of men, who are friends to order, and to the peace and happiness of the country.
George Washington
Let me not be understood as saying that there are no bad laws, nor that grievances may not arise for the redress of which no legal provisions have been made. I mean to say no such thing. But I do mean to say that although bad laws, if they exist, should be repealed as soon as possible, still, while they continue in force, for the sake of example they should be religiously observed.
Abraham Lincoln
No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.
Theodore Roosevelt
There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press.
Mark Twain
Open a line. That's what it's all about.
Tell me exactly what's wrong with doing it the "legal way."
Noy if you never look.
Noun: A native or citizen of the United States.
Adjective: Of, relating to, or characteristic of the United States or its inhabitants. More »
Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster - The Free Dictionary
Millions of illegal aliens in this country are committing countless crimes just by staying here. How exactly do you want a dialogue when you refuse to agree that the crimes committed are "OK" if they are just wanting to be treated nicely.
The number of cases awaiting resolution before the Immigration Courts reached a new all-time high of 275,316 by the beginning of May 2011. http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/250/
If we cannot process the applications for citizenship, then we shouldn't beat our chest and spout, "America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere."
The number of applicants has grown to a record number. so, by the very basic use of statistics, you would see a backlog. Remember, if you cannot get wait to get in, there will always be a small group of people that will feel sorry for you and think it is OK to break the law.
Chinese were not wanted here.
Irish were not wanted here.
Italians were not wanted here.
Puertoricans were not wanted here.
Now, Mexicans are not wanted here. Even the Mexicans that came from Ireland, Canada, Indonesia, Colombia, Venezuela, Niger, Serbia, Morocco, etc. etc. etc.
Same sentiment, Same prejudice.
Once illegal immigrants parlay the idea that the reason they are here illegally is because "the system is broken" is no reason to blame U.S. citizens for their predicament. The same argument blame the victim was used for time immemorial in rape cases stretching back to who knows when. In such an antiquated system judges and juries actually believed their own hype, that the victim deserved to be raped because she was wearing a short skirt. It took decades to change the blame the victim mindset in this area of law and hopefully sanity will prevail in the issue of immigration.
If the complaint is that we have allowed illegal immigrants to slip through "a broken system", would you be upset if we didn't allow you to slip through the system and took the necessary steps to take action. What's going to make you happy? Admitting that the system is broken for granting unquestioned full citizenship and amnesty to everyone here illegally.
Yes, at one time women routinely suffered a double blow, first from the assault and then the indignities of a broken judicial system. It was never really broken at all just the will to balance the scales of justice and enforce existing law.
My only problem with immigration is that it drives down wages and creates unemployment.
it was designed to be a disaster it bought in cheap labor for greater corp profits and the capitalist agenda of destroying unions and making future americans third world wage earners.
it did what it was intended to do and it did it very well indeed. service workers in america are working for very low wages and few benefits. reagan was a genius to sell it to middle class america right along with the trickle down theory and free markets and tax breaks for the rich.
Explain why the unions are demanding more amnesty?
I think we need to have one common national standard and method to deal with immigration, everybody does it the right way, having first established what that 'right' way is, anyone else doing anything different can expect a plane ticket home. This isn't 1829 anymore, or even 1950, when there were only about 2.5 billion people in the world, this is 2011, when there's 7 billion, and we need good, quality, well- reasoned policy, and no-nonsense enforcement and wide public support behind it.
Other countries need to pull their socks up, and start working to offer their own citizens a better future. I also hold that there needs to be a general UN accord on immigration, specifically detailing what needs to happen when people start trying to jump borders in calculated fashion or en masse.
There's some really smart people, college types and stuff, that feel we don't need to worry about immigration, but there's the general well-being of everyone else outside such august circles to be considered. Oh, and the law. Sure, that's a pesky detail, and gets in the way of the old social agenda sometimes, but they keep writing those things like there's some kind of purpose behind it. Maybe we need to explore what that purpose might be? Maybe.
One of the problems, well two that I see is first the people pushing for as much illegal immigration as possible (such as the US chamber) take such a position because they stand to profit from this agenda....and could care less about the well being of immigrants when they arrive. They're like the drug cartels, except that their poverty level wage labor is their currency. Second, leaders such as Obama and others are so detached from the State's problems because they never have to rub shoulders with nor live in a neighborhood overrun with illegal immigrants bearing forged documents and stolen identities. Our politicians making the decisions have a profit motive or are unaffected by the social degradation impact within our neighborhoods. They don't care.