LIVING UNDER THREATS
By Duwayne Escobedo Rob Mendoza came to Atlanta in 1998 to create a “better future, a better life.” Today, he is a small local business owner. He runs both housekeeping and construction companies. He’s among an estimated 740,000 young immigrants with the ability to work and live in the United States temporarily without fear of deportation under President Barack Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Among his many threats and attacks on Mexican immigrants, President Donald Trump has promised to end DACA. His father and mother are currently going through the process of becoming American citizens. They would join about 11.7 million immigrants from Mexico living in the U.S., the Pew Research Center estimates. But Mendoza (whose name has been changed for this story to protect his identity) said he refuses to live in fear of Trump threats to build a wall along the border with Mexico and deport undocumented Mexican immigrants. “You never know what’s going on in his mind,” Mendoza said. “He changes his mind every day. I doubt he’s going to do any of it.” Thousands of immigrants come to Northwest Florida every year seeking work, a better way of life, or reunion with loved ones. Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida provides guidance, assistance and legal work to help many of them adjust to their new life here. That’s who Mendoza, who has a daughter, first turned to for help and “they helped a bunch,” he said. Catholic Charities helped him get all of the documentation he needed to avoid being an easy target for deportation. March 30, 2017
“I haven’t seen any (immigrant raids) around here,” he said. “I’ve heard of them in other places but not here.” Apprehensions of Mexican migrants declined to a near-historic low in 2015, the U.S. Border Patrol reported. In the fiscal year 2015, the Border Patrol made 188,122 apprehensions of Mexican migrants at U.S. borders, an 18 percent decline from the previous year. It was also the lowest number of apprehensions since 1969 when 159,376 Mexican migrants were apprehended. Grace Resendez-McCaffery, a Pensacola Latino advocate, reported that many in the Latino community, like her, do worry about President Trump making it even tougher to cross the border than it already is. “He could keep changing the laws, keep writing these executive orders and change the level of punishments for coming into America,” she said. That’s why she and others are on guard, she said, because the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities arrested hundreds of undocumented immigrants in at least a half-dozen states to mark President Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order to crack down on the estimated 11.4 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The bulk—59 percent—of those immigrants in the country illegally are from Mexico. It’s estimated that undocumented immigrants roughly make up 3.7 percent of the entire U.S. population. Resendez-McCaffery, who is passionate about the issue, said she believes the American government unfairly targets Latinos or Hispanics. “European undocumented immigrants are not getting the same scrutiny that we do,” she said. She is offended by Trump labeling Mexican immigrants “rapists,” “killers” and “criminals” and promising that he will build a wall along the southern border for which he said Mexico would pay. “They are more victimized than they are the victimizer,” said Resendez-McCaffery, who also publishes the La Costa Latina newspaper. “They’ve done more to get here than I ever did.”
Resendez-McCaffery grew up in El Paso, Texas, just three miles from the border. Her parents and grandparents were undocumented. On a typical weekend, she recalled, her parents would take their family of nine children and walk to Mexico to shop, eat tacos, grab an ice cream and then walk back. Under former President George W. Bush, a wall went up preventing families from crossing back and forth so easily. “It’s ugly,” Resendez-McCaffery said. “They generally come to work. You’ll find they are very honorable people.” Now, once a year El Paso residents celebrate #HugsNotWalls where families in Mexico and the United States get a chance to reunite for 15 minutes at the border. Dr. Maria Pouncey has worked with about 800-1,000 children of migrant workers who have come to pick watermelon, onions, and tomatoes in North Florida for more than 30 years. She said she has noticed a lot more racism toward Hispanics since Trump took office. She said children are pointing at migrant workers’ children and saying things like, “You won’t be here long,” and “You’ll be sent back.” “We’re working very hard to stop it,” Pouncey said. “The attitude was more welcoming until this past season. Respect just went out the window.” Pouncey has argued strongly that immigration reform is needed, not more enforcement or punishment. “We’ve needed immigration overhaul for years,” she said. Of course, there is a way to go from undocumented to U.S. citizenship. But a person must return to their home country to apply and sometimes wait years before being approved. Others sign up for Individualized Taxpayer Identification Number cards that serve like Social Security Cards. Resendez-McCaffery described both processes for applying for legal status as “a gamble.” She maintained any immigration reform needs to start with the education of Americans first, so they will stop treating Latinos as criminals. Some facts: Immigrants are twice as likely to start businesses as citizens born in the United States. They pay between $90 and $140 billion each year in taxes. In fact, studies show they pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits, such as public education and healthcare. “Who said illegal immigration was a problem?” Resendez-McCaffery asked. “There is no problem.” {in}
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