Immigrants need equal treatment

I’m not surprised a great deal of people in Southern
California and elsewhere have reacted with everything from
confusion to rage after learning of lawmakers’ recent efforts
to help ensure that immigrants ““ even those without legal
residency status ““ receive basic rights within the United
States. As many people seem to ask, why give “these
people” rights when they’re not supposed to be in our
country in the first place? They don’t deserve rights, do
they? They’re taking all of our jobs!

I feel that these arguments, as compassionate and well thought
out as they are, don’t address the realities of immigration
in modern America. Undocumented immigrants must deal with withheld
wages, forced overtime, high rates of job-related injuries and
sexual harassment every day. Their lack of legal rights makes it
nearly impossible for undocumented workers to organize against
abuse and exploitation.

Sixty-five thousand students with undocumented parents graduate
high school every year in America with few prospects other than
menial work or deportation. These are students who have lived
nearly their entire lives in the United States, who have attended
the same classes, played on the same athletic teams, passed the
same exams as their peers and yet have no right to pursue a higher
education. Legislation like the Dream Act, which gives immigrant
students the chance to attend college or serve in the military as a
path to citizenship, represents an important step toward
acknowledging that illegal immigrants are human beings with rights,
who deserve the opportunity to pursue an education and a better
life.

Simply dismissing illegal immigrants as lawbreakers who
don’t belong in our country serves only to ignore a problem
and deny a reality ““ illegal immigrants live in the United
States. More come every year. Many have been forced to leave
countries destabilized by reckless U.S. foreign policy. They will
continue to come to the United States in search of a better life
regardless of whether anyone in America thinks they should.

Illegal immigrants are not “aliens,” as some would
prefer they be classified; they are mothers and fathers,
grandparents, sisters and brothers who want what is best for their
families.

Those who would rather take an “us against them”
position and complain about hordes of immigrants invading the
United States, stealing jobs and resources and causing taxes to
soar, overlook the fact that immigrants ““ including those
without documentation ““ make this country work.

Immigrants, even those without documentation, are among those
who keep the state of California running. Immigrants, even those
without documentation, are what this country is made of, and they
can be found on everyone’s family tree, even if you’ve
bought into a bogus genealogy that claims your ancestors came over
on the Mayflower.

Do illegal immigrants deserve to endure horrible conditions
because they have not obtained citizenship?

Should they accept exploitation and abuse as a due penalty for
entering this country without the proper documentation?

Should they forestall any hopes of pursuing an education because
their parents took a chance in bringing them to live in a country
without war, disease and famine?

Should we as American citizens sit back and allow this to happen
when we know that illegal immigrants will continue to seek a better
life in the United States, whether or not we ignore them?

I believe that it’s time we stop ignoring the abuse and
exploitation of illegal immigrants and instead work to create and
enact further legislation that ensures all immigrants are treated
in full compliance of the law and receive basic human rights,
regardless of their legal status.

Allen is a fifth-year anthropology student.