Martine Kalaw: Is the Face of the Undocumented Immigrant Still Mexican? Martine Kalaw - Latino Voices
go to original March 22, 2016

As the Mexican dream grows, illegal immigration driven by the 'American dream' is decreasing – to net zero. "Home again in Mexico: Illegal immigration" was part of a cover story project of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly magazine. (Christian Science Monitor)

It’s been more than 10 years since my immigration battle ended but the public’s image of what an “illegal immigrant” is has not matured. It’s time for our understanding to evolve.

Twelve years ago in 2004, when I was an undocumented immigrant myself, I made the decision to take a calculated risk: I disclosed my illegal immigrant status to the public. The danger was that there would be a backlash against me from those who were against amnesty for illegal immigrants. But I was willing to risk that for the chance to finally be part of a community and in so doing, validate my existence.

Attempting to belong to a group that was deemed undesirable was impossible because I couldn’t identify with the image that represented the group. The media offered only one portrayal of what an illegal immigrant is: a Mexican man sneaking across the border. Often he was hardened by his journey; desperate, he turned to a life of crime. That image had the effect not only of lumping anyone who appeared Mexican into a offensive and inaccurate stereotype; it also invalidated my own experiences and those of the thousands of other undocumented immigrants who were not from Mexico. Never mind the rich and varied stories of immigrants from around the world; the image of the desperate Mexican illegal was intended to make ordinary Americans feel threatened and create a vigilante state.

The image of the illegal immigrant has softened in the last few years. We’ve even been given a less threatening label: “undocumented.” Still, America has made almost no progress in how it sees us as a group. We’ve discarded the desperate Mexican man and replaced him with a less threatening Central American woman or child. Though her image is not as hardened, she is nevertheless a downtrodden figure, incapable of accessing her own strength.

Read the rest at Latino Voices

Related: In Last Six Months, U.S. Authorities Requested Deportation of 15,821 Mexicans (EFE)

Related: US Appeals Court: Looking Like a Rich American Isn’t Grounds to Avoid Deportation to Mexico (WSJ.com)

Related: US: Cubans Welcome, But Mexicans and Other Vulnerable Latin Americans Stay Out! (teleSUR)

Related: El Salvadorans Catching up to Mexicans in U.S. Immigration Court Filings (WSJ.com)

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