The Book: Crossing Over by Ruben Martinez - Research Paper Example

Immigration In the book, Crossing Over, Ruben Martinez tells us a story of a poor Mexican family that undertakes a journey to find hope, better future and prosperous lives; a journey on a migrant trail. The story is all about crossing or not crossing. It relates to a physical journey of a family in search of a fulfilling future, however, it can also be said that Crossing Over is about their mental journey as well, as they travel through different geographical routes. Ruben Martinez, a Mexican-American news correspondent and a journalist, was devastated to hear the tragic incident that involved three of the Mexican brothers who lost their lives when the truck, carrying 26 undocumented migrants, including them, turned over in a high-speed quest with the U.S. Border Patrol beyond the Tijuana-San Diego borderline. However, Martinez' Crossing Over is not a story that covers the events associated with the crash itself. It is not about the three youngsters who had lost their lives, but, in a broader sense, it is the tale of an emigrant. A journey that reveals the crossings of various people from Mexico to the US, where they arrive to work as farmers, gardeners and factory workers (Claywoman 2003). His journey starts off in Mexico and takes him to different states such as Warren, Arkansas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and finally to Watsonville, CA. Throughout the journey, the reader can actually feel the never-ending triumphs and trials that are to be faced by the immigrant in search of a prosperous future. These immigrants battle hard to survive, prosper and feed their families back at home by working day in and day out. Those who succeed in ‘crossing the line’ eventually end up living in poorer regions, yet they manage to save enough to send back for family members. One wonders, why they have to do this, undertake a life threatening journey and strive for a future that is uncertain and unknown. Martinez attempts to answer such questions with his own journey and by that of others. Looking back in time, before prominent contact and defeat, there was no such term as borders. Until the late 1900’s, Mexicans were the owners of this land. They loved it and cultivated it until the Western world started to run out of regions where they could conquer and therefore, they began accusing the Mexicans for being in their way. Until then, the borders were not really closed and time to time, whenever the U.S. felt a need to harvest crops or had such menial jobs in the pipeline, they would greet the Mexicans with open hearts. Furthermore, in times of war migrant laborers had fought in the U.S. Navy and Army along with the Washington’s lumberjack force. Former president Bush also acknowledged the contributions and services rendered by Mexican soldiers (Claywoman 2003).  Martinez concludes that after the events of September 11, 2001, America’s fear of terrorism exacerbated and therefore, borders have also strengthened which makes crossing over quite a difficult task. However, the writer Martinez believes that since there will always be crops to be harvested, garbage cans to be picked, and beds to be made in luxurious hotels, tables to be served and dishes to be washed - and until Americans decide to carry out such menial tasks on their own, people will continue to combat all odds and attempt to cross borders. There is a lot to be absorbed in Crossing Over as the book highlights a number of problematic issues that can easily be observed in the American society. It educates us as to how we should learn to respect people who always remain unnoticed, poor and faceless. Their life is a struggle to locate their own genuine roots. Therefore, this book is an exceptional source that sparks debate on racial discrimination and racism apparent in the American society today (Claywoman 2003). According to the data obtained by Census Bureau's American Community report for the year 2009, the overall US immigrant population was estimated to be 38,517,234, or it can be calculated as 12.5 percent of the entire US population and the ratio of foreign born, residing in the United States was raised by 1.5 % (almost 556,000 people) between the year 2008 and 2009 (Batalova et al. 2010). Thus, it can be assessed that America which is considered to be the land of hope by many is home many immigrants. An example of Jose Antonio Vargas who is a known reporter but at the same time is also an undocumented foreigner in the U.S also provides a picture of the difficulties that immigrants face. He found out this unfortunate fact after years and now he has made his mission to spread the word regarding reviewing immigration reforms in the States. Vargas portrays his life as one of the undocumented immigrant. He was sent to the U.S. from Philippines so that he could live with his grandparents who resided in California. He was 12 at that time and throughout, he has never lived in the U.S. as a legal citizen or a legal foreigner. All he remembers are his mother’s final words at the time of his departure to the U.S. While handing him a jacket that it might get cold out there and at the time when he arrived at the Philippines’ International Airport he was introduced to a stranger. His mother told him that this previously unknown man was his uncle. With this stranger, for the very first time, he boarded an airplane in the year 1993. He was sent over to his grandparents because his mother wished to give him a better life. As he started off with his studies as a 6th grader, he instantly began to love his new family, home, and culture. When he turned 16 and wanted to get his driver’s permit, he went to the concerned department where the lady in charge examined his green card and rejected it. The card was fake she said and warned him not to ever come back here. He got really confused and upon confronting his grandparents, he found out that it was true. Scared but determined, he thought that the best way is not to give anyone any reason to even doubt that he was not an American. He decided to work hard and achieve so much that he would be rewarded U.S. citizenship. He really believed that he could earn it (Vargas 2011). He did all he could for the past fourteen years or so. He completed his high school and after college he was able to pursue a career in journalism and got a chance to interview many famous personalities in the country. On the outer surface, yes he had lived his American dream and created a good life. But on the other hand, he will still be considered to be an illegal immigrant and therefore he had to encounter different, harsher realities. This implied that people would not trust him. Moreover, he could not trust them back. It also meant that he was bound to hide his family pictures so that he is not questioned by his friends. It further implied that he had to live a lie, hide himself, while he was living the American dream. It is believed that an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants reside in the United States and a total of 800,000 people were deported under Obama’s administration in the past two years. All of these people are forced to live a life where they are bound to hide the truth and silently do their jobs. They are often found confused and scared while securing themselves from falling as a victim of racial discrimination. These people, all of these undocumented aliens, are inhabitants who, in a way or the other, fulfill a number of tasks in the United States of America. Some pick their strawberries whereas others take care of their children so on and so forth. Just like Vargas, many people think of America as their own country however, they feel miserable when despite of the fact of thinking of themselves as Americans and working for America as their own country, the United States of America does not accept them as its own people. Vargas persuaded a career as a journalist and worked for renowned news outlets but he was bound to maintain a deception. This was mainly because he was on his own and it was crucial for his survival in the country. However, the sense of deception distorted his own sense of liberation and he began to wonder what he has become. With more achievements, he felt greatly depressed and scared to reveal his true identity. He was proud of his work but finally realized that all his achievements, his service to the U.S news outlets, his sincerity behind the one and only lie will not earn him an acceptable identity. Thus, Vargas had taken the initiative and launched a project called “Define American”, with a hope that such issues related to immigrants that live their lives illegally and in a state of fear can be addressed by the concerned authorities (Vargas 2011). On the other hand, a study indicated that fifth-graders who think that they have been discriminated or mistreated due to the color of their skin are likely to contain symptoms of mental disorders such as depression. This can serve as evidence that racism or racial inequity strengthens the odds that kids and even adults will form a mental health problem. The report, which is published in the American Public Health Journal, indicated involvement of up to 5,000 children in Houston, Birmingham and Los Angeles. Prejudice and racism was reported by 20% of Blacks, 15% of the Hispanics, 7% Whites and 16% of people from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. The study further explained that Hispanics had far worse mental health effects as compared to others. Almost four out of every five Hispanic children who felt discriminated had foreign-born guardians. Black parents, on the other hand might be able to buffer their children in a better way, but they do prepare them to expect a little racism as well (Elias 2009). There was an event organized in July 2001 by a Mexican musical band known as Mana. The band appealed thousands of Hispanic attendants to stand up against discrimination and racism in the U.S. Those who attended the musical event were urged not to forget their own roots. The musical band encouraged Hispanics to fight against the overflowing wave of racism against immigrants in the United States. A law known as Arizona's SB 1070 is aimed at targeting and deporting illegal immigrants. A measure has also been taken in Alabama where police department is authorized to detain suspected migrants, charge penalties to those who transport any undocumented immigrant and restricts all employers throughout the state to go through the E-Verification system so that legal eligibility of employees can be evaluated. In Virginia, there is a law, according to which businesses are punished, if found hiring undocumented immigrants. The concert was an attempt to force concerned authorities to review immigration reforms that would not only strengthen border security but it will also place tons of undocumented migrants on the right path, a path to legal citizenship. There is a need to eliminate racism that is found abundantly in the U.S. and this is the only way how world can become a better place to live in. People need to be educated that racism adversely affects the feelings of immigrants, most of them who come to America, with a hope to serve and find a better future (Fox News Latino 2011). Quoting another example of an incident that occurred on a day in November of 2006 where Michael Richards, a white professional comedian went on to attack two African-Americans during a Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. A more recent example dated August 2011, depicts how delicate the race related relations have become in America. It was Katt Williams, an African-American professional comedian, who attacked a Latino at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix. It can be said that such personal attacks will only aggravate the situation. Shouting out loud to a Mexican or an African to go back to their country is not the solution to the problem. It has a wider and broader aspect. Such statements hurt feelings of those who had traveled thousands of miles to a land where they are willing to work hard and feed their families. Undocumented immigrants on one hand, those who are staying in America on legal terms and conditions are also found to be a victim of discrimination at often times. Therefore, it can be said that racism and discrimination is something prevalent at every level; Kids at school, employees at work, gatherings at occasions, and public at public places (Jr Navarrette 2011). Discrimination and racism also creates at times complicated situations for about 117,600 workers in the United States. Mario Rodriguez is one such worker who gets up every morning at around 5 a.m. every day to walk almost two miles on this spot in Freehold, N.J. where he along with 30-40 Hispanic men stand with a hope that they might be able to work and earn some money. Rodriguez does not know how to speak proper English and feels the bitterness of discrimination on daily basis, as he observes the customers racist reaction. This lack of sympathy for these Hispanic workers made Rodriguez sad and brought tears to his eyes. There are places where people like him are not even welcomed. When he, along with his group members goes to have dinner, he claims that people will not even sell them a sandwich. But there are people who do not neglect such behavior of the cashier, as he is at times questioned by his customer that how is he so sure that these are illegal immigrants (Hanan et al. 2009). Concluding the discussion, it can be stated that American administration needs to review their immigrant’s policy in a way that it will provide security to these immigrants and will allow them to work under better conditions. At the same time, common American citizens must be educated to treat them with respect. Today, when jobs have saturated, it has become harder for American citizens to bear these foreigners and undocumented aliens. They should understand the fact that these people are employed to carryout a number of tasks and in a way or the other, they deliver to the American society. They have flown miles away from their homeland and if they respect America just like every American, they should have the right to flourish under an organized set of laws. Therefore, there is a need for government to consider this issue and provide equal opportunities to everyone in the society. Undocumented immigrants that pay taxes and pose no threat to the society shall have their cases inspected. The ones who consider America to be their homeland and equally contribute as much as American citizens, their statuses must be reviewed and they shall be given a chance to grow whereas those immigrants who break state laws such as not paying taxes, involving in unlawful activities and cause damage to the state’s interest should be followed-up with. Works Cited Batalova, Jeanne, and Aaron Terrazas. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States." Migration Information Source. 2010. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Claywoman. "Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail." AuthorsDen. 17 Oct. 2003. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Elias, Marilyn. "Racism Hurts Kids' Mental Health." USA TODAY. 5 May 2009. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Hanan, Eric, and Yardena Schwartz. "Confronting Racism in America - ABC News."ABCNews.com: Daily News, Breaking News and Video Broadcasts - ABC News. 5 Jan. 2009. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Jr. Navarrette, Ruben. "Unfunny Racism: Black Comic's Anti-Mexican Rant - CNN.com."CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. 6 Sept. 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Vargas, Jose A. "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant." The New York Times. 22 Jun. 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . "Mexican Rockers Urge Latinos to Combat Racism in U.S. Fox News Latino." Fox News Latino. 15 Jul. 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Read More