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What if my wife woke up this morning and found me missing—together
with my two kids and the more than 14 million other Latinos in California?
That’s the premise of the 2004 film, “A Day Without A
Mexican.” As a means of
advocating for compassionate immigration reform, the film shows that the state
would come to a standstill without the vital economic contributions made by
Latinos—both documented and undocumented.
According to the film (conceived in part by Raul Hinojosa,
one of my departmental colleagues at UCLA), Latinos contribute 100 billion
dollars to the California economy each year, while only drawing 3 billion
dollars in social services. We comprise 60% of all construction
workers in the state, and the agricultural industry—the most lucrative industry
in California—is entirely dependent upon us. We raise the children of the wealthy, wash their cars, paint
their houses, and serve them food and libations in their favorite restaurants.
A lot of us are teachers, doctors, professors, lawyers, and
dentists, too.
We (including our undocumented brothers and sisters), pay
millions of dollars in taxes which help keep our state afloat in desperate
economic times.
And oh, we’re not all “Mexican.” Though some of us are proudly Mexican, we also come from 21
other beautiful and distinct countries in Latin America—Guatemala, El Salvador,
Argentina, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, just to name a few…
And so, If we Latinos
were to suddenly disappear, California would lose out on this wonderful
diversity—and also grind to an economic halt. This is the main point of “A Day Without A Mexican.”
It’s also the main
point of compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform.
The 11 million
undocumented immigrants of the United States contribute in essential ways to
the economy. Recent statistics
reveal that undocumented immigrants contribute more than 2 trillion dollars a
year to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the United States! Without these vital economic
contributions, our nation would plunge into economic despair.
Undocumented immigrants do the jobs no one else wants to
do—for low wages that no one else wants to get paid. Their low wages ensure big profits for large corporations
and small businesses alike, and for the 401(k) retirement plans of millions of
Americans. Their low wages also
make it possible for 99 cent Big Mac specials, $4.99/lb strawberries, $39.99
Forever 21 jeans, $99 Expedia.com travel specials, and a wide assortment of
Angie’s List specials.
Undocumented immigrants account for 4.3% of the U.S. labor
force—about 6.3 million workers out of 146 million.
They are clustered in construction, agriculture, service
sector, and domestic work.
Undocumented workers make up:
27% of
drywall/ceiling tile installers
21% roofers
20% construction
laborers
26% grounds
maintenance workers
25% butchers/meat
and poultry workers
18% cooks
23% misc.
agricultural workers
22% maids and
housekeepers
18% sewing machine
operators
Note that these are national statistics. In places like California, Texas, New
York, and Florida, the percentages are much higher.
To fill our ravenous need for cheap labor, 300,000 to
500,000 undocumented immigrants came to the U.S. in the early 2000’s. It is estimated that 11 million undocumented
immigrants currently live in the United States.
If 6.3 million
undocumented workers and their families contribute more than $2 trillion per
year to the U.S. economy, guess how many unskilled labor visas the U.S. granted
to immigrants throughout the world in 2010?: 4,762. In fact, the maximum number of annual
unskilled labor visas granted by the U.S. government is capped at only
10,000.
Can you see the grave injustice here? The U.S. benefits from the cheap and
arduous labor of 6.3 million undocumented workers—to the tune of $2 trillion annually--but
it is only willing to grant 10,000 (or less) low-skill worker visas per year! 6.3 million workers vs. 10,000 unskilled
labor visas. That’s
INJUSTICE!
The United States benefits immensely from the cheap labor of 6.3
million undocumented workers, but it is not willing to officially recognize
these vital economic contributions by granting legalized status and a pathway
to citizenship. That’s not
right!
To fail to grant legalized status to these 6.3 million
workers and their families constitutes biblical
oppression. The Bible is clear:
“You shall not
pervert justice due the stranger (immigrant) or the fatherless, nor take a
widow’s garment as a pledge.” Deut 24: 17.
“Cursed is the one who perverts the
justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.” Deut 27: 19.
“Do not oppress an
alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens
in Egypt. Exodus 23: 9
Each day we fail to pass compassionate comprehensive
immigration reform in this country, we perpetrate biblical oppression and
pervert justice. We oppress
undocumented immigrants when we allow ourselves to benefit from their essential
economic contributions, but deny them the concomitant rights of political citizenship.
As followers of Jesus, let’s do all we can to advocate for compassionate
and comprehensive immigration reform. And let’s ask God to carry out His justice for undocumented
immigrants. Here’s a good
way to start: http://g92.org/experience/challenge/
In hope,
Robert Chao Romero
@ProfeChaoRomero
Amen!
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