Monday, March 31, 2008
Desire and Rumors Fuel Migrations to the Golden Land
By
Rosa Martha Villarreal
To the casual Western observer, the recent human migrations of Third World indigents
evokes pity at best, fear and loathing at worst, but the almost universal reaction is that of bewilderment. Why, Westerners
wonder, would people risk their lives crossing the treacherous waters of the Strait of Gibraltar or the infernal Sonoran desert
for a job? Though the argument exists that amnesties, such as those granted by Spain and the USA, along with more legal and
orderly forms of migrations, such as guest worker programs, would end these desperate and dangerous attempts, there are simply
too many forces, some as old as the human race, which will continue to drive the poor illegally to the West unless the global
economic equation is fundamentally changed.
First of all, migrations are an integral part of the human narrative. As a species, we have successfully populated every land mass on the planet.
Those forces that drove our primal ancestors out of Africa are what drive the current migrations, namely, the desire for a better life. However, past migrations, though fraught with danger, offered a tremendous upside. That is, the risk was worth the reward in terms of new resources.
This brings us to the current situation. Are
the risks truly worth the rewards? Or worse yet: are there any rewards for the
migrants themselves?
I began to question this formula of migration equals a better life during the 12 years
I lived in Monterey County in California, which, because of its agricultural and tourism based economy, has a large population
of undocumented/illegal immigrants. Being both bilingual and bicultural, and having immigrant parents myself, I had an intimate
look into the world of this population.
The average migrant had a sixth grade education – the same as many of the Latino
immigrants of my parents’ generation back in 1954 – and made $6.50 per hour, which was then the minimum wage in
California. A few of my students at the adult school where I was teaching English
as a Second Language boasted to me that they were making $8.50 an hour. When one factored in the cost of a one-two bedroom
apartment – $650-$1,100 per month depending on the safety and desirability of the neighborhood – and, that to
the man and woman, everybody was sending money home to Mexico or Central America, and that many had debts to human smugglers,
it doesn’t stretch the imagination to realize that these migrants were not achieving a better life.
A drive through the Third World-like East Alisal neighborhoods of Salinas, California,
is a case in point. For the most part, people made due by creative yet undesirable
living arrangements, like the 13 men who were renting a garage in Salinas.
Nevertheless, the level of optimism of these folks was remarkably high despite the bleak
conditions of their lives, and despite the fact that without legalization there was no hope for earning slightly more than
the minimum wage even if they learned English and adopted American culture.
The reason is that the rumors and myths supersede the bleak reality. There is a saying
among the Central Americans, for instance, that the journey to the U.S.A. is the hardest part – once you get there everything
works its way out. The rumors they heard in the rural villages were true: those
who came before them were no better educated and with nothing to offer but their physical labor. Today’s migrants look
at my parents’ generation and their assimilated offspring, people like me, and desire our cultural dexterity and our
affluence. The myths overshadow the reality that it was our legality, not our
mere presence that opened up the opportunity for upward mobility.
Massive waves of human migrations overran Rome in the 4th and 5th
centuries A.D., to the extent where it no longer was the Golden Land of human desires. In our times, even after the amnesties
of Spain and the U.S.A.,
the problem of illegal immigration has not ended but ironically encouraged even larger migrations.
As Karl Marx noted, “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.”
So it is obvious that the solution to illegal migrations should address the desires for a better life by creating opportunities
closer to home so that people no longer need to risk their lives for a job. Only then will the rumors of the Golden Land subside.
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Rosa Martha Villarreal, a MexiData.info guest columnist, is a member of PEN USA. She is the author of "The Stillness
of Love and Exile" (Tertulia Press 2007); and "Chronicles of Air and Dreams: A Novel of Mexico."
