America’s Immigration Policy Fiasco: Revisited
During trying times the best thing we can do as a people is become informed. At the University of Connecticut, as with most universities around the world, talks from outside professionals and experts are held. These talks (for the most part) are free and open to the public. On March 23rd, 2017 Douglas Massey gave a talk at UConn entitled “America’s Immigration Policy Fiasco.” He is a professor of Sociology at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University where he specializes in the sociology of immigration. Although this talk happened a couple of months ago the information from the talk is more relevant now than ever.
Something particularly interesting that was discussed during the talk was the power of perception. News stories often become self feeding. When the narrative of illegals coming into the country is on the rise it does not mean actual immigration is also increasing. It is because of the frequency it is spoken about that it may seem that way to the general public. This can then translate into legislation to appease the people. Alternatively politicians can use the panic to monopolize on the fear to further a particular agenda. I sense that the latter explanation is more relevant of late.
Douglas Massey spoke very succinctly focusing solely on the numbers and his research. It was obvious his life has been dedicated to obtaining the facts. I had a chance to speak with him after his presentation. During this time he shared more specific immigration stories. He spoke with me about toddlers and babies brought to the United States that grow up here and are then deported. These people become an alien to both countries. America outcasts them from the lives they have built to a country that they are unfamiliar with.
These are the people that terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy affect. It seems that a narrative exists that the United States is sending them back where they belong but that is not true. Many of the people affected under DACA do not have documentation for the country they were born in, don’t speak the language or no longer have living relatives residing there. Getting rid of DACA would rip people from the lives they have built in a country that is their home to some foreign land they have only heard stories about.
As college students there are a lot of things begging for our attention. All around campus there are flyers posted and our emails get spammed everyday. It is hard to decide what to make time for. Here is my advice to you; from one college student to another. Attend talks on campus. There is no pressure, no assignments and no long term commitments. It is just pure learning for an hour or two and you always walk away with much more information than when you entered. You never know when the information can become extremely relevant. Seeing as homeland security uses the very data Douglas Massey collected I am shocked that I never heard any of the information until the talk. With everything that is currently going on in the news I have much more context than I would have if it was not for the talk on campus. The space where the talk took place was so empty. Many of the students that attended did so reluctantly for extra credit in a class. As a people we need to seek knowledge wherever we can get it.
