The Immigrant's American Nightmare Continues

The life of an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. is not rosy. Once undocumented immigrants step on U.S. soil, they begin to suffer a never-ending nightmare. The first obstacle is to get honest work, but when they do get it, they awaken to a harsh reality: They will be paid under the legal minimum wage.

Dishonest business owners rub their hands together because they know that they save money when they hire an undocumented Latino instead of an Afro- or Anglo-American with papers. As they are paid very little, the immigrants search for more work, and their family life deteriorates. They have to send money to their country and survive off what little is left.

Undocumented immigrants live humiliated, discriminated against and in fear, hiding from police and immigration officials that chase after them like criminals.

President Barack Obama said in his visit to Mexico, “It is time to put old mindsets aside and time to recognize new realities.” He said that he knew coming to an agreement with Republicans would create a basic framework that would not contain everything that he wants. But what is Obama proposing? Why is it not clear? The U.S. needs immigrants because their work force is useful and necessary. Are business owners ready to pay higher salaries, medical services and taxes?

Let us be realistic: For American society and its economy, keeping immigrants in the shadows is convenient. Average citizens, including Hispanics legally in the U.S., would not be ready to accept the increase in the cost of family consumer products that would be affected by their new labor burden. Conservative groups pay for costly studies in order to scare people by showing them that legalizing undocumented immigrants would cost $6.3 billion in the long run.

The reform draft recommends only giving legal status to undocumented immigrants who do not have a criminal record, pay taxes and pay a fine for having entered the country illegally. Undocumented immigrants who have been detained on two occasions while trying to cross the border will not have the opportunity, neither will those who were already married in Latin America and then get married in the U.S., nor those who committed a crime reported by Interpol in their countries, nor those who do not pay child support, nor those who, through error or ignorance, broke the law, even if it was a minor traffic violation. The list goes on and on. Statistics say that there are 11 million undocumented immigrants, but it is suspected there are more. How many will be able to overcome these barriers?

For a reform to be successful, the government would need to go case by case; in many instances, it would have to turn a blind eye because otherwise there would only be a few lucky ones.

On the other hand, certain dreamers believe that they can cross the border and do well. This is not true. Stay in your country because the reform will only apply to those who have lived and respected the laws in the U.S. for a long time.

For now, there is no dream here, and the nightmare continues.