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If it takes 7 US World Cup players to wake us up to 11m immigrants, so be it If it takes 7 US World Cup players to wake us up to 11m immigrants, so be it
(2 months later)
Immigrants help drive America's success, even in the World Cup! Look at what #USMNT would be without them. #TimeIsNow pic.twitter.com/D550KRnc7WImmigrants help drive America's success, even in the World Cup! Look at what #USMNT would be without them. #TimeIsNow pic.twitter.com/D550KRnc7W
I was walking through the melting pot of Manhattan on a sweltering Monday evening, about to check the second-half score of the US-Ghana World Cup match, when a roar erupted from the pub down the block.I was walking through the melting pot of Manhattan on a sweltering Monday evening, about to check the second-half score of the US-Ghana World Cup match, when a roar erupted from the pub down the block.
U-S-A! U-S-A!U-S-A! U-S-A!
John Brooks had just managed his game-winning header, of course, and the Americans had fallen in love with football again, by virtue of a 2-1 score. The thing is, more than half of the US men's national team starting lineup has parents who aren't from this country, by a count of 7-4. How do you feel about immigration now?John Brooks had just managed his game-winning header, of course, and the Americans had fallen in love with football again, by virtue of a 2-1 score. The thing is, more than half of the US men's national team starting lineup has parents who aren't from this country, by a count of 7-4. How do you feel about immigration now?
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi might have overestimated the policy connection when she and others imagined a World Cup without immigrants – all the players are still native-born citizens – but still: our new source of national pride is as multicultural as the fabric of the country it represents.House minority leader Nancy Pelosi might have overestimated the policy connection when she and others imagined a World Cup without immigrants – all the players are still native-born citizens – but still: our new source of national pride is as multicultural as the fabric of the country it represents.
We have players with Mexican, Colombian, Icelandic, Filipino, Norwegian, Haitian and Hungarian heritage. Brooks was born in Berlin to a German mother and American serviceman. We have two members of the team with Native American backgrounds (sorry I'm not sorry, Dan Snyder).We have players with Mexican, Colombian, Icelandic, Filipino, Norwegian, Haitian and Hungarian heritage. Brooks was born in Berlin to a German mother and American serviceman. We have two members of the team with Native American backgrounds (sorry I'm not sorry, Dan Snyder).
We also have 62% of our country now supporting earned citizenship (no atheltic ability required) and even 78% of Republican primary voters getting behind the so-called "step-by-step" approach to immigration reform.We also have 62% of our country now supporting earned citizenship (no atheltic ability required) and even 78% of Republican primary voters getting behind the so-called "step-by-step" approach to immigration reform.
Is it going to take a soccer meme, of all things, to get America to add it up and realize how much more of this country is powered by our immigrant community? Or are we going to have to score Congress ourselves and boot out the unrepresentative bums in Washington?Is it going to take a soccer meme, of all things, to get America to add it up and realize how much more of this country is powered by our immigrant community? Or are we going to have to score Congress ourselves and boot out the unrepresentative bums in Washington?
Before the World Cup re-focused our attention on our incredibly diverse world, the conventional wisdom in the Beltway was that Pelosi's counterpart, the House majority leader Eric Cantor, had lost his primary because of a relatively open stance on immigration – and that any chance at meaningful reform (which Cantor actually opposed) would go down with him. Cantor came out strongly against what he defined as a Democratic push for "amnesty to give illegal aliens a free ride" – and he offered only tepid support for piecemeal measures such as border security and legal status for the young population of "dreamers". But that was enough, apparently, and now there is pretty much zero chance – count it: nil-nil – of any reform bill passing, at least until after the mid-term elections.Before the World Cup re-focused our attention on our incredibly diverse world, the conventional wisdom in the Beltway was that Pelosi's counterpart, the House majority leader Eric Cantor, had lost his primary because of a relatively open stance on immigration – and that any chance at meaningful reform (which Cantor actually opposed) would go down with him. Cantor came out strongly against what he defined as a Democratic push for "amnesty to give illegal aliens a free ride" – and he offered only tepid support for piecemeal measures such as border security and legal status for the young population of "dreamers". But that was enough, apparently, and now there is pretty much zero chance – count it: nil-nil – of any reform bill passing, at least until after the mid-term elections.
That means the 11m undocumented immigrants with established lives in the US will remain stuck in the shadows. It means the detention of immigrants in for-profit prisons will continue unabated. So will the record deportations that are tearing families apart.That means the 11m undocumented immigrants with established lives in the US will remain stuck in the shadows. It means the detention of immigrants in for-profit prisons will continue unabated. So will the record deportations that are tearing families apart.
And yet, hardly a day goes by without some public figure waxing lyrical about how immigrants make this country so great. We tend to focus our praise on the Wunderkinds - the Billy Wilders and Madeline Albrights, the Sammy Sosas and, of course, half the US soccer team. But the everyday immigrants – the construction workers and the farm laborers, the low-skilled set that does the dirty jobs – get dismissed as "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus, with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat".And yet, hardly a day goes by without some public figure waxing lyrical about how immigrants make this country so great. We tend to focus our praise on the Wunderkinds - the Billy Wilders and Madeline Albrights, the Sammy Sosas and, of course, half the US soccer team. But the everyday immigrants – the construction workers and the farm laborers, the low-skilled set that does the dirty jobs – get dismissed as "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus, with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat".
When cities like New York get hit by natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy or unnatural terror like 9/11, it is the day-laborer population of "second responders" – made up mostly of undocumented Latino immigrants – who get tasked with the dangerous clean-up and reconstruction work. Nearly three-quarters of the farm workers who help grow American food are immigrants, too, most of them undocumented. Despite all this back-breaking work, immigrants are more likely to get accused of stealing American jobs than credited with ensuring we all have enough to eat. When cities like New York get hit by natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy or unnatural terror like 9/11, it is the day-laborer population of "second responders" – made up mostly of undocumented Latino immigrants – who get tasked with the dangerous clean-up and reconstruction work. Nearly three-quarters of the farm workers who help grow American food are immigrants, too, most of them undocumented. Despite all this back-breaking work, immigrants are more likely to get accused of stealing American jobs than credited with ensuring we all have enough to eat.
When Georgia and other states passed draconian anti-immigrant laws a few years ago, forcing migrant populations to flee, American-born workers didn't take over the jobs that were "rightfully theirs" at all – and farmers went into an uproar because their crops were left rotting in the fields. But instead of thanking these hard-working immigrants for their essential work, we detain them in private prisons (where, ironically, they're still used as cheap labor).When Georgia and other states passed draconian anti-immigrant laws a few years ago, forcing migrant populations to flee, American-born workers didn't take over the jobs that were "rightfully theirs" at all – and farmers went into an uproar because their crops were left rotting in the fields. But instead of thanking these hard-working immigrants for their essential work, we detain them in private prisons (where, ironically, they're still used as cheap labor).
And then we deport them.And then we deport them.
Immigration advocates have been calling on Barack Obama – aka the Deporter-in-Chief – to use executive actions to get around an intransigent Congress made even more so by a decidedly white and Christian majority of Republicans in the House. But even if the president was willing to go it alone – expanding a deferred action program to halt the deportation of all non-criminal immigrants, instead of just the dreamer population – that would still be a half-measure at best.Immigration advocates have been calling on Barack Obama – aka the Deporter-in-Chief – to use executive actions to get around an intransigent Congress made even more so by a decidedly white and Christian majority of Republicans in the House. But even if the president was willing to go it alone – expanding a deferred action program to halt the deportation of all non-criminal immigrants, instead of just the dreamer population – that would still be a half-measure at best.
Only Congress can fix our broken immigration system, but until we elect a more diverse and/or immigrant-friendly set of representatives, we know that's not going to happen. Here's another score that offers some hope for that: it only took an election with 65,008 people – and far fewer key votes than that – to unseat Cantor.Only Congress can fix our broken immigration system, but until we elect a more diverse and/or immigrant-friendly set of representatives, we know that's not going to happen. Here's another score that offers some hope for that: it only took an election with 65,008 people – and far fewer key votes than that – to unseat Cantor.
Imagine what could happen if immigration advocates actually drove progressive-minded voters to the polls come November. Would our Congress be less of a sinkhole and more of a patchwork? Might it finally start too become an elected group of politicians that actually looks like the nation it's supposed to represent? Because that would be a starting lineup worth rooting for.Imagine what could happen if immigration advocates actually drove progressive-minded voters to the polls come November. Would our Congress be less of a sinkhole and more of a patchwork? Might it finally start too become an elected group of politicians that actually looks like the nation it's supposed to represent? Because that would be a starting lineup worth rooting for.