It's Only Natural
For Latino immigrants seeking citizenship, having a home and feeling at home are two different things.
By August Miller, Hope College
Wednesday April 26, 2006
Unlike the tremendous, ornate arch that rises above Washington, D.C.’s small Chinatown, Chirilagua has no formal entry point, but when you arrive, you know it. Chirilagua, or Arlandria, is a growing El Salvadoran neighborhood in Alexandria, VA that stretches out along Mount Vernon Avenue. In addition to the hair salons and clothing stores that line the avenue, there are restaurants offering Salvadoran fare and supermarkets selling iguana meat, banana leaves for tamales, and pastel tres leches (three-milk cakes). Residents call the neighborhood Chirilagua as a nod to the city back home in El Salvador where many of them immigrated from. The residents of Arlandria make up just a portion of the Census Bureau’s estimate of 125,000 and Salvadoran Ambassador Rene A. Leon’s estimate of nearly 500,000 immigrants from El Salvador living in the Washington metro area.
 There are approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States today. This number of can seem a bit off-putting until you can exchange a statistic for an actual person. I volunteer at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), an immigrant advocacy group that offers services to the large population of Central Americans in Virginia. I worked for their Citizenship and Civic Participation program, which helps enfranchise immigrants by preparing them for the Citizenship Exam. Naturalization is the best way for Central Americans to develop roots in this country after moving here to escape years of upheaval at home.
So, how did the D.C. area come to absorb so many immigrants from El Salvador? Well, in El Salvador in July of 1969, war broke out between El Salvador and Honduras in what was called “the futbol war” because it started at a soccer game. Of course, the game itself wasn’t the issue, instead the prime motivator was the bad feeling generated by thousands of Salvadorans illegally “squatting” on Honduran land who were then subject to persecution and evictions by the Honduran military. Subsequently, El Salvador invaded Honduras and in retaliation Honduras deported thousands of Salvadorans. This marked only the beginning of civil unrest within El Salvador. After this, guerilla warfare terrorized Salvadoran civilians for 12 years as leftist anti-government units and the right-wing National Conciliation Party (PCN) fought each other. In order to escape this national turmoil, many Salvadorans filed for political asylum in Washington, D.C. CARECEN was established in 1981 to protect the rights of those Salvadorans as well as other Latino immigrants who fled to the United States and offers to them legal, housing, educational, health promotion and civic participation programs as they work towards developing the infrastructure that can create a cohesive and prosperous Central American and Latino community in the area.
Every Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m., I take the bus to Arlandria to teach a citizenship class to Señor and Señora Díaz. They left Guatemala in the midst of the longest civil war in Latin American history lasting 36 years. The Diaz’ said they would have liked to stay in Guatemala, but during the destabilizing period after a coup removed Gen. Jorge Ubico Castañeda, a right-wing leader, disaffected workers, leftist groups and military regimes scrambled for power, creating a dangerous environment that was unsafe and bereft of economic opportunity.
We spend the morning discussing what it means to be a citizen in the United States. We talk about American history. When we arrive at the section on the Civil War, I weighed the naturalization exam materials next to what I learned in elementary history class. One of the questions asks, “For what reason was the Civil War fought?” The answer provided was that the Civil War was fought over slavery, but, of course, that was but one reason. The exam doesn’t even touch on the roll of federalism and states rights. Another exam question asks, “What is the most important right granted to U.S. citizens?” The correct answer is the right to vote. This one also made me cringe, but this time not at its simplifying inaccuracies, but instead with the embarrassment of knowing that this right, which my students take to heart, is exercised by less than 50% of Americans.
Señor and Señora Díaz look forward to being citizens and taking on their attendant responsibility to be active in their community. They need to be politically informed so that they can be a part of their block association, write letters to their representatives, and vote. Sure, right now they are able to work and make a living in this country, but they need more than a paycheck—they need to be able to work without fear of being deported; they need to be paid fair wages; they need to be able to decide what is best for their children’s education; and they need to be able to elect someone who cares about their needs. And so, when members of CARCEN have participated in the various rallies responding to the House’s immigration bill (HR4437), their chant was “Si Se Puede” or “Yes We Can.” Given the chance, yes they can become citizens and continue to enrich this country with their presence.
Never before have the issues of naturalization and civic participation been more visible to this country. As of 2002, Latinos have become the largest minority in the United States. The country watched as Latinos, joined by other citizens, flooded the streets in past weeks making their presence known, bearing American flags and signs reading "Today we march, tomorrow we vote." Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo said in regards to the recent immigrant protests, "...[D]on’t think that the people in the streets represent all of America, they don’t.’’ He’s technically correct: they don’t represent all of America, but they do represent the largest minority in America, many of whom can and do vote, and who will be reviewing their representatives’ reactions to this issue and voting accordingly.
When Señor and Señora Diaz complete my class, I want them to pass the naturalization exam—but more importantly, I want them to grasp the enormity of their status as naturalized citizens. I want them to be aware of the civic power that many natives take for granted. James Madison said in the Federalist Paper No. 39: “It is essential to such a Government that it be derived from the great body of society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it…” From the point-of -view of those on the margins of society, it may seem that only endowed with wealth can make change in this country, but that was not this framer’s hope greatest hope for this nation.
When my parents came from Puerto Rico approximately twenty years ago, though they were regarded as Americans, they certainly didn’t feel like Americans. But, they dealt with language barriers and racism that so marked their first years here so that I wouldn’t have to. And here I am, the American dream incarnate, finishing up my third year of college at a predominately white liberal arts private school on the “red side” of the state of Michigan.
Mr. and Mrs. Diaz have a granddaughter my age. She was born here. They told me that she is smart just like me. Mrs. Diaz is proud of her family. She believes that she and her husband are responsible for the opportunities that their U.S. born grandchildren now have. Though they still don’t feel completely comfortable with the English language or with American customs, they know how much easier their grandchildren have it. Like me, they will have an advantage. Not held back by language or lack of education, and endowed with a rich history full of cultural traditions, we will transform the face of this nation.
"The New Colossus," Emma Lazarus’ poem enshrined at the base of the Statue of Liberty, reads:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Every immigrant has a story, whether they fled their native countries in response to war, religious or ethnic persecution, or poverty. There is no question that our current system of immigration is deeply flawed, and that there are fair, comprehensive solutions that respect both Americans and those who come here to find their piece of the American dream. It is not up to us to commandeer that lamp and close the door.
Illustration: Matt Bors
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