Who do you think of when you bite into an apple? Probably not the undocumented immigrant who may have picked it. A recent guest speaker at a United Common Ground event said undocumented immigrants have a lot more to do with your produce than you might think.
On Oct. 2, filmmaker and lecturer Jesus Nebot came to Madison College’s downtown campus to speak about illegal immigration in the United States.
United Common Ground, an organization that focuses on cultural issues here at Madison College, sets up many events on campus, events such as guest speakers, in hopes of educating the students on a wide variety of issues. The organization is dedicated to educating students about diversity and unity.
“There are many things that United Common Ground really strives toward, to educate our college campus and the students around to the things that are happening right here,” said Susanna Valtierra, the advisor for United Common Ground.
Nebot, an immigrant from Spain himself, produced a film in 2003 called, “No Turning Back.” The movie dealt with an undocumented immigrant from Honduras. The film is not based on Nebot’s immigration story, but shows some of the hardships that undocumented immigrants face. Since making this film, Nebot has been traveling all over the country, educating people about illegal immigration.
“I can talk from the perspective of somebody who has been in the shoes of an undocumented immigrant and also from the perspective of somebody who has been lucky enough to be integrated into American society,” Nebot said.
Nebot said there are a lot of misconceptions about illegal immigration in the U.S.
“This creates a level of animosity towards the illegal immigrants and to that extent, it creates a separation,” Nebot said. “(These misconceptions) do not allow us to sympathize with their plight as immigrants as people that are just doing their best to provide for their own families.”
Nebot said his goal is to raise the awareness of illegal immigration. He intends to demonstrate that there are many possible solutions to this big problem that we face. Nebot said that in the United States the problem is being dealt with from a legal, limited and narrow perspective.
By only viewing this issue from a legal perspective, we fail to see the whole picture, Nebot said.
“I feel a lot of people have a misunderstanding as far as what is the contribution or the cost of immigrants in our country,” he said.
Nebot argues that the issue can be addressed from a more humanitarian perspective, people can come up with solutions that are humanitarian in nature, but also good for the culture’s social and economic fabric.
A big portion of Nebot’s lecture focused on how undocumented immigrants, living and working in this country, are actually contributing greatly to our economy. The first point Nebot makes is that undocumented immigrants are taking jobs that most U.S. citizens don’t want and they are working for very little pay.
“This situation allows us to have this lifestyle where we get to buy goods cheap, produce like tomatoes (and) lettuce,” Nebot said.
Nebot also made the point that undocumented immigrants are paying taxes, just like citizens do. Using fake social security numbers or individual tax identification numbers, with every paycheck, undocumented immigrants are paying taxes. The only difference is they aren’t getting any tax or social security money back. This means that undocumented immigrants end up paying more taxes.
“They contribute greatly with taxes and overall, the contribution is greater than the cost to us,” he said.
Nebot said he believes the typical view on illegal immigration is failing society. He says, “We have not been addressing it from a wider perspective, from an economic frame, where we can see their contribution or from a humanitarian frame where we can see immigration, worldwide as a real crisis to which we are all contributing,” Nebot said.
Nebot says that in order to find a humanitarian solution, we must first figure out why people come here. Nebot said the majority of people come to the U.S., come for economic reasons so the economic displacement can be traced back to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.
He said NAFTA eliminated tariffs and barriers, so that we can enter into this globalized understanding, so goods can be sold in North America, enabling U.S. corporations to sell goods in other countries.
“There are huge corporations here in the U.S. that have a lot of money, they can now benefit from this, they have no tariffs.” These corporations sell goods in other North American countries for much cheaper than the local product. Nebot gives the example of corn being sold by a rich U.S. corporation in Mexico for much cheaper than the local farmers. They are then forced to go to the U.S. in order to find some other means of income. Nebot says, “They are so desperate to come here, they are willing to risk their lives.”
Nebot offers many possible solutions to the problem of illegal immigration. He said getting at the root of the problem will have more long lasting solutions.
“We can take responsibility and look for solutions with other countries that will allow us to help those people to stay home,” Nebot said. “That is actually what they would like – to have a chance to work back home where they have their culture, their language, and not necessarily come here because they are displaced by our globalization policies.”
Nebot said there are political steps that could be taken to greatly improve the situation but he emphasizes that no matter who you are, you can make this situation better on a daily basis because no matter what is done on a political level to have a better connection with people from all walks of life, legal or not legal, will help society come closer together.
“I hope that the new generation that is inheriting this big problem will have a better way to address and implement more long lasting and effective solutions,” he said. “We are powerfully interconnected as human beings that beyond being American, or Democrat, Republican, legal, or illegal, we are all human beings; that is the most fundamental truth.”