Episode 3: "Mass Deportation pt. 1"
My thoughts scream, my heart hurts.
This recording does NOT include audio of children screaming from cages. Think about what it means that I had to tell you that.
This is the first of what is likely to be a series on the incredibly fraught notion of mass deportation, I offer the some thoughts, then where my own are still yet unfocused, I defer to the voices of expertise, even some who will be the engineers of the next horrific period in civil rights history. They are not shy.
My Father asked me, shortly after the election, "So are you afraid you'll be deported"
My Mother said, "Don't be ridiculous, you are an American, and you shouldn't have to worry about being deported." She continued, "I'm all for building the wall. If you can't cross legally than you shouldn't be here" She recounted a story from my childhood, where someone had asked her why her kids didn't learn Spanish, receive instruction in primarily Spanish classes, and benefit from the free lunches that allegedly went with that. Her response went, "I'm sorry but I'm not all about that life. I don't need handouts just because of my race… I work for what I want, I don't just sit back and wait for someone to give it to me."
My family, like many others, is a patchwork of different lineages, a gumbo pot in the local vernacular. It actually gets complicated to answer the question of which side of the border we originated from, because while most of the birth records are local to a relative area, that area includes the US, the Republic of Texas, Mexico, France and Spain… without leaving el rancho. We are probably not the only family able to joke about the fact that we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us.
A casual study by 23&me suggests that my own heritage is around 55% Iberian Spanish, 35% Indigenous North American, and a hodge podge of other ethnic identities. As a citable source who is also credited with attempts to classify dog DNA by human phenotype, you can take that or leave it. It's also worth noting that the ethnic identities concept as it applies to classifications like, hispanic, chicano, or latinx, are a WHOLE other topic, which will probably get its own show in this series.
I told my parents, "Honestly no. I'm worried I'm going to watch a friend get deported. I'm worried I will find out it "accidentally" happened to a family member who then needed multiple acts of heroism to validate that they were a citizen in order to be allowed back."
My parents have undoubtedly worked hard for their status. Dad served in the military, attended a trade school, and has spent his career so far working for relatively few companies, building a legacy with his job that I imagine he will retire from, with full distinction of decades of proud service in his trade. Mom as well has a career in a trade she's passionate about, and even as a homemaker, worked hard to ensure her kids had everything that could help them grow into successful adults, supplementing from public libraries when public education fell short in her eyes. Their parents built successful legacies as well, contributing to buildings like the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston. I was raised in Texas as a proud citizen of where I grew up, so much so that I was reluctant to give up my Texas Driver's license after moving to and through several states, only finally doing so when it eventually expired… My family has undeniably benefited from the privileges of US citizenship, But the thing we have to be mindful about, is that this isn't about us… YET… We are the ones whose privilege affords us the clearest voices on the matter, regardless of how we use them. Therein lies a responsibility that, if shirked, stands a real chance of undermining our own status.
This is where the concept of Mass Deportation comes in. This is one of the most charged pieces of rhetoric that came out of the Trump Campaign, and one that will be floating across a lot of tables this holiday season. As a basic premise, I do understand that if you are listening to my voice right now, I probably don't need to tell you what mass deportation means, or why it doesn't align with the morals that people like pointing out as "fundamental to our nation." As I put together this content, I have been recognizing that these are hard conversations to have, and as much as this is going to be a harder pill to swallow, we don't get to opt out. I will identify with the summation of evidence that seems to suggest that silence on these issues is complicity. The group of people increasingly holding the reins of power in this country appear to be the same ones who justified mischief as children with lines like, "Well you never said I couldn't" So when we back down from having these conversations just to keep the peace, here is live audio of what people are hearing.
<audio = I will vote for trump, from "Trump Song">
I know what you're thinking, Oh My God, someone recorded that… It seems worthwhile that when Los 3 de Habana recorded that song and a whole album of others like it in 2020, Trump WAS the sitting US president. While there would have been many reasons not to support him then, one of the facets of "assimilation culture" holds that fealty to the ruling governance is something of a requirement. Did the same band then go on to record a similar catchy tune for the following president? OOPS, nope, they maybe didn't get the memo about free and fair elections… Honestly, I didn't listen to their single from September of this year, but it seems notable that while the 2020 version includes his full name, they abbreviated it in the latter recording as simply "dt"
The goal of this episode, and likely of most future episodes, is to equip folks with the tools to approach those conversations with family and friends with verifiable facts, and to be familiar enough with those to deliver them without losing your cool. This is fundamental. I believe it IS still possible to reach people, even if it doesn't feel like it, but when tensions get heated, that opportunity boils away. So, the matra here is "You Rage, You Lose" and unfortunately the stakes are so high right now that losing one's temper while discussing these things with the people we love can threaten our relationships with them, while also furthering the division on the national stage that is eroding our democracy. In some families, this is going to be tantamount to filing our own deportation warrants.
My mother might cheer for the wall, and feel justified in the security of the law to protect her from what she might call free-loaders. There is defensible rhetoric there, at face value, and I want to validate the credible fear here. So-called "freeloaders" are often depicted as a drain on society, and yet that posture simply isn't supported by anything verifiable. In fact, the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy issued a report in July this year which found that "Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022," at a rate that averaged out to about $8889 per person… Of course that might not sound like much, if you are thinking about the tens of thousands of dollars you might have paid on your income taxes, but recognize that the vast majority of Immigrant workers are working jobs that pay poverty wages, and aren't necessarily entitled to a return. In fact, more than a third of those tax dollars contribute to Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment insurance, programs that they are legally ineligible to receive ANY benefit from, which seems like the exact opposite of the continued accusations that they are taking more than their fair share of… oh yeah, the reality also includes that many undocumented folks don't claim even the refunds they might be eligible for due to lack of awareness, insufficient access to professional help, and the fact that filing any more paperwork just provides some authority more information to threaten their ability to be here at all. Even where people claim, "well, they are obviously just working for cash under the table, and there's no tax on that" Fun story though, States and local authorities collect sales tax on transactions at all places of commerce, indiscriminately. When we file our tax returns, one of the credits we receive is based on an assumption of sales tax paid. An individual not filing a return is hardly able to opt out of sales tax, and unable to collect a credit. Speaking of fair shares, the report I am citing here goes on to say that in over 40 states, Undocumented immigrants pay higher rates on income taxes than the top 1% of households in the same states, often due to laws that require higher rates and fewer options at tax credits…
Even if it there was some credibility to opportunists gaming the American tax system, how is the solution found in presenting a felon a literal "get out of jail free" card in the form of a national ballot, to give him license to defend that law, he who would brag about never having soiled his hands with a day's honest work? The man has 34 felonies for violations of fiscal law, and those are just the convictions that have been in the news. It was also revealed in 2022 that he paid just $750 in taxes to this country, in years he paid them at all. The logic that he gets a pass because he's the president doesn't seem to apply here, given that that trend in his tax history precedes his time in office, and if there is an aspirational thing about "living an American dream to be so rich you too can avoid paying taxes," then perhaps it's time for a news flash that most Americans, documented or not, are one to three bad months away from being homeless, and nowhere remotely close to being a billionaire, or even a millionaire.
I remember sharing the opinion that people should earn their privilege to benefit from the social safety net. I have since learned to reconsider what a social safety net is for. I have also learned that there is a bigger picture to consider about what brings people to endure horrific journeys across perilous lands to arrive on the shores of the country where Emma Lazarus's sonnet beckons the most humble to seek shelter here. I personally would happily by school-children a lunch, and do have personal history of providing the occasional meal for my own students. I don't intend that as any sort of brag, as much as a validation when I say that I feel MUCH better about children having lunches than I do about my tax money being spent to offset a wealthy person playing roulette with our nation's economy, or sending bombs just about anywhere.
So the "concern" about migrants regarding social safety net programs, and costing taxpayers money, just doesn’t have a leg to stand on. But don't take my word for it. I'm going to play a little music, then we'll hear from Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, in an interview with Amanpour and Company back in October of this year, talking about the American Immigration Council's estimate of the costs of a Mass Deportation Program.
This is 102.3 FM, WHIV-LP, and if you are just joining us, you missed my own rant on the topic of Mass Deportation, but are just in time for a clip originally aired on PBS stations as a part of the show Amanpour and Company, where Aaron Reichlin-Melnick walks through the numbers of what the American Immigration Council's estimates would be the costs of a Mass Deportation Program.
And that's really what it boils down to, here.
When I was a child, my mother sought to empower my young mind, and still has little idea of how successful she was.
If I asked for the spelling of a word, she invariably would spell the word "dictionary," and I would be forced to the book. Now when I hear that my neighbor is a threat to the national economy, I did the bare minimum of googling, and found who the real threat is. I am no genius, and it doesn't take one to recognize the cognitive dissonance in considering a whole person, or a whole group of people- illegal just for being here, while blocking the very path that they might have used to "come correct." Thinking of books, Christians love quoting the bible as a source of rhetoric to demonize and dehumanize the people they might otherwise be learning to love. If anyone needs a free lunch, I've got at least one of those to spare. But I have no interest in supporting racist ideologies that would pit cousins verses primos.
I welcome you to join me in sharing lunch, but also skills and ideas and other forms of mutual aid as we explore how to actively do good as resistance against hate.
As for me,
I'll be doing whatever I can. For now, I know I can use my voice to reach out, and some of it will sound like screaming into the void. Initially, I know I cannot remain silent as hate and chaos grow. But I also hope to empower people, amplify the marginalized voices, and offer the skills I have to projects that help bring the future we all want to be living in.
My name is Jose, and I am human, lifting my voice for human rights.
This episode features excerpts from several interviews:
”60 Minutes: on Mass Deportation” by Andy Court, Annabelle Hanflig, and Camilo Montoya-Galvez
“The Costs of Mass Deportation?“ Amanpour and Company, with Hari Sreenivasan and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
"Communities Were Destroyed" Democracy NOW! featuring Ana Raquel Minian
As well as music:
Los 3 de Habana - I will vote for Donald Trump
Pescador, by Wit’s End Brass Band
Theme:
Bad Hombres, by Doombalaya