By: Madison Schettler | Staffwriter
During this semester’s Multicultural Education Week, a panel on immigration titled Stranger in a Strange Land brought a large audience to Bazarsky lecture hall. The panelists represented a diverse range of experiences and knowledge on the topic of immigration, and their voices provided a constructive, well-rounded discussion on the issues that face the United States today.
Dr. Neary of Salve’s History Department moderated the event, and the panelists included Dr. Quinn also of Salve’s History Department; H. Jefferson Melisha of the Board of Directors of Rhode Island’s ACLU, Associate Professor of History Emerita at the University of Kentucky Dr. Joanne Melish, Roxana Mendez-Sola of Salve’s Housekeeping Staff, Assistant Attorney General of Rhode Island John Moreiera, Salve Regina Junior Tim Mentor, and Favianet Paulino who is a sophomore at Salve and the Vice President of the Black Student Union.
The topic of immigration is always a controversial one, but especially now in the midst of the midterm election cycle. As Dr. Neary pointed out, immigration is used in five times the amount of political advertising now than it was in 2014, and it’s used more in this election cycle than ever before. While it may seem that the controversy surrounding immigration is unique to this presidential administration, the historians on the panel were careful to point out that immigration has always been a topic of contention in the United States.
Dr. Quinn specifically pointed out the plight of Irish immigrants in the 19th century, who came fleeing suppression and violence, and were met with hostility, or the Chinese immigrants who came to the United States to reap the rewards of the Gold Rush, and were met with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. He also outlined the four main factors that impact how immigrants are welcomed into America. They are race, religion, size of immigrant group, and the state of the American economy at the time of immigration. Throughout history, it has been proven that the groups that struggle the most in their immigration to America are non-whites, non-protestants, larger groups, and groups that come at a time of economic hardship in the U.S.
The discussion then turned to illegal immigration, and Dr. Joanne Melish pointed out that being undocumented is not a crime-as many Americans may think it is-but rather it is a civil violation. Dr. Jeff Melish then described Rhode Island’s progressive position on immigration, which focuses on enforcing state law and not cooperating with ICE. This allows illegal immigrants in Rhode Island to feel safer when reporting crimes committed against them, which has become a major problem.
In many communities, immigrants feel unsafe calling the police even when they are victims of crimes, for fear of their citizenship status being exposed. This only serves to make unsafe areas even more dangerous for their residents, who essentially live in fear. Roxy was able to personally speak to this issue. She estimated that “90% of the Hispanic community doesn’t report crimes against them” out of fear for their own lives.
She recalled a time soon after she had immigrated to the U.S. when an intruder tried to break into her house multiple times. Instead of actually calling the police, Roxy made the decision to pretend she was calling in order to scare off the intruder, because she feared for the safety of herself and her family.
Tim expressed a similar mindset, when he described a habit he’s developed throughout his life of “minding [his] own business when it comes to crime, because [he knows] it won’t end well for [him]” if he were to get involved. These anecdotes speak to the everyday fears of the immigrant community in America.
Favianet encapsulated the fear all immigrants face when she explained that “No matter how long you’ve been here, no matter how long you’ve been a citizen, you still fear being deported. People are scared to talk about their past because of the fear of being seen as different, as an alien, and as someone that doesn’t belong. “I am seen as an outsider here even though this is where I’ve lived my whole life,” she says.
This fear and feeling of otherness is hard to fight and doesn’t go away. Tim described his experience of trying to assimilate into American culture when he moved here at age 7. He explained that even at such a young age, he knew that it would be easier to relate to his American friends and classmates by rejecting the “otherness” of being an immigrant, even though that meant rejecting parts of who he was. He added that trying hard to fit in and seem less like an immigrant made his transition into American life easier.
Despite the troubling facts, anecdotes and emotions shared by the panelists, overall this event aimed to spread empathy and positivity towards immigrants. Each panelist ended by sharing how they believe immigrants impact the United States. They all expressed how essential immigrants are, and always have been to the American economy and culture. Roxy’s final and emotional exclamation that “immigrants are here to stay” was met with applause and cheers from the crowd, demonstrating the support that this panel inspired among its audience.
