Students, faculty match as part of national protest

On Monday evening, a crowd of students marched through campus in white t-shirts, many of them chanting "S¡, se puede"-Spanish for "Yes, you can." This rally, sponsored by DePauw's Committee for Latino Concerns (CLC), occurred in conjunction with nationwide May Day protests against the federal bill, H.R. 4437, which proposes severe penalties for illegal immigrants. But for these students, raising awareness on campus was just as important as protesting nationally.

"We've been talking about doing something about this since the week before spring break," said junior Isabel Campos, president of CLC. "It took us a while to get organized and figure out exactly what we want to do. Since it is such a huge issue, it is hard to generalize and say we all feel this way."

Campos said the group decided to focus on discussion rather than a consensus.

"The biggest thing we wanted to come across is learning-learning what other peoples opinions are," she said.

Campos, along with four other members of CLC, attended the April 10 immigration protest in Indianapolis, Ind. The state protest, which drew a crowd of nearly 20,000 according to reports by the Indianapolis Star, influenced the groups decision to sponsor one on campus. It also influenced students' message-"S¡, se puede" was chanted at the state rally last month.

Nationally

The bill, H.R. 4437 or The Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, was passed by the House of Representatives on December 16, 2005. It is currently under review by the Senate.

Protests began as early as February 14, 2006, when 2,000 people gathered on Independence Mall in Philadelphia to rally against the legislation. From there, organizations like National Capital Immigrant Coalition, described as "a coalition of immigrant, labor, faith, civil rights and business community groups in the metro, Washington, D.C. area" on the group's web site, began planning national days of protest like the one on April 10: Day of Action, which took place in 102 cities across the country.

The issue has divided politicians across starkly drawn party lines, but for senior Leigh Suarez, the issue is much simpler than Democrats versus Republicans: He blames the United States' government in general.

"I just feel that immigration, especially from Mexico [to the] U.S. is caused by U.S. foreign policy," Suarez said. Suarez, who is from Mexico City, retains U.S. citizenship through his mother who is also a U.S. citizen. Having lived in Mexico until about five years ago when he moved to the States to continue his education, Suarez has witnessed first-hand the poverty that haunts Mexico and sends many Mexicans over the borders in search of jobs.

Because the Mexican government is in so much debt, "people are born into debt in Mexico," he said during the discussion. "It just makes me very angry that [these] policies are being passed [when] it's very obvious that immigration is good for this country and that people who are here from Mexico that became citizens earlier...aren't immigrants-they came here to work."

But what Suarez is most concerned about is that this bill will only take care of the symptoms and not the cause of immigration.

Internationally

Instructor of Modern Languages Alan Redick agreed.

"We should not look into the problem [of immigration], but the cause of the problem," he said during the discussion prior to the march.

Redick, who was born in Uruguay, has lived in Argentina, Brazil and other South American countries and has studied in Europe, provided a more global perspective on the issues surrounding immigration.

"All the first world countries are dealing with this," he said. "Germany, England, France and Spain have the same problem."

Redick thinks the current problem with immigration is beyond government concern.

"Right now I think that the problem is irrelevant in the terms of what the government is doing," he said. "The problem is a social issue in that we will always have this kind of problem if we have poor countries."

Redick said that on one hand, the Mexican government is criticizing the U.S. government, but the Mexican government is at fault as well. He said that Mexican citizens should not have to leave their country in order to make a living.

"You shouldn't go to your neighbor for food," he compared. "I don't think anyone wants to come here and work like a slave. The money these people are being paid is unacceptable.... The first world countries are growing, growing, growing and the problem is the distribution of wealth and the difference between the rich and the poor."

What concerns Redick most, however, is that the immigration laws under review may be nothing more than a quick fix to a larger problem. He feels that only global scrutiny can solve this growing international problem.

"If you take a partial solution it will always be a partial solution. This is something that world leaders have to get together and solve," he said. "This is a matter of human beings, not a matter of a nation.