Immigration Resources

We often hear, “I am for immigration, I just want people to come here legally.” Who could disagree with that? Certainly not us. At least not until we read Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario.

In this remarkable story, Nazario recounts the 3,000-mile journey of 17-year-old Enrique from Honduras to the US in search of his mother. As a single mother unable to support her two children in Honduras, his mother Lourdes came to the US so that she could send money home for her children’s support, while they lived with their grandmother. Missing his mother, and having no apparent opportunity to make a living and survive himself, Enrique experienced the desperation and absence of downside that millions of children experience throughout Latin America. How else could one explain the logic of undertaking such a journey? A journey begun with no money. A journey begun with only a piece of paper with his mother’s phone number. A journey clinging to the top and sides of freight cars, eluding gangs, police, and bandits, not to mention starvation and dehydration.

Enrique’s Journey provides riveting insight into the plight of millions of Latin Americans, thousands of whom choose to undertake the illegal journey to the US in search of a better life.  

So let’s now return to our original view that we would prefer that all immigrants enter legally and examine it in the context of Enrique’s Journey. Without question, the wealthy student from China or India can afford the process of making a legal application for a student visa. Others can use their US family connections to enter the country, an application process that takes means on both sides of the ocean, and so forth. None of these options is available to the Enriques of the world. In our quest for “legal immigration” are we prepared to leave all of the Enriques out? Could we not afford to allow a manageable number of folks like Enrique to enter “legally” by presenting themselves at a port of entry and making application at that point? Sound unreasonable? Think again.

Between 1892 and 1954, 12 million immigrants entered the US through Ellis Island. Millions more entered other ports of entry like Boston, San Francisco, and Miami. Not one of them had any prior approval to present themselves at the border. In fact, those in first- and second-class accommodations were allowed to enter with nothing but a cursory inspection. Those who were less fortunate and arrived in steerage had a higher hurdle, including a physical exam and legal inspection.

Of course things have changed since then. The cost of supporting an immigrant unable to immediately support him- or herself is higher today than it was then. Nonetheless, surely we can afford to assist some of the world’s neediest who want the opportunity that we were born to. The number may not be 12 million, but it shouldn’t be zero either.