Asian and Latino Exclusion Act of 2007 and Women

Another response to my post last week regarding the Asian and Latino Exclusion Act of 2007:

Hola Bill,

I am furious with this immigration reform plan for several reasons many of which you mentioned in your e-mail, but also because it is more than obvious to me that the U.S. nation-state gives itself the power to select not only who may be an “acceptable” immigrant, but worse, who has no value as a member of a family unit. In other words, the state throughout history has defined family as the nucleus of society as the pillar of a social system that works to the advantage of the “whole.” Again, like with the Programa Bracero where the Mexican nation-state was in compliance with the racist, classist and sexist processes to export Mexican labor to the U.S., there is a clear example of how the nation state has decided which families are not worth of participating in the polity of a society or worse in contributing to a society by participating as a family – and therefore deemed to be good candidates for  familial dislocation. Furthermore, with the Bracero Program the idea established was that men were workers but their female counterparts were either whores and prostitutes or dangerous breeding nucleus for transnational communities. This extraordinary sexist and overtly arrogant attitude from the U.S. – and Mexico as well – again comes back in the 21st century with a plan that, as you very well put it might as well be called the Latino and Asian Exclusion Act of 2007.

Engendering the importation of labor to the United States again to meet labor demands underlines the slave-owner mentality that allots no value whatsoever to the “Other’s family.” Just like with the Bracero Program, where neither the U.S. nor Mexico showed one iota of interest in finding out what happened to the families of braceros when mostly heads of households were extrapolated and imported to the United States. Mexico did not establish any kind of public services to mitigate the economic blow to Mexican women left behind to do most of their female-appropriate labor plus their male counterparts’ labor in order to maintain their families afloat while their Mexican fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons ventured to the other side of the Rio Grande. Even with an “organized” structure for importation and exportation of labor, braceros on average, did not begin to send checks to their families until two months sometimes up to six months into their contracts. Most of these delays were due to the mismanagement and corruption embedded from the beginning in the program but mostly due to constant violations to their contracts by employers who mostly disregarded the stipulations of their contracts such as covering their traveling costs to the agricultural fields, food and lodging once they arrived to their destinations. Employers also more often than not would not comply with the arranged number of hours and payment. Many braceros would not get paid their hourly payment during rainy seasons for example or for various justified techniques of exploitation– even though the salary per hour was set, employers would find dirty and deceitful ways to not pay the full amount such as withholding from their paychecks up to $1.00 for blankets that when they left they had to leave behind, a few more dollars for their “savings,” and some even withheld payment for braceros for their “retirement funds” when they knew that the braceros were there temporarily – or so was the goal of the program. Again the ultra-arrogance of this rogue state is evident when we become aware of who – in the eyes of the state – is deemed worth of being recognized as a family. Needless to say, the complete disregard of a member of a family as a member of a family with emotional and economic attachments to their loved ones only demonstrates again the overt racism, classism and sexism of the nation-state toward peoples who according to their legislation and discourse, have no value as husbands, brothers, sons, wives, mothers, daughters… but only as exploitable dehumanized and faceless beings.

Unfortunately, one more time, legislation toward immigration in this country will affect the most vulnerable and the least worth in the eyes of both states – women of color.

Saludos,

Dr. Luz María Gordillo
Assistant Professor
Department of Women’s Studies
Washington State University Vancouver
14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue
Vancouver, WA 98686-9600

bh