John Thompson writes about Oklahoma’s conflicting views about immigration. On one hand is strong anti-immigrant sentiment: on the other is the recognition that the state needs workers. He writes from his perspective as a teacher.
Oklahoma’s new anti-immigration law, HB 4156, “makes entering and remaining in Oklahoma a crime if a person entered the United States unlawfully.” As the Oklahoman reports, it makes:
“Impermissible occupation” as a first offense a misdemeanor punishable by a year in county jail and/or a maximum $500 fine.
Subsequent arrests will be felonies punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a maximum $1,000 fine. In both cases, offenders will be required to leave the state within 72 hours of their conviction or release from custody, whichever comes later.
The American Civil Liberties Union further explains that when state officers, who are unfamiliar with complex federal laws, take over the enforcement of those laws, racial profiling is likely for both immigrants to Oklahoma and travelers from other states.
In the wake of HB 4156, we must remember the lessons of recent history while fact-checking the propaganda that drove it. Around the turn of the century, an economist guiding the Oklahoma City MAPS for Kids process worried that because of the decline of White and Black student enrollment, it was already too late to save the Oklahoma City Public School System from financial collapse. And, as it turned out, the district survived because of immigration, which increased Hispanic enrollment from around 20% to becoming the majority of students.
Now, the OKCPS is more than 58% Hispanic, and that immigration is a part of the reason why Oklahoma City was 6th in nation’s urban population growth from 2010 to 2020. As the Oklahoma City’s Hispanic population became the fastest-growing demographic, increasing by 42% since 2010. As it grew to 21% of the city’s population, the state’s Hispanic residents grew to 490,000.
It also must be remembered that this growth occurred despite the anti-immigrant HB 1804 law of 2007 which “was considered the most far-reaching immigration law in the United States.” But it also cited far-right Republicans who opposed it. As business people found it impossible to fill their jobs, support for anti-immigrant legislation eventually declined.
Soon after the law was passed, one of my best students, an immigrant from Mexico, disappeared for several months. After returning, he said that his family was driving down a highway when they were stopped by a policeman, who said that he wouldn’t turn them over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if they got down on their knees and begged for mercy. My student said that the rest of his family complied, but they were still deported.
Then, a Black student with serious disabilities reached out, shook his hand, and borrowed words from the day’s lesson, “Welcome to Oklahoma.”
Many times I visited majority-Hispanic schools whose parking lots, due to HB 1804, were monitored by law enforcement officers who would arrest immigrants when they brought their kids to schools.
But many other times, I heard conservatives, and business leaders, express admiration for hard-working, families and push back against the law. As the Daily Oklahoman reported, “Critics contend HB 1804 is all talk and hate: a law with 24 provisions that’s neither slowed nor curbed undocumented workers from coming to the state.”
As immigration took off, I witnessed the way that “Hurt people hurt people.” Immigrant parents often told me that elementary schools were very welcoming, but problems occurred in high-challenge middle schools, as was true in my high school; it was mostly students who had endured multiple traumas who attacked immigrants. At first, I’d see shrinking convoys of Hispanic students rushing to classes with their heads down, seeking to avoid abuse by students who had Serious Emotional Disturbances (SEL).
I then witnessed inspiring leadership which transformed students’ attitudes. For example, due to false information being spread, fights between White and Black students were spreading across the entire John Marshall H.S. building and property. A Mexican-American linebacker took control, first by organizing the football team into peacemakers. The entire school then saw and admired the way he kept recruiting students of all races into calming classmates down.
I was also awed by the way that the immigrant ethic brought classroom learning to a higher level. It got to the point when I was guest-teaching middle schoolers and I teased them, “You aren’t 8th graders. I’ve never seen 8th graders like you. You must be seniors claiming to be in middle school.” The kids laughed, but we all recognized the truth expressed in such a statement.
After retiring, I came back to an alternative school for students with a felony rap (whether they earned it or not). We couldn’t be as open in discussing race and cultural backgrounds as in a regular class. So, a female student would discreetly visit me before class for in-depth discussions. One day I was saying, “The best thing I’ve seen in my adult lifetime was …” But then the class walked in and she rushed to her seat. The next day she came early and asked, “What was the best thing you’ve seen?” I replied, “This wave of Hispanic immigration!”
The student rushed to Hispanic young women and told them what I’d just said. They high-fived each other and shared my words with Black and White young ladies, who celebrated them, and then they shared them with Hispanic, Black and White guys. In one of my most wonderful experiences in the classroom, the entire classroom celebrated the accomplishments of immigrants.
Today we must also fact check the claims that drove the passage of HB 4156. A great source for truth-telling is a presentation by Edurne Pineda, the Head Consul for the Oklahoma City consulate of Mexico. She acknowledged that immigration is a complex issue, and there are negative situations that must be addressed. Controlling the border requires cooperation between American and Mexican authorities. And it is noteworthy that Mexico has around 15,000 more border agents than the U.S. And exports to Mexico support millions of American jobs.
But Ms. Pineda makes a powerful case for rejecting the false narratives behind the law, and for the positive effects of immigration, and how “Oklahoma’s future is closely intertwined” with its benefits. Only about 20% of today’s immigrants to America are from Mexico. But, she explains, almost 16% of U.S. commerce is with Mexico, as opposed to 11.3% with China. Moreover, undocumented immigrants contribute $13 billion per year for Social Security benefits that they can’t receive.
Fortunately, HB 4156 is likely to face legal challenges. Unfortunately, even though Oklahoma City’s Chief of Police Wade Gourley is seeking to minimize the harm, the law will promote racial stereotyping and deter immigrants from reporting crimes.
And the public needs to understand that immigrants are incarcerated at a rate that is 60% lower than for people born in the U.S. Moreover, over 49 years, only 9 immigrants attempted a terrorist attack; only 3, who were from Albania, crossed from the Mexican border.
Today’s question is whether Oklahomans will be influenced by facts, as well and common decency. Will we respond as we did after the 2007, and reject a law that was “all talk and hate?” Or has another two decades of propaganda permanently changed us? And will we take full advantage of the social and economic benefits that come from immigration?
Oklahoma’s new anti-immigration law, HB 4156, “makes entering and remaining in Oklahoma a crime if a person entered the United States unlawfully.”
One point I find myself making over and over is that most migrants present in the US today are lawfully present. If they’ve sought out Border Patrol and presented themselves, as do most people, Homeland Security has their identification, biometrics and address. They are awaiting a decision on status. Speeding up that process requires personnel, which the GOP refuses to fund because they prefer immigration remain a problem.
In my 36 years teaching middle and high school, I always had immigrant Latinx kids and my experience mirrored John’s. One young man explained that Latinx kids are natural peacemakers because, “Missy, right in our families we are all colors.”
Right now, I am reading Everyone Who is Gone is Here by Jonathan Blitzer. It is an enraging and indispensable book. I am familiar with much of what he writes about because these were the lives my students lived from the 70’s on. I find I need to put it down and go out to chop weeds in the garden so I can process what havoc our politics have wrought on our neighbors in this hemisphere. Carry a big stick indeed.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145624514-everyone-who-is-gone-is-here
All of The South is contending with the their tendency to exclude those that are different and their insatiable appetite for cheap labor. Their exclusionary policies are designed to appeal to their right wing extremist base. However, sometimes the biased laws are rarely enforced. Florida announced its restrictive laws with a great flourish and media coverage while Latinos remain working in the building and hospitality trades. I am sure some families have fled to find more secure opportunities, but there are still many Central Americans working in Florida.
I recently read a story in the Wall Street Journal about West Virginia’s hostility to immigrants. Its population is 1% foreign born, yet people think “they” are coming to W Va in droves. There is a huge shortage of labor in the state.
A preview of the future:
For all Blue state citizens, Red states will make it illegal to cross their borders unless Blue state citizens get a special visa first that may never arrive. Applications must be sent to Mar-a-Lago, Florida with a $500 processing fee.
If caught entering a Red state from a Blue state without one of those special visas, those illegal immigrants from Blue states will be deported to Russia if they are white, Africa if they are black, and south of the border if they are brown. Anyone that looks Asian will be deported to North Korea.
The only exceptions from Blue states will be white US citizens who are Christian Nationalists. Proof of religion will be a signed Trump Bible in the vehicle, and they also must be card-carrying members of the NRA with weapons and ammo in the car while also wearing MAGA merch and flying a Trump flag from an antenna attached to their vehicles.
Good one, Lloyd.
Where are the anti-immigration trolls today? Do the Repugnican Party and the various organizations in the Repugnican Oligarchical Propaganda machine give them Memorial weekend off?
Florida and Texas both passed a law barring heat and water breaks for workers. Both states have sweltering temperatures and anti-immigrant leadership. Both states are led by such good, “pro-life” Christians that have no problem embracing the inhumane treatment of workers.
I wrote when this passed in Florida that the legislation will kill people. But our governor and legislators don’t seem to think that farm laborers and roofers and construction workers are people.
This is so abominable. It’s a death sentence for workers in the heat in these states. PEOPLE WILL DIE BECAUSE OF THIS. But it will be poor and working-class people, so the honchos don’t give a rat’s tushy.
RT,
Please remember that pro-life zealots care only about the unborn.
Once you are born, they don’t care about your life.