The Immigrant Divide: Are Some Immigrants Tolerated While Others Targeted?

I have written about this in the recent past and will likely write about it again soon because it is SO IMPORTANT. It’s crucial that we understand what’s going on and why, rather than just follow the rhetoric of politicians who only want to get us angry enough about something so they can have our votes in November and beyond.

So…earlier this week, my colleague Robert Rooks and I wrote a piece for the Grio (theGrio.com) about a case of serial stabbings that started in Flint, Michigan where a white man was roaming town targeting African American males. For three months this had been going on without much ado from national media and no major alerts put out to warn the community about protecting themselves. Later we learned that he’s a suspect in Virginia and Ohio as well. Yesterday, an Israeli national, Elias Abuelazma, was picked up and charged with the Michigan stabbings and is currently being investigated for the incidents in other states.

I was waiting for my friends and contacts who so avidly support the new wave of anti-immigrant policies that are sweeping our nation to pick up this cause and add it to their list of why immigrants are bad for this country. But not a peep. I don’t get it; if the argument is that immigrant communities contribute to more crime and create terror and unsafe conditions here in the U.S. then what more do we want than a citizen of another country having stabbed 18 residents in 3 states across America. (Think about what the reaction would have been if this guy was an Arab, Iranian, Iraqi, or Afghani…just think!)

Let’s assume he wasn’t “undocumented,” – sine that’s the new target of the anti-immigrant movement, though nobody has discussed having checked his papers, but still. Here’s a clear case of violence by a non-citizen immigrant in the U.S., and unlike all the abstract talk about immigrant communities creating more crime, this was a real case.

The reality is that immigrant communities do not engage in more crime, most do work and contribute to society, and they come here because we hire them. They come here for a better life, for work, to reunite with their family, and because America promises them equality.

These are the majority of reasons why we all came here…and I mean WE ALL – because as I always say, unless you are a Native American, you are here because you are an immigrant or your parents or grandparents were. So let’s realize and accept this anti-immigrant fervor for what it really is:

1) Bait used by politicians to stir up emotions and win votes
2) A scapegoat for all the economic and social ills that we are not willing to invest in fixing
3) And yes, in some cases, racial animosity in one of its ugliest forms - because let's face it, white immigrants are usually safe

The best way to keep a society calm and keep the status quo in place is to divide and pit people against each other. And believe you me, if you think you and I are safe because the focus seems to be on the Latino and “other” brown communities for now, just wait. Who do you think is going to be the next target once things heat up with Iran, as the current course of events guarantees will happen? We didn’t learn our lesson right after 9/11, but it’s not too late.

The time is ripe to destroy the walls that have been put up between immigrant communities and realize that unless we work together to keep all of our communities safe we are all sure to be future targets of anti-immigrant fervor. That is a promise that U.S. history guarantees.

Lucky for us, the U.S. Constitution guarantees a path to change that history and follow a new direction. But we must be willing to work for it; we must be willing to work for it together.