2013-05-19T12:34:08-04:00 Juan Escalante http://www.voces.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=juan-escalante Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Juan Escalante Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1511327 2012-05-13T07:00:00-04:00 2012-07-13T05:12:19-04:00

Juan Escalante http://www.huffingtonpost.com/juan-escalante/
Mi madre es hija de inmigrantes ecuatorianos que llegaron a Venezuela en busca de un cambio de vida. Después de vivir en Venezuela una gran parte de su vida, mi madre siguió los pasos de sus padres y buscó una mejor vida para sus hijos en los Estados Unidos y aunque ella no lo crea y a pesar de las dificultades que mi familia todavía enfrenta, esa ha sido una de las mejores decisiones de su vida.

Mi madre, como yo, es indocumentada. Esto es algo que ella tal vez no le contaría a nadie recién conocido, ya que todavía se enfrenta con el miedo de ser deportada, pero es una realidad que la ha moldeado en la mujer que ella hoy es.

Desde un comienzo, mi madre plantó sus dos pies firmes en el suelo, determinada a que su visión para un mejor futuro para sus hijos se hiciera realidad. Muchas noches, cuando no alcanzaba el dinero, mi madre dejó de comer para asegurarse que la comida alcanzara para nosotros. Cuando no hubo trabajo, mi madre se aseguró de aprovechar todas las oportunidades posibles para que no nos faltara nada. En los días que yo no quería ir a la escuela, mi madre me insistía en la importancia de adquirir una educación y, cansada o no, se levantaba todas la mañanas a cocinarme el desayuno, todo esto mientras trabajaba en varios lugares, mientras mantenía la casa corriendo, mientras temía que el estatus legal de sus hijos los limitara. Nunca hubo una queja, nunca hubo un reclamo -mi madre siempre mantuvo su cabeza en alto- y aún cuando su temor a ser deportada nunca la deja, yo me enorgullezco de saber de qué tengo a una persona fuerte y dedicada detrás de mí, una persona que ha sacrificado más de lo que yo podría pedir, una persona a la que admiro y quiero.

Es por esto mismo, que cuando los políticos dicen que la culpa de porque hay jóvenes indocumentados en este país es la de los padres, yo alzo la mano.

Ni mi madre, ni mi padre, tienen culpa de nuestra situación legal. Tampoco tienen culpa de querer una mejor vida para sus hijos, y mucho menos por el sistema migratorio de este país - el cual destruye familias a diario-. La única culpa que mi madre carga, es esforzarse cada día para asegurarse de que su decisión sea válida en su mente. De que su trabajo y sacrificio sea validado de una forma u otra.

¿Cuántas lagrimas no ha derramado mi madre por no poder visitar a su familia en Venezuela? ¿Cuánto añora mi madre ver a todos sus hijos graduados, con sus vidas hechas? ¿Cuánto dolor siente una madre por no poder reportar los crímenes a los que se somete, o los que observa?

En este día de las madres, quiero expresar mi reconocimiento a una de las personas que me ha empujado a ser quien soy yo hoy en día. Mi madre nunca ha dudado de mí y, como muchas otras madres que trabajan duro para mantener su familia unida sin importar su estatus legal, mi madre siempre me ha dicho que lo yo me ponga como objetivo en la vida lo lograré alcanzar.

Si eres madre inmigrante y estás leyendo esto, quiero que sepas que la preocupación, la angustia, y el desespero es temporal. Todo va pasando, y hay muchas personas quien valora tu trabajo, tu actitud, y tú ser. Y aunque no lo creas, tus hijos te agradecen por la oportunidad que le has brindado, de una vida segura con posibilidades, que aunque se vean limitadas a tiempos, les ensenaran como valorar la familia y lo que se les ha ofrecido durante su vida.

A todas las madres o figuras maternas, que hayan migrado por sus hijos o familia, las felicito, ya que ser madre es una jornada en sí misma, pero ser madre inmigrante es un tema totalmente diferente. A las madres se las respeta, pero a las madres inmigrantes se las admira.

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Juan Escalante es un activista politico, quien se enfoca en temas migratorios y colabora para lo organización DreamActivist.org. Escalante es un recien graduado de Florida State University, donde estudio Ciencias Politicas y Relaciones Internacionales. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1416789 2012-04-11T07:09:34-04:00 2012-06-11T05:12:02-04:00

Juan Escalante http://www.huffingtonpost.com/juan-escalante/
The Sunshine state is currently battling against the construction of one of the nation's largest immigration detention facilities, one that ironically has the support from two federal DREAM Act supporters, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL).

We have Representative David Rivera (R-FL), a man who saw an opportunity to introduce the current Republican Party into the immigration reform battlefield by introducing the STARS and ARMS Acts. Rivera's attempts at promoting both pieces of legislation have received generally bad reviews, however one should always look at both sides of the coin before drawing any conclusions.

Now we have Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a man who is not only rumored to be a potential Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, but who is also crafting the Republican counterpart of the popular DREAM Act.

In a recent interview with Fox News Latino, Senator Rubio stated that while he literally supports the "concept" that the DREAM Act represents, he himself opposes such a measure and instead is putting forth his own version of the bill. Similarly, Republicans Senators Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX).

What is interesting here is the fact that Republicans are willing to mobilize on an election year in order to prop up "solutions" to the broken immigration system; and particularly, solutions that cater to the undocumented youth segment of the immigrant community that currently exists within this country.

Why is this happening all out of the sudden? Well, this could be a political ploy in order to court the growing Latino voting block across our nation, or perhaps is a way for (as Senator Rubio would hope) for the Republican Party to ease itself into being the party of pro-legal immigration.

Whatever the case may be, both parties are failing at recognizing the key issues at hand, and it has nothing to do with the broken immigration system, but rather it has to do with people's lives.

Florida is a clear example of that.

How is the Democratic Party supposed to advocate for the DREAM Act, when two of its leading members are allowing, and practically advocating, for a corporation with a questionable track record to build another detention facility in our state.

Better yet, can and should the immigrant community take any immigration proposal coming from the Republican Party seriously. After all, the Republican Party has been infamous in the last couple of years for opposing any common sense reform to the immigration system.

This political pandering is not helpful, and I can clearly say that the Latino and immigrant communities are quite sick of partisan games. We are not game pieces, and we are certainly not blind sheep who can be bought with fictional promises of legislation that has yet to pass. We are human beings and we live our lives day by day, along with our families, waiting for a solution that can resolve our troubled circumstances.

Democrats like Senator Nelson and Representative Wasserman Schultz need to stand up for the immigrant community of Florida. They are not doing us any favors by supporting a prison that their constituents, and a lot of other people across the state, clearly do not want.

On the flip side, Republicans like Senator Rubio and Representative Rivera are also failing us. While it is great to see some headway from the Republican Party on this sensitive issue, they are only splitting hairs and pointing fingers rather than collaborating with their counterparts.

I think Senator Olympia Snowe best illustrated the partisan issue in her retirement announcement:

"For change to occur, our leaders must understand that there is not only strength in compromise, courage in conciliation and honor in consensus-building -- but also a political reward for following these tenets. "

While Senator Snowe voted against the DREAM Act the last time around, she is somebody whose opinions I can respect. She gets it, there must be a compromise struck between all parties involved within the immigration issue: Democrats, Republicans, and immigrant advocates.

Our lives, my life, cannot continue to be put on hold, and our communities cannot continue to be criminalized by mere fractures within our political system. Notice that I say our, because despite the fact that I am undocumented, I still consider this my country.

Democrats and Republicans from this state need to stop treating the immigration issue as a political game for the sake of furthering their political ambitions; instead, they should invoke a concept that has been attached to the DREAM Act since its inception, but has vanished in recent years: bi-partisanship. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1371402 2012-03-23T08:53:13-04:00 2012-05-23T05:12:01-04:00

Juan Escalante http://www.huffingtonpost.com/juan-escalante/ announced that "self-deportation" would be a part of his immigration policy -- a position that has earned him much criticism and continues to haunt him to this day.

It also eclipsed something Newt Gingrich said.

While both candidates oppose any sort of reform to our broken immigration system; and they certainly do not champion passage of the federal DREAM Act, Gingrich threw his support behind a pathway for undocumented youth to obtain legal status should they enlist in the military.

And it wasn't long until somebody tried to make headway on Gingrich's proposal. The day after that debate, a bill matching Gingrich's description was filed in Congress by Congressman David Rivera (R-FL): the Adjusted Residency for Military Service (ARMS) Act.

The rationale? After filing the bill, Congressman Rivera said: "If these young people are willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America."

This military option garnered few supporters from the pro-immigration reform community. And so far, the ARMS Act has only one co-sponsor in the House of Representatives.

But even Daniela Pelaez -- the undocumented Floridian high school valedictorian whose deportation sparked protest and was eventually granted a reprieve -- has expressed her doubts on the passage of the federal DREAM Act.

After meeting with several representatives from the state of Florida, Pelaez had the opportunity to sit down with her Congressman: David Rivera. And after hearing her story, Rivera announced that he would be introducing the Studying Towards Adjusted Residency Status (STARS) Act.

This bill, which has yet to be filled in Congress, is reported to allow undocumented students who arrived before the age of 18, maintained good moral character, graduated from high school, and are planning to attend an institution of higher education, to adjust their immigration status after a 10 year period in which they must maintain and complete the requirements stated by the bill.

It is a bill Pelaez helped write and called a starting point.

Currently the DREAM Act is stalled in Congress; specifically in the Republican controlled House. And perhaps, proposals like the ARMS and STARS Acts are the appropriate measures to start conversations on both sides of the aisle.

Opposing either of these pieces of legislation is of poor judgment for any pro-migrant organization out there, especially when it comes to declaring opposition to a piece of legislation that we have yet to see the full text of.

If this is an opportunity for the immigrant community to benefit from, why are pro-migrant advocates getting so wound up?

Instead of nitpicking these bills, advocates should utilize them in order to leverage the Republican Party to put forth a sensible and comprehensive proposal that may solve the plight of millions of undocumented students across the country. One that can, perhaps, even borrow elements of the DREAM Act and actually have a decent shot at passing through our convoluted political system.

Congressman Rivera may be an opportunist for filling these bills so quickly, but he has put forth viable solutions for the immigrant community to consider instead of using the DREAM Act to further wedge a gap between political parties.

And for attempting to introduce proposals to draw the support of his party, a base that has consistently remained in opposition to the DREAM Act, he is an individual who should be thanked, not harped on.

Why shut the door or him?

The STARS and ARMS Acts may not see the light of day in Congress, but as time continues to pass for the ten year-old DREAM Act, maybe it is time that we start considering some different approaches as to how to solve the plight of undocumented students.

Let me make it clear that this by no means detracts from my full support for the federal Dream Act. However, as an undocumented immigrant and an advocate, I cannot go against a bill that could potentially offer relief to people who find themselves in the same circumstances I am in.]]>