O Border (Security), Where Art Thou?

As the battle in Congress to hammer out a bill for comprehensive immigration reform rages on, it is heartening for an academic like me to see the strategic use of research by pro-immigration advocates to make their case. In the past several days we have seen a report from the Congressional Budget Office revealing that the legalization of immigrants in the U.S. would lead to a significant reduction to the deficit--nearly $200 billion dollars injected into the economy through increased tax revenue—over the next decade. Other research shows that having immigrants in your county has been shown to increase home values, and could do so even further if some of the undocumented become legal. A finding long known in sociological circles, the current wave of Mexican immigrants, the largest immigrant group in the U.S. right now, is adapting to American society and culture in much the same way, and perhaps even at a faster pace than previous waves of immigrants, including Italians and Germans. We also see polls that show well over 70 percent of Americans wanting immigration reform before the end of the year. So, why would there be any question at all about passing immigration reform in Congress? It has been on the table since the November election as a Presidential priority in Obama’s second term. Yet, we continue to see our politicians debate and as with most issues, facts rarely drive politics.

Well, that is not exactly true. Some would have you believe that the culture war is what has Americans wary about immigration reform. Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington sounded the alarm in 2004 that Latin American immigrants and Mexicans in particular would fundamentally change the United States because they do not adapt to our cultural norms. As opinion-writer and political scientist Stephen Nuño points out, assimilation is a two-way street. The facts above show that the current wave of immigrants has changed; while there is no doubt that the United States has changed, too. I would argue that two-way assimilation is inevitable, regardless of which groups you are talking about. Think about it when you are eating those tacos, drinking a pilsner, cheering a Japanese pitcher, and snacking on frankfurters as you enjoy the “all-American” pastime this summer. All immigrant groups have deposited some of their culture on us and we have enthusiastically embraced it time and again. Sometimes cultural changes are more consequential than sports and they are unequal, messy, and contentious, but resisting them is like trying to stop the sun from rising. There is no doubt that there is unreasonable xenophobia, and reactionary laws that actually impede the assimilation process, such as the banning of ethnic studies in Arizona. There is also evidence from countries like Canada, that intentional policies that provide a balance ofassimilation and multiculturalism work, but these issues aren’t even the center of what is really being argued in Congress. The cold hard fact that is currently at the core of the disagreement is money, but again it is shrouded in misinformation.

Preying on the small minority of people who really are xenophobes, pundits and politicians would have you believe that the sticking point is border security. If we give legal status to the 11 million or so undocumented residents of the U.S., what is to prevent yet another wave of illegal immigration, just like we saw after the last amnesty in 1986? But for all intents and purposes, the facts show that net immigration from Mexico has all but stopped. Some of it is due to increased border security and the record number of deportations overseen by the Obama administration; however, a lot of it has to do with the fact that Mexico has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and with a growing middle class with more job opportunities, there is no need to migrate to a country where opportunities might not even be there because of our own precarious economic situation. The idea of needing more border security is a real red herring then. So, why is it being argued?

One of the groups with a large membership that is opposed to reform is the union representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.One might think that increasing the number of legal immigrants would make their job easier; you’d be right. It would make their job so easy that they might see their way out of a job. Right now, Homeland Security spends over 18 billion dollars on border security, which makes it the largest Federal law enforcement agency; even larger than the FBI. Simply waving the legal wand and making an easier path to citizenship would put a lot of ICE agents out of work. To ensure their job security, senators reached a bipartisan “compromise” that would add thousands of new agents and increase Homeland Security spending eventhought the immigration numbers show we really don’t need them. Further, ensuring that there are at least some migrants who remain in the U.S. who do not have legal status (by not covering them under the proposed law), we also ensure that the private corporations that build prisons also get their share of money. Now those are numbers you can count on.

Mariachi Americano

Tomorrow is my birthday and because it falls in the middle of the week, my wife and I decided to celebrate a few days early on Sunday by going out for dinner and some live music. A few weeks ago, I read a Facebook update from “Our Tiempo,” an entertainment blog that stated there would be a free show of Mariachi El Bronx at the Double Door here in Chicago. Upon seeing the words “free,” “mariachi,” and the “Bronx” strung together I had to read more.  After reading the post and a few other online sources I learned that Mariachi El Bronx is an iteration of the punk band The Bronx. A few years ago, the Southern California band put together some songs in the mariachi style, along with other Mexican styles such as jarocho and norteño. As they state on their website, “mariachi music is every bit as much of a soundtrack to southern California as punk.” They have a couple of albums now that are completely in these styles.

Compelled further by the story, I had to take an actual listen to their music. I was excited, but reserved my enthusiasm out of fear that their music would be too punk, an unsuccessful mash-up of genres, or simply just bad music. I was more than pleasantly surprised after watching about a dozen of their tracks on YouTube; I even became a little obsessed, finding spare moments to give their music another listen whenever I could. This is a band that has appeared on both Conan and David Letterman, and as you can see by Letterman’s reaction, they have a real wide-ranging appeal and incredibly, play music that is really “beautiful.”

One of the trademarks of Mariachi El Bronx is that they don complete mariachi suits when playing, and that they also play traditional Mexican instruments like the vihuela and the guitarrón. While they include a couple of Latino/Mexican-American members, including the son of David Hidalgo from Los Lobos, they are mostly a bunch of white guys and an Asian on violin (seems like a stereotype, but it’s true). Again, doubt can easily be raised about the authenticity of the motives of this group of musicians: is it parody? Is it a cheap imitation? A gimmick?

Upon seeing them live, I had my answer. These guys are real honest to goodness punk mariachis, from their ostrich skin boots, upholstered belts and customized belt buckles, to their ability to drink Tecate and play music, these guys played original Mexican music sung in English that is no less authentic than La Negra or Guadalajara.

The reaction from a really diverse crowd in terms of age, ethnicity, and gender was amazing. People were singing along, shouting out gritos, dancing and moshing. The love that the band received and gave was great. And as proof of their "mariachi-ness" I felt no less pride on hearing them play, with the bass thumping through my chest, than if I were hearing mariachis play at a wedding.

What I took away was that culture from south of the border has really mixed with American culture in an incredible way that still maintains an authentic identity. Gustavo Arellano, the writer of the “Ask a Mexican” column in the OC Weekly, and author of a recent book on Mexican cuisine in the U.S. makes the argument that mash-ups and iterations of Mexican food are all authentic and prove the strength of Mexican culture. Rather than decrying what is authentically Mexican or not, these evolutions are beyond flattery and show the adaptability and resilience of a culture whose essence remains. It also shows its allure beyond natives to the point that is able to incorporate them into the mix. The Mexican philosopher José Vasconcelos called the Mexican people “La Raza Cósmica,” or the cosmic race, a race of the future, because of their cultural ability to develop and persist in this way.

This idea comes at a time when there have been two important demographic developments; first, Mexican migration to the U.S. has come to a virtual halt, and second, that minority births, many of those Latino, are now outnumbering white births in the U.S. While it may seem that there is a possibility for a decline in the presence of the Mexican culture because of the first shift, it seems that the salsa is out of the bottle, because what it means to be American is not a change that will happen when those newborns come of age, it is a change that is already here-and it sounds like mariachi music—in English.