Families and Immigration Law

May 13, 2010

Transcript:

Jose Cardenas:
This is a subject worth much more time and discussion. Thank you for joining us.

Hundreds of Students walked out of class and down to the state capitol to protest senate bill 1070 the week it was signed into law. Many of the young people say they had concerns about friends and families being separated at a result of the new law. I recently talked to professor Cecilia Menjivar with ASU's school of social and family dynamics about the effect of immigration legislation on families. Dr. Menjivar, thank you for joining us on "Horizonte." This is an area in which you've done a lot of work over the years. And I want to talk about that, but before I do that, let's talk about the more immediate reaction to this legislation. We had hundreds of high school students walking out of their class, and what does that tell you about the impact that this new legislation is having on young people who may be here as part of families that have some members who are not here lawfully, or U.S. born?

Cecilia Menjivar:
I think the children are particularly worried, because we have a lot of U.S. born children who are U.S. citizens who are at risk of being separated from their parents at any time through the deportation. There are over 4 million U.S. citizens by birth who live in this mixed status families in which at least one parent is in the country without documents in different family members have different legal statuses. And so those children are at particular risk of losing one or both parents. And so that surprised that they have come out in force to protest the law.

Jose Cardenas:
Your area of study has a particular focus on family structure. And particularly with respect to immigrants.

Cecilia Menjivar:
Yes.

Jose Cardenas:
And you've seen examples of the impact that some antiimmigration laws have had in the past. Can you describe that for us generally? Then I want to come back to SB 1070.

Cecilia Menjivar:
Right. I've been doing research for the past decade here in Phoenix. On the immigrant families. And over the years I've had a chance to observe the effect that the different pieces of legislation have had on the families and the different members of the families. And whereas in the past when proposition 200 passessed when employer law passed in January of 2008, people were worried and concerned. I think these last -- this latest law, SB 1070 has had a major effect because people see these as a more immediate threat of deportation of being separated from their loved ones.

Jose Cardenas:
And what -- apart from that, are there other reasons why they're reacting more strongly to this particular statute as opposed to within the last three or four years we've had at least four major pieces of immigrant what some would view as antiimmigrant legislation with respect to benefits, with respect to in the colleges, the ability to get in-state tuition, with respect to bail? Why are they reacting so strongly to this particular piece of legislation?

Cecilia Menjivar:
Because people see it as being very broad. Very general. Just the fact that you are in the country without proof of citizenship, without documents. It's already a crime. And I think that expansion is not -- doesn't only limit what they can do in terms of getting a job, or getting social Services, but just the presence itself makes it a crime. I think people are very concerned, and fearful.

Jose Cardenas:
And do you see different responses from different family members, the mother versus the father, the children versus their parents?

Cecilia Menjivar:
Yes. Yes. And I pay particular attention to those different responses. For instance, on the part of the father, they want the families to remain strong, to keep forward, to keep their head up, to -- because they think that eventually something good may come out of this. And so they want to keep the family strong and going forward. The mothers on the other hand, are particularly fearful. Not of the deportation in general, but more specifically of family separation. They're very worried about what would happen to the children if they are deported. What would happen to the children if both parents are deported. People have been telling me that lately they have been trying not to both parents not to drive the same car because they are afraid that both parents may be detained and deported, and what would happen to the children? Mothers are particularly concerned about that.

Jose Cardenas:
What about the children?

Cecilia Menjivar:
And the children, including the U.S.- born children I was mentioning, are very fearful, some of them don't want to go to school already, and they cry and have had some behaviors that are associated with trauma. For instance, I've heard of a few cases where kids are having nightmares, bed wetting, a series of expressions of trauma.

Jose Cardenas:
Now, comparisons have been made to frequently in the last few weeks between SB 1070 and proposition 187 in California. A number of years ago. Give us a summary of what 187 was all about, and I want to ask you a few question about impacts that had.

Cecilia Menjivar:
Yes. 187, the law that was voted in in California in 1994, was about basically it is similar to what Arizona has already done in terms of limiting access to social Services, to -- according to legal status, but it also included barring children from attending K-12. And also from barring them from attending higher education. And so in -- it also included a provision to -- that social Service providers had to report the legal status of people who contacted them. And most of those provisions were deemed unconstitutional in federal court. So that's what 187 did.

Jose Cardenas:
But what 187 didn't do was focus specifically on immigration law enforcement. And deportation and so forth, and this one does. On the other hand, as you indicated, mate -- it may have had more far reaching impact with respect to benefits. But were the reactions that you saw, and I understand you were in California at the time, were the reactions that you saw to 187 similar to what you're seeing here to SB 1070?

Cecilia Menjivar:
Yes, to a certain degree, yes. Right after 187 was passed, people were calling social Service agencies, community organizations, to see whether they could send their children to school to see whether they could stay in the country, or in the state. So some similar responses were also seen there. To what we see now in Arizona.

Jose Cardenas:
And what about -- you talked about the reactions of some people driving their separate cars, for example. Do you see people thinking, I need to leave? And I need to either go back to the country I came for from or move to a different state.

Cecilia Menjivar:
You see, people are very concerned about that. They can't -- most people can't just pick up and take off. Get up and leave, because most of these immigrants who are more fearful have U.S.- born children, and have children in schools, have children who have gone through the entire educational system and are in high school. So for them it's a very, very serious decision to go back to their own countries, or even go to another state. So it's a very serious consideration and they're waiting. I think they're waiting to see what happens.

Jose Cardenas:
With respect to that, the waiting, the Mexican government and others who are opposed to this legislation are telling everybody, be calm. It doesn't go into effect for 90 days, since the end of the session. And there are likely to be challenge that may stop its enforcement. Are people taking any comfort from that?

Cecilia Menjivar:
A little bit. A little bit. Because they know what -- people are now aware of what happened with proposition 187, so they think that it might be eventually also deemed unconstitutional in court. But that doesn't take away the fear and that doesn't change the precautions that they are taking now, driving less, not -- both parents not driving in the same car, the children crying whenever they're dropped off at school because they don't know when they're going to see their parents again. So while they're waiting, hoping for the best, they still have to take precautions and they still have to deal with the fear that different family members feel.

Jose Cardenas:
Dr. Cecilia Menjivar, ASU professor school of social and family dynamics, thank you for joining us on "Horizonte."

Cecilia Menjivar:
Thank you.