We continue our 30 Issues in 30 Days series with a topic that was hot during the race for a Republican nominee, and re-emerged at the Oct. 16 debate: immigration.
The immigrant experience in Massachusetts teeters between excitement and fear. Vladimir Saldana is excited. At 21, he’s a senior at UMass Lowell. But it’s his journey to the States when he was 10 that has been building to this day. A few years ago, his mom became a U.S. citizen and since Saldana was 16, he too was naturalized. Now old enough to vote for the first time in a U.S. Presidential election, Saldana rattles off the major issues, “I care a lot about health care, it’s really important for every citizen, not just for immigrants or non-immigrants,” he says. “I think it’s important for every citizen. Due to my history, I think health care, it should be universal. It should be for everyone so I do agree with how they call Obamacare, I side with that. Also, student loans and job creation.”
Immigrants are making up more and more of the Massachusetts mosaic. Over the past decade, on average 30,000 immigrants a year have become U.S. citizens in the Bay State. But thousands more are still waiting. Juliana Langille was born in Brazil and now lives in Attleboro. She applied for U.S. citizenship in September 2012 and has paid $680 for this lengthy process. While she can’t vote yet, Langille says she pays attention to politics.
“Immigration is not the only issue that would affect how I would vote. So I do try to look at what the candidates really believe versus what they say. I try to do a little research on what they have done in the past. I don’t know if I would actually ever sign up for a party because I strongly disagree with the two-party system. I am a political science major and I come from Brazil where we have lots of options,” Langille says.
The backdrop to all this energy and excitement in becoming a U.S. citizen is the fear. Yes, President Obama issued an executive order deferring deportation for undocumented immigrant youth. But his administration has significantly increased deportations at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“There is among the immigrant community disappointment that Congress did not act and come up with comprehensive immigration reform,” says Eva Millona, a naturalized citizen originally from Albania and the executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. “We haven’t seen a serious effort since 2007 when Sen. Kennedy was the chair of the judiciary committee and the champion of Massachusetts and the champion of really bringing together a bipartisan coalition from both parties and really coming up with a workable and practical solution.”
Millona’s coalition is not endorsing any candidate. She says that Congress has focused too much on security at the Mexico border, and not enough on the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S. She supports the Dream Act, which would allow the children of illegal immigrants to become legal residents if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military for at least two years. She says there’s some concern about what a Republican administration would do with the lists of names of young illegal immigrants who have applied for Obama’s deferred action visas.
So fear is getting in the way of the excitement for many immigrants. Vladimir Saldana, the UMass Lowell student, is concerned his fellow students — immigrants and the rest — won’t register to vote by the Oct. 16 deadline.
“I’m trying to convince them,” Saldana says. “I hope they do. It’s important, you have to vote. It’s like part of the democracy in America. Some people can’t, are not allowed to vote, in other parts of the world. You don’t want to take advantage of that?”
Does immigration matter to you in this year’s election? Learn more and let us know.
