Why people are undocumented - dreamacttexas 1st Anniversary Series

This week the dreamactblog team is making an extra effort to present essays/photos/videos that will encourage conversations about immigration.

An important issue that comes to mind is the question of why people are undocumented. Anti-immigrationists often tell of their own families "standing in line" and "doing it the right way." While dreamacttexas and other blogs often re-state that there is no line - there are still many people out there who still believe that undocumented people came to the U.S. on a whim and are wanting to flaunt U.S. laws. These assumptions are wrong.

People only choose to remain here undocumented for the most serious of reasons. It is because they cannot make enough to support their families in their country of origin. For Americans, when we think of "not making enough" it is often about not having enough to pay the cellphone, the car payment, the credit cards, cable, internet etc. The reality is that undocumented immigrants are forced to immigrate because they do not make enough to buy food, have a home, have a car, or buy their kids school clothes.

Did you know that many immigrants who own small farms are forced to mortgage their property in order to pay someone to cross them? For those that get caught, either as they cross or sometime after they arrive - their lives are in effect ruined, because they can no longer make the mortgage payments - they lose their lands - When they are deported, they often have to immigrate to Mexico City to look for work- which is often much worse than the rural areas.

After a couple of years of talking to DREAMERS and other undocumented immigrants, I have learned of a number of "complications" that kept people from regularizing.

1. "My Mom didn't regularize me in 1986 because she didn't want me to get drafted when I was older. "

2. "My family applied for their residency, with my grandfather as our sponsor, but he died. There was no one left to sponsor us."

3. "My family waited so long for their residency papers, that I was already over 21 years old and was no longer allowed to apply as part of the group."

4. "My Mom moved here a month after I was born. Imagine, a few days earlier and I'd be an American citizen."

5. "Our family wanted to regularize, but we did not have the thousands of dollars charged by the lawyers."

6. "I could not afford the fees to purchase my Mexican passport. Since the passport alone wouldn't help me get to the U.S. I still had to gather the money for crossing - which was first priority. In Mexico most people only make 20 dollars per week."

7. "I was only 10. Mom and I had been separated for 5 years. She desperately wanted me with her. She had not been able to fix her papers, and didn't expect to do so for a very long time, so she paid someone to bring me across. She believed I was too young to be separated from her."

8. "U.S. immigration favors rich people. Rich Mexicans are welcomed here. You can see that at Houston's Galleria. A family that has a combined income of $20 per week has little chance to come across with a visa.