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Thursday, May 10, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN IN COLOR

Donald Trump, as

always, broadcasts his
political
affairs
and

opinions on Twitter’s
platform. On April 1, he
tweeted: “Border Patrol
Agents are not allowed
to properly do their job
at the Border because of
ridiculous liberal (Dem-
ocrat) laws like Catch &
Release. Getting more
dangerous. ‘Caravans’
coming.
Republicans

must go to Nuclear
Option to pass tough
laws NOW. NO MORE
DACA DEAL!”

Trump’s
reason-

ing for getting rid of
DACA is ridiculous.
He believes that people
under the age of 31 who
immigrated to America
before turning sixteen
protected under DACA
since 2012 or, “Dream-
ers”,
are
inherently

criminal and danger-
ous. In fact, he attri-
butes America’s crimes
and economic problems
on immigrants, includ-
ing the Dreamers. How-
ever, the Dreamers are
law-abiding
residents

of this country who
positively contribute to
the country’s growth.
These individuals are
young people who grew
up in America and have
attended our schools,
served in our army and
have careers. The only
thing that sets them
apart from any other
citizen in America is
their citizenship status.

The
government

has encouraged immi-
grants,
particularly

Mexicans, to travel to
America to assist in
its economic develop-
ment. DACA is the
least America can do
to
acknowledge
and

appreciate
this
fact.

DACA should be kept
and here’s why.

Mexico and the Unit-

ed States have had a
relationship for a long
time. Once the “Mexi-

can Miracle” came to an
end in the 1970s, Mex-
ico experienced a huge
recession that contribut-
ed to a decline in wages,
worsened working con-
ditions and plummeting
economic
conditions.

Due to Mexico’s fail-
ure to provide subse-
quent opportunities for
families to live in, many
Mexicans
migrated,

illegally, to the United
States to find work and
to support their fami-
lies.

What was the cause

of the decline of the
Mexican Miracle? What
or who made Mexico no
longer internally suffi-
cient?

America. Of course,

it was America.

American and Mexi-

can ties were renewed
because of America’s
need for oil, manufac-
tured goods and labor
in the early 1940s. This
alliance harmed many
Mexicans because it
took jobs away from
them. Mexican farm-
ers were replaced with
commercial
farmers

who expedited the pro-
cess of farming through
hybrid seeds and new

technologies. Mexico’s
government also priori-
tized commercial farm-
ers and illegally rented
Ejido land to agribusi-
ness or private farmers.

Aside from the steal-

ing of property and
eradication
of
jobs,

America tried to assist
Mexico by providing
jobs.

American companies,

including rail lines, beet
factories
and
manu-

facturing
companies,

recruited
heavily
in

Mexico starting in the
early 1920s. Companies
and employees saw the
work done in America
as temporary. However,
American
companies

began requesting their
workers to stay longer
by increasing wages.
This is when the occur-
rence of long-term stay
in America truly began.
It was highly influenced
by America itself.

As Mexicans began

to stay in America, the
economy
in
Mexico

continued to get worse.
For example, today, the
pay rate and working
conditions in Mexico
are drastically different
than those in America.

America pays more and
provides better working
conditions than Mexico.

According to Busi-

ness Insider, “Mexi-
co OECD data show
that Mexican workers
labored 2,327 hours on
average during 2014,
far ahead of the 1,796
hours worked by Amer-
icans. These workers,
however,
were
only

paid $12,850 (based on
purchasing power par-
ity) during the year.
… Americans earned
$57,139 during the same
period.”

America’s
presence

in Mexico for recruit-
ment
and
dominat-

ing
production
has

left Mexico dependent
on America. Further-
more, many Mexicans
have made a home in
America because of the
lack of opportunities in
Mexico.

The
United
States

government
has

acknowledged
these

facts and has, in some
ways, tried to protect
some of the immigrants
who are merely trying
to help their families by
migrating. DACA was
not the only legislation

passed to help immi-
grant workers.

The first appearance

of a support for migrants
who support the econo-
my was the implementa-
tion of the Immigration
Reform and Control Act
of 1986 also known as
the IRCA. The IRCA
provided amnesty for
the previous genera-
tion of unsanctioned
border-crossers
com-

prised of undocumented
immigrants who had
continuously resided in
the United States since
January 1, 1982; penal-
ized the employers of
unsanctioned
workers

and increased funding
for the United States
Border Patrol.

The IRCA introduced

the idea of protecting
immigrants who posi-
tively contributed to
society from deporta-
tion. Under this bill,
immigrants’
educa-

tion
increased,
pov-

erty rates fell and the
rate of homeownership
increased
drastically.

Once the immigrants
were legalized, many
gained jobs of high
ranking.
The
IRCA

was a great foundation

for the creation of the
DACA legislation.

Former
President

Obama’s reasoning for
developing
Deferred

Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) was to
lift the fear of deporta-
tion from young people
who were brought here
as children so that they
could continue to con-
tribute to our communi-
ties and our country and
maybe become citizens
of the United States.
Immigrants were con-
sidered for DACA if
they were under 31
years old on June 15,
2012, came to America
before turning 16 and
had lived in the coun-
try since June 15, 2007.
Another
requirement

was
that
individuals

must have a high school
diploma, GED, have
an honorable discharge
from the military, or
must still be in school.
They could not have a
criminal record.

The benefit of DACA

is that it awards tempo-
rary work permits and
protection from depor-
tation
to
childhood

arrivals. Today, DACA
serves
over
800,000

people, who are often
called Dreamers.

The
thought
of

eradicating DACA is
frightening for many
American citizens and
those who classify as
Dreamers. Trump con-
tinues to talk about the
disadvantages of DACA
and insists on repealing
it. It is time for every-
one to fight this battle
for DACA. The lives
of the Dreamers and
American citizens have
become intertwined as
one. Our nation’s cul-
ture, economic growth,
and
protection
have

been
supported
and

uplifted by the Dream-
ers. To turn our backs
on people who have
grown up here and who
have never harmed the
country is absurd.

Don’t forget, it was

America who initiated
the presence of these
migrant workers.

By JONAE’ MAXEY

MiC Contributor

OPINION

MAX KUANG / DAILY
DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN