Some of "them" are "us"

"600 Words" by Esther J. Cepeda

If you've seen TV footage of a community reeling from an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raid – like this weekend's in Lake County, IL – you've likely seen a Latin American family upset about their family members' arrest, followed by what's called "b-roll" video footage of past immigration reform marches where thousands of Latinos hold enraged protest posters demonizing ICE.

But what you don't know is that Latinos are the largest minority subset of ICE's workforce, providing jobs that, with overtime, can pay a person without a high school or college degree up to $70,000 a year. Those great benefits, coupled with a pressing need for more warm bodies, has led ICE to target African American recruits for border patrol duty, as reported in Monday's New York Times. Their story, focusing on the need for recruits to bring the number of agents patrolling the U.S.' southern border up to 18,000 by the end of the year, mentioned that 52 percent of border patrol agents are Latino.

Agency-wide, the Department of Homeland Security agency known as ICE has 17,272 employees of which 3,792 (21.95 percent) are Hispanic according Tim Counts, a spokesman I spoke to Monday.

Can you just imagine what Thanksgiving is like for those families? Talk about being caught in a cultural cross-fire!

Having gotten interested in the dissonance of Hispanics at DHS last year, I spoke to several Latino ICE employees mostly in the Chicago area, and a few close to the border that I correspond with occasionally, none of whom wanted their names used because it's…a touchy subject. I detected two camps: the "make no apologies" group and the "don't ask don't tell."

I'm not naming names so I can't quote directly, but, one female border guard out west told me it's very simple for her: she's doing a government job and her duty is to use her special language skills and cultural insights to smooth the process for everyone involved. The spirit of her comments were along the lines of: "I don't give a damn about people who consider me a sellout or a traitor."

Another agent, who's not in the field, told me she understands how emotional the whole issue of immigration is and never wants to be put in the position of bringing up the boogey-men ICE agents, so she just never brings it up. Her family has gotten used to her refusing to be called to account for every violent or saddening enforcement action that makes headlines.

One agent whose sole job is to interact with immigration-related detainees in the McHenry County Jail in Illinois told me last year, when I was investigating living conditions there for the Chicago Sun-Times, that his family and friends have a totally different take on things, though he tries to always keep his job out of conversations. I'm paraphrasing: "They figure I'm there, I'm doing my best everyday to help [the detainees] get in touch with advocates, resolve their problems as best they can – it's a good thing. Aside from a few people who can't stand that I work for ICE, it's usually not a problem."

Indeed, there are lots of Latinos out there who think the Department of Homeland Security is evil incarnate. But like with everything else in life, when you scratch beneath the surface – and see the many Hispanic agents who are enabling their families to live the American Dream through their steady, good-paying work at ICE – some of "them" are "us." And "we" aren't so different.

Note: In case you were wondering about the June 20-21 raids in Lake County, you didn't hear about them because none of the mainstream media reported on them – I read about it in HOY, the Tribune's Spanish-language daily newspaper.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact

eejaycee@600words.com

Comments

[servando....]

well i guess a job is job...there used to be a troupe "Teatro de la Esperanza" from san francisco...who used to tour a play called "La Victima" back in the late '70s...it dealt with this very issue but the era was the '40s...histry repeats itself...somewhat ironic...its main theme was how a young boy was seprated from his family at the train station when being deported...this young boy grows up to be a border patrol agent...and one day he arrests his now elderly mother...guess what he did...i won't spoil the ending...

also...i have a friend who because he needed a job became an ins agent...we don't speak much about his job...or much now a days...but i know one thing...he's become a very bitter person...won't analyse this friend...but i do know thru wife and friends he's changed...thanks later

servando...

[Esther J Cepeda]

Hey Van, I don't think so. Every single one of the people I spoke to without question loved their line of service work.

You know what Maslow said: self actualized people live and work independent of the good opinion of others.

thanks for writing!

Esther

[Van Giles]

Great read Esther. A job is a job and there are many people out there who are unemployed. One question I kept asking myself is if these people would change jobs if given the opportunity to work a different position at the same salary.