Informational, Opinionated, Real
Diego Graglia's interview of Teresita Jacinto is a template describing the plight of Mexicans this election year. We've heard this story before. Graglia calls Virginia's Prince William County the "national capital of intolerance": police can arrest suspected illegal immigrants on the spot and demand to see their papers. Alas, the same may be said of hundreds of counties in the United States, including the southern Ohio county where I resided for decades, where my local sheriff's brandished, signature .45 revolver stood for his tough attitude toward Mexicans, whom he assumed were undocumented.
In Manassas, embarrassingly close to D.C., at least there is a "Wall of Freedom Street" painted on the side of a burned-down house and pasted with statements protesting the arbitrary and capricious use of police power. The main reason Gragila's drop-in needs to be aired is that its expose of our obsession with the letter of the law, i.e., that illegal aliens should be deported, is painted in bold colors. Although Graglia never says it, if .45-caliber-revolver-wielding sheriffs have their way, this country will be stripped of a huge part of its working class. As a newcomer in Cook County, Illinois, I'm aware how every lawn in my neighborhood is cut by Mexicans. Having spoken with a number of people from the states of Guerrero and Michoacan, I'm also aware that some of these lawn-cutters lack legal documents. To deport these folks would mean -- perish the thought -- that many of my well-heeled neighbors would need to mow their own grass.
Imagine this scene duplicated in our agriculture, construction and manufacturing industries, and you have the ingredients for an economic cataclysm as devastating as anything experienced since the Great Depression.
Graglia's Manassas sojourn comprises part of his epic journey from The Big Apple to Mexico City, measuring the quality of Latino life in our so-called Land of the Free. Obviously, the Latino vote will be decisive in this year's presidential election. Thanks to Graglia's "La Ruta del Voto Latino -- The Road to the Latino Vote," listeners can feast their ears on an audio tidbit that's part and parcel of a humongous tortilla banquet.
James Reiss
Wilmette, IL
August 7, 2008
Manassas, Virginia (the impact of a local immigration law)
