Op Ed by Vanessa Verduga
Imagine this news story…
Justice Woman (my alter ego) has taken on the defense of Jonathan and Martha Kent, currently charged with harboring an illegal alien. There is a question of their son, Clark Kent, aka Superman, whose DNA sample did not match either of the Kent’s. The Kent’s retracted their initial story of home birth to state they had found Clark as an infant, abandoned. Plaintiffs for the case stated the Kent’s made no attempt to contact local or state authorities after discovering the baby; neither did they initiate a search for the child’s parents.
Plaintiffs are also investigating Clark Kent’s employers with the Daily Planet, as Kent may have been receiving undocumented earnings. The IRS is currently examining the employee records, pay roll and accounts. Progress has been slow as the Daily Planet has international holdings.
“The concern here,” said prosecutor, Bill Sheldon, “Is that they are crossing borders without legal documentation. Wolverine does not use a passport for crossing between
Canada and the U.S., nor does Wonder Woman seek a visa when traveling to North American from the Amazon. What has been occurring is illegal border crossing the like of which we normally see with drug cartels.”
The Irony is Not Lost
As a US Latina American citizen, I find it ironic that so few people in positions of power are willing to speak up on behalf of oppressed immigrants—human beings, each one with their own traits, attributes, and “super powers” to offer. Since when did we stop seeing people as people, and start referring to outsiders as criminals and subversives to the government?
We are living in a time where legal U.S. citizens and Latino celebrities, such as Lupillo Rivera, are being harassed simply for being Latino, in the wrong place at the wrong time—like walking onto a scene where white protestors were taunting immigrant children being bused in by the government.
As a proud member of the Latino community, and an advocate of human rights, these stories bother me because they prove what I have always dreaded—that a great part of our population is cold to the plight of suffering non-Americans. They don’t see them as human beings at all but as illegals more or less deserving of death.
These are the same people who post Occupy protest memes, they go to movies to see “immigrant” superheroes save the country from foreign threats, and they complain about the government taking away their rights—all the while judging these “illegals” and saying they are unworthy of basic human protection.
Children Are Endangering National Security
Recent rumors have intimated that the more than two thousand children illegally crossing the border into the United States were spies, terrorists or simply very cunning kids. Recorded data shows that these children are from some of the most poverty stricken countries in Central America, countries that have neither the resources nor legal assistance to combat crime, corruption and internal violence. There is no statistical evidence that these children are or will be stealing American jobs from mature adults any time soon.
No wait—do we have the obligation to exterminate all the firstborns out of revenge, ala Penguin in Batman Returns?
Much concern has been expressed that these children represent a security breach. This is unwarranted. It is known the countries they are arriving from are rife with drug culture and gang warfare, some of which was in fact exported from the U.S.
What Really Matters
Representatives and diplomats on both sides of the border have pleaded for deportation relief for the thousands of children currently detained in facilities and awaiting legal representation and counsel. More stable countries, such as Costa Rica and Panama fear that an influx of returning illegal immigrants will strain their own capacity for absorbing the victims of civil upheaval and violence from the affected countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. These children, as young as two and three years old, are often tried as tiny adults and left with their own defense counsel.
There are currently 4.4 million more Latinos eligible to vote this year than there were in 2010, and they are angry that reform is not a priority. Representatives state, “We need to protect these undocumented but desperate civilians from automatic and inhumane deportation.”
What matters is, we are neglecting to view these undocumented immigrants as human beings, with basic human rights. We see them as threats to our own well-being.
Who is being the super-villain in this scenario? What would Superman do? What would Jesus do? What would Gandhi do? What would any decent person do if given the choice to save someone or let them die?
A paradigm shift is in order. In terms of human resources, these people—scattered and homeless—represent a boost to an aging work force, an addition to the fields of academic pursuits, renewed innovation and creativity. These children could grow up to become leading scientists with cutting-edge technology, medical doctors, musicians, artists, inspirational speakers or “super heroes” made in America, with our help. Indeed, with the right mentorship they could take these skills back to their homelands and make the need to cross our borders obsolete.
Am I wrong for choosing to see the value in people rather than just sticking to the letter of the law?
Vanessa Verduga is an actor, writer, singer, director, producer and lawyer committed to examining social issues for their impact on the underprivileged and disenfranchised. She is the creator and star of the popular award-winning web series “Justice Woman”, which follows the story of an Assistant District Attorney, by day, who becomes a defender of truth and justice at night. Vanessa also stars and produces “H.O.M.E.”, a feature film that examines the loss of communication told through the immigrant’s perspective, and is in pre-production for a comedy feature film she wrote and will star in entitled “The Implications of Cohabitation.” For more on Vanessa, visit: http://www.VanessaVerduga.com
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