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You are here: Home / Blogs / FIERCE POLITICS with ALVARO HUERTA 01.29.17 “I AIN’T NO ANCHOR BABY!”

FIERCE POLITICS with ALVARO HUERTA 01.29.17 “I AIN’T NO ANCHOR BABY!”

January 29, 2017 by Tia Tenopia

I’m the son of Mexican immigrants, but I ain’t no anchor baby.

My late father, Salomon, first migrated to the United States during the 1950s via the Bracero Program, in which more than 4.6 million rural Mexicans performed desperately needed agricultural work in this country. He worked long hours, six days a week, for little pay and under terrible conditions. Later, as a legal permanent resident, he performed factory work for decades at sub-minimum wage.

Meanwhile, my late mother, Carmen, originally came to this country during the 1960s, securing employment as a house cleaner for mostly white, middle-class families. Lacking formal education, like my father, she worked as a domestic worker for more than 40 years. This did not stop her, however, as a naturalized U.S. citizen, from seeking more clients in her twilight years.

Currently, Republican leaders, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are making a big fuss about the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. They’re calling for a change in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which stipulates that all persons born in the United States are citizens. According to Graham, undocumented immigrants come to this country simply to “drop a child,” or what he pejoratively refers to “Drop and Leave.”

Republicans don’t practice what they preach. While they endlessly talk about “family values” and the sanctity of the unborn child, when it comes to Latino immigrants, they defame the family unit and attack brown children.

Republican leaders are consciously instilling fear in the American public by scapegoating Latinos (both documented and undocumented) in this country. Let’s not forget that the controversial Arizona law (SB 1070), now held up in court, required police to stop anyone they suspected was here illegally — and that could mean all brown-skinned people.

Responding to the Republican anti-immigrant agenda, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., properly questioned how any person of Latino heritage could be a Republican. Reid should be applauded for calling out Latino Republicans for belonging to a political party that is hostile to them.

Instead of dealing with appalling unemployment figures, high home foreclosure rates and lack of credit for small businesses, Republicans are targeting the most vulnerable population in this country: undocumented immigrants. By doing so, they are no different than schoolyard bullies. Didn’t they learn basic manners, such as treating others with respect and dignity?

I certainly learned those lessons from my parents.

My parents taught my siblings and me to be good and generous to others. They also encouraged us to pursue higher education so that we don’t experience the same hardships they faced both in Mexico and this country.

My late parents came to this country to seek work and a better life for themselves and their family. They sacrificed themselves — toiling in backbreaking, low-wage, dead-end jobs — so their children could pursue better opportunities not available in their homeland.

Instead of praising them for their sacrifice and hard work, Republicans continue to bash and tarnish the memory of my late parents and the millions of others like them in this country.

This is shameful.

____________________________________

Copyright 2017 by Alvaro Huerta.  Huerta is a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley’s department of city and regional planning and visiting scholar at UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center. He can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.

Filed Under: Blogs, Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta Tagged With: Dr. ALvaro huerta, Fierce Politics with Alvaro Huerta

BURUNDANGA BORICUA DEL ZOCOTROCO 5.23.25 – EMINENT DANGER

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In 2012, in Puerto Rico there were 13,000 farms; in the recent agricultural census, between 8 and 10,000 farms are recorded; a substantial decrease in the figure reported for 2012. At present, the agricultural sector of the Puerto Rican economy reports approximately 0.62% of the gross domestic product, which produces 15% of the food consumed […]

BURUNDANGA BORICUA DEL ZOCOTROCO 5.23.25 MORE ON THE NEED TO GROW

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The title of the documentary, The Need to Grow by Rob Herring and Ryan Wirick,  is suggestive. Its abstract character is enough to apply in a general and also in a particular way. The Need to Grow applies to both the personal and to so many individuals. At the moment, the need for growth in […]

BURUNDANGA DEL ZOCOTROCO 5.16.25 PELIGRO INMINENTE

May 15, 2025 By wpengine

Peligro Inminente En 2012, en Puerto Rico habían 13 mil granjas; en el censo agrícola reciénte se registran entre 8 y 10 mil granjas; una disminución sustantiva de la cifra reportada para 2012. Al presente, el sector agrícola de la economía puertorriqueña reporta aproximadamente 0.62% del producto bruto interno, que produce el 15% de la […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 5.23.25 MAYA BLUE EXHIBIT

May 23, 2025 By wpengine

Maya Blue Exhibit Incorporates the Artwork of Latino/a Artists A new exhibit, Maya Blue: Ancient Color, New Visions, at the San Antonio Museum of Art [SAMA], brings together for the first time pre-Columbian crafted clay figures, the art of Mexican modernist Carlos Mérida, and works by contemporary Latino/a artists Rolando Briseño, Clarissa Tossin, and Sandy […]

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