I met a Venezuelan mother and daughter who recently arrived and were looking for work for one and school for the other. They talked about their immigration experience in a way that confirmed stories and documentaries about journeys to the American border.
As I understand it, they left their homeland over a decade ago and first traveled through the Amazon jungle to get to Peru. In Peru, they stayed for 7 years waiting to continue on to the United States.
When they did come, the two took the route through the Isthmus of Panama, the jungles of Central America and bus travel through Mexico to the American border. It was an epic experience full of danger and drama.
The story represents another twist in the immigration road that describes asylum seekers. This is not new to the Americas as the Cuban community went through something similar beginning in 1959.
The Cuban flight from their homeland was quite unique. The cultural and political influence on the Latino community and the country since their arrival is also distinctive.
Although only 1.4 million Cuban refugees arrived in the U.S. between 1959 and 1999 their presence has been deeply felt. It moreover created a serious backlash on the part of the Chicano Movement.
Chicanos, North American descendants of Mexico and Spain, could not accept a national policy that condemned Mexican immigrants for crossing the border to work while Cuban refugees were generally accepted without reservation. Latinos of the era did not know or did not want to know the difference between asylum and other kind of conditions.
The Cuban community, despite representing only 4 percent of Latinos (Mexican Americans represent 58.9 percent of Latinos), developed an outsized influence in many areas of Latino life including politics and advocacy. A good example of that is the change in the name of the largest Latino advocacy organization in the United States from the National Council of La Raza to UnidosUS because many from non-Mexican descent did not identify with the term “La Raza.”
Traditionally, there have been three major reasons that attract immigrants to our country. The first is work, something that most feeds the Mexican desire to come. The second is education. Increasingly, immigrants from Asia see that as the number one reason. The third is to be with family. This together with work has characterized the long history of Mexican immigration to the United States.
The Cuban community provides an important lesson on another emerging reason to immigrate: asylum. With social and political instability in many areas of the world, immigration is decidedly taking on a new look.
Most prominent among current immigrants are the asylum seekers from dictatorial or dysfunctional regimes like Venezuela and Haiti.
The list continues to grow.
It also raises the very question that the 2024 election in America is about. The battle between authoritarianism and democracy is not only the emerging fourth reason for immigrants at our border, but also the reason for America’s democracy struggle for survival.
The Latino community is definitely in the center of the conflict about who they are as Americans. The reshaping of their cultural identity based on immigrant families already here and those coming from our hemisphere is ongoing.
Perhaps more important is the need to jettison elements of a world view that tend to greater separate communities from one another.
Perhaps it is time to rid ourselves of labels that help make that separation.
Being American is who we really are. Stationed under the same rubric can create unity.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of laVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
