You Say You Want a Revolution?

I hear a lot of disappointment these days about Obama.

One immigration-focused community group that I respect greatly from my days in Massachusetts posted this image on its Facebook page with the comment: “I think this is the problem. We've seen nothing but his back for 3 years!”

Obama-bashing has hit record highs among progressives, who no longer simply shake their heads and say “well, I guess he wasn’t the messiah after all.” Now progressives get as red in the face as anyone wearing a tea bag-adorned tri-cornered hat when talking about the president, and among the items enumerated on their damningly unchecked To Do list is immigration reform.

I understand the sentiment, but I disagree with the scapegoat.

We made the choice to leave the US in early 2009 (a mere month after the inauguration) and spent the entire next year until we got on a plane explaining it to our scandalized progressive friends and family – all of whom implored us to “give Obama a chance” to do something on immigration.

I refused.

I said then – and I stand by this assessment now – there was no reason to expect real reform to the immigration system within the next several years, and waiting would put us at the mercy of an unfeeling and unpredictable system of detention and removal.

Our choice to leave had nothing to do with our appraisal of Obama. I did have my suspicions about the midterms (which sadly all came true) and the defensive stance that Obama would have to assume against an insatiable GOP for whom Bill Clinton had been nothing more than a salacious little appetizer. (But honestly, there wasn't anything special about those predictions; I just paid attention in my civics courses.)

What made up my mind was less tangible… It was a whiff of whatever is in the air these days – something foul and unfamiliar that that makes you draw the shades as the hair at the back of your neck starts to prickle.

But the scent isn’t coming from the White House.

What stinks is wafting up from Arizona and now Alabama (which apparently couldn’t wait to hit the mats to prove that it remains the most racist place in America). It hangs heavy not just around those clinging to their 15 minutes of You-Might-Be-The-GOP-Nominee fame, like Herman “It Will Kill You” Cain, but also the legislators who are gratuitously crazy, like Kansas State Rep. Virgil Peck Jr., who suggested that immigrants ought to be shot like feral hogs – in a debate not about immigration but about shooting feral hogs. There are those who “empty the clip” figuratively (like Alabama State Senator Scott Beason) and literally (like vigilante Shawna Forde). It all feeds into a nightmarish perpetual motion machine of bureaucracy set on "ludicrous speed" by the Bush Administration.

And in this whole fetid mess, we don’t even wrinkle our noses anymore at terms like “invasion” and "hordes."

It wasn’t quite so pungent in 2009, but – like the milk starting to turn – I could smell that something wasn’t right and was about to get a lot worse.

I’ve always had a good nose.

So, I am disappointed that immigration in the Obama Administration has been "one step forward and two steps back" – disappointed, but not surprised.

And yet progressives have the attitude of “fix it already! Or else!”

Or what?! You’ll stay home? And we’ll get to see if President Cain was joking about an electric fence and “real bullets” (as if Border Patrol doesn’t already shoot “real bullets”).

(I am, however, joking about “President Cain” – but not the very serious repercussions for immigrants with any one of these nutters as President.)

If you want to know what progressive apathy looks like, think back to the Massachusetts special election between Martha Coakley and Scott Brown – oh, I mean Senator Scott Brown. We lost the lion of the Senate and got a Cosmo centerfold; apparently the message that disillusioned progressives wanted to send was “I also enjoy long walks on the beach and carefully positioned forearms.”

So, what is the alternative?

A third party?

I know that politically Americans can’t think constructively about last year – let alone last decade! But does anyone else remember the election in 2000? I suppose eight years of Bush didn’t totally destroy the country, and maybe we could survive another progressive tantrum because what does the country matter as long as you've got your righteous indignation?

Tell me now that there was "no difference."

“Revolution” also seems to be in the air, but revolutions are fickle and imprudent critters. Aside from petitioning Ollivander to finally make a wand for Obama, what are the demands of “the masses?” Sure, the redistribution of wealth and an end to corporate citizenship and all that rabble-rabble, but those aren’t new injustices – just the same old injustices with broader demographics; we (and I’ll include myself here for the sake of honesty) didn’t care all that much when we were still getting just enough of "ours"…

So I can’t decide if we’re Occupying because we miss the safety of our cubicle jungle – if the injustice of student loans is that we aren’t making the big bucks to pay them off – or if there’s a more profound awakening occurring.

I do hope that the Occupation is sign of the latter.

But ultimately I still am not that into revolutions.

I just want people to treat one another well – to feel a sense of responsibility for one another – and I don't want that to be revolutionary; I want that to be mundane.

So, if we leave our pitchforks at home and let the flowers grow in the ground rather than inserting them into the barrel of a gun, how do we get what we want – “from Obama” (for the folks who insist that the deficiency is his) and from the larger system?

There’s a famous story (which may or may not be true, like all of those “famous stories," but it is still incredibly powerful): after being confronted by the demands of disgruntled activists, Franklin Roosevelt is said to have replied, “I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it.”

I’m not directing this little parable at hardcore immigration activists and especially the individuals and families directly affected by immigration reform; they’ve already been working their butts off in a thankless and dirty fight for far too long. I mean average, run of the mill progressives who watch Lost in Detention and think “I can’t believe I voted for that guy! That’s just outrageous. ”

But before they take a big bite out of Obama for “letting this happen,” they ought to ask themselves “this being a democracy, why am I letting this happen?!”

I can tell you that average, run-of-the-mill conservatives readily bellow, huff, and holler about immigration -- and the crazies do it twice as loudly and in costume! I know because I used to take their calls.

So here’s a question for my fellow progressives: when did you last write an email reminding your Congressperson that he or she is responsible to the residents of his or her district – whether or not they have papers? When did you last inform your State Senator that race baiting and violent rhetoric would not be tolerated? When did you last hold your community organizations accountable for serving the whole community?

And if your officials are all upstanding progressives themselves, when did you last thank them for putting their asses on the line for the cause? (I recently wrote a “thank you” letter – yes, on paper, in an envelope, and with a stamp because I’m a classy dame – to Rep. Luis Gutierrez for his ongoing fight for immigration justice.)

Instead, progressives voted and then backed off. It’s as though progressives have tossed Obama into the shark tank and are now standing around the water’s edge, holding the life preserver, complaining “what’s wrong with this guy? Why the fuck doesn’t he just walk on water?!”

If everyone who stood behind Obama in 2008 deliberately maintained the same enthusiasm, the GOP's strategy of "NO!" wouldn't be politically viable. Their strategy depends quite as much on progressive disappointment, apathy, and infighting because no matter how rabid their radical wing gets, they still won't have the votes to take back the White House unless we stay home, stay quiet, and stay disenchanted.

Enthusiasm is contagious, and had we kept the momentum going, I believe that we would have seen the reforms we were looking for. Had we jumped into the shark tank and started throwing punches like Austalian surfers, we might not have made it into a kiddie pool, but at least we’d have safer waters.

Thank goodness that in a feeding frenzy Republicans can’t make heads from tails from Democrats because, if Obama makes it out politically in one piece, it will be no thanks to progressives; we've diminished his political capital quite as much as the GOP has.

So next time Obama veers to the center in a desperate attempt to please someone (Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?), consider that he would probably go left (and gratefully) if he knew that he had enough support among progressives to weather attacks from the right.

But I sure can't blame him for thinking he can't count on us.

Not quite audacity...

Here is some outstanding news for mixed-status families still living in the US! It's no substitute for real reform, and I'm sure we're all waiting to see how exactly this process will be carried out, but knowing that some of my friends are breathing a bit easier tonight still puts a smile on my face.

A Wee Update from the Land of Insane Fieldwork Logistics

So, updates are still slow in coming. There are two reasons for that:

1) I'm trying to pull together the mind-boggling logistics of my fieldwork. See that map on the right of the page showing "where is Corin?" Look closely... Yes, those piddly little blobs of white are European nations swimming in the vast sea of territory that makes up Brazil. My fieldwork will take me through more than 10% of this enormous country -- an area about 6.5 times larger than England. Or, for those of us from more reasonably sized countries, it's an area about twice as big as California, equal to the Four Corner States (without Arizona, since we'd rather like to ignore them for a while anyway), or just under twice the size of the Yukon. Now that you've got some inkling of how much ground I need to cover in 3 months, imagine doing it all by bus. And voila! I'll count up my total mileage at the end of the trip, but I can tell you right now that I'm looking at about four 10 (or more)-hour bus trips.

2) Leo has asked that I be strategic about my updates. The recent activity of trolls on my blog has made Leo nervous about me announcing my geographic coordinates to The Interwebs. He thinks that if someone can be so utterly barmy as to assume that total strangers crave their uneducated and unsolicited opinions -- as much as 9 times in a row -- they are probably not the world's most stable individuals. I agree with much of Leo's logic, but I told him that trolls can't be bothered to come off of their high horses ("Ew. The masses.") or out of their parents' basement ("Augh! Sunlight!"). He shouldn't worry, I told him, but it seems that Leo is rather fond of me (and I of him), so I won't be updating about where I am so much as where I've been, which means that you'll all be waiting at least another week before I'm on the move again and can therefore post an update.

So, for your reading pleasure in the meantime: a fabulous blog by Cheryl at Us, After America on exile and the unsavory privileges we retain (even as we lose our rights).

Brazil!

Hello folks! I'm back in Brazil (huzzah!) for Master's fieldwork. No, there are no posts about it yet, but they're in the works! Leo is in Vancouver, holding down the fort and working his little bum off in two jobs. He's doing his best not to be "ciumento" and I'm doing my best not to worry about whether he's eating well or getting enough rest. We're missing each other terribly, but at least this time our geographic separation has a set end date, which will make this a bit easier for the both of us.

In the meantime, enjoy a few links:

1. Here is an excellent explanation of The Bar by the Immigration Policy Center. There are a few issues with this analysis, including its focus on the process in Mexico, which has a reputation for being comparatively quicker and having higher approval rates than other waiver-adjudicating consulates. In other words, the picture painted herein is actually too rosy.

2. Here is a bittersweet and very tender -- yet characteristically biting -- post by Cheryl at Us, After America.

Happy reading!

Another joint blogging activity!

Now that we've got a real blogging community, it's been fun to blog together! He's a neat little questionnaire that's been making the rounds (started by Lisa at From One Country to Another):

1. How long have you been with your husband?
Leo and I met in the spring of 2008, married in fall of 2009, and will be celebrating our second wedding anniversary this September!

2. Can you remember one funny miscommunication because of language barriers?
We don't miscommunicate; we create a household dialect -- and not because we can't speak each others' languages! We both say silly things, and then -- like a 6-year-old crossing his eyes -- it "gets stuck that way." For example: "nossa muffin! Seus chicken bones 'tá' kruff kruff!" means, more or less, "oh my God, honey! Your elbow just made a cracking noise!"

It would only be miscommunication if we couldn't understand one another.

3. What state and/or city have you relocated to?
Vancouver, BC (<-- not a state: a province!), Canada (<-- also not a state, despite what we're led to believe States-side)

4. Do you and your hubby have any children? How old?
Not yet! We are looking to lay down roots before this tree starts dropping any apples.

5. What is one things thing that your blogger friends don't know about you?
I enjoy drawing superhero comics.

6. What are some of your favorite hobbies or past times?
I'm in grad school; I'm not allowed to have hobbies! I usually lack either time or money -- or both!

When I do sneak a few moments for myself, I enjoy -- as I mentioned above -- drawing and painting. I also love to cook and bake, but it'll be a while before I can buy duck breasts or good cheeses on a whim. Hiking is another favorite hobby, but time is not on my side...

Here are some fruit studies that kept me from going completely insane after the very trying end of the last semester:

7. How did you stumble upon the blogging community?
I started blogging at the start of 2010 -- right before Leo and I left the States. I don't remember how I found The Deportee's Wife, but I think she was my first contact. There were only a few of us "back in the day," and it is very exciting to see how the community has grown in such a short period of time -- even though it's depressing to think that it's probably also due to a rising number of exiles...

8. Have you learned something new about yourself during this whole process that has changed all of our lives?
That's pretty much what this blog is about!

9. Something that you love about [Canada] and something that you can't stand or miss having.
I love the opportunity to be here and just about everything that means. Thanks, Canada! I love the eagle eyrie down the street. I love the incredible mountains that peek out of the clouds once in a while. And I love the chance to learn about a country that I'd previously thought of as just-like-America-only-more-progressive-and-less-crazy; I'm happy to report that it's much more nuanced and interesting than a what I'd imagined to be a sensible, frozen version of Boulder or Berkeley.

I do miss warm weather. I also miss straight-forward disagreements (the "sorry" thing is real, and I'm working on making my "o" as apologetic as possible).

10. Did you know your in-laws before moving and has it been a big adjustment being closer to them?
We are even further from Leo's family than when we were in the States! I did get a chance to visit them in Brazil last year, which was a lot of fun (detailed here, here, here, and here).

11. If you were going back to the States next week where is the first place you would go, of course after seeing your family?
Back to Canada.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself

I was not going to post about the recent emails flooding into my inbox from an exceptionally persistent internet troll, but life’s little “ahha!” moments sometimes surface in the most unexpected of places.

Now, I won’t share too much about these emails or this individual (internet trolls, dear readers, make the same mistake as a cat with its head under a throw pillow: assuming that because they cannot see your face, they must also be completely invisible); I’m already embarrassed for him, and his further humiliation isn’t my aim.

He, however, tried repeatedly to shame Leo and me, saying that Leo could not possibly be a productive member of society (I'm left to wonder, though, if having documents here has suddenly made Leo "productive"). He then went so far as to remind me that he hadn’t even called into question my own ability to ever so much as hope to contribute (as if one’s citizenship were résumé-dependent -- or, God forbid, as if one’s worth as a human being could be discerned from an “employment history” snapshot).

Quite apart from the absurdity of pooh-poohing a résumé like mine, I found troubling the lengths to which he went in an attempt to validate his assumptions about the “type of woman” who marries an undocumented immigrant (or, even more troubling still, the “type of woman” into which marrying an undocumented immigrant makes one).*

He demonstrated this tendency repeatedly, but I don’t need to stoop to returning the favor by speculating on the type of man who would email a woman 8 times just to tell her how worthless he finds her while simultaneously demanding validation and admitting to being “fascinated” by her life.

But neither this nor his dogged insistence on the merits of long-debunked anti-(“illegal”-)immigration arguments of the “highly logical, disinterested economist”-bent were really worth writing about; rather, it was the last sentence of what (I hope) was his penultimate email.

He wished me the best of luck and then added – after no doubt forcefully mashing “CAPS LOCK” – that I would need it.

These are surely poorly chosen words in light of recent anti-immigration-motivated violence, but I don’t think that they were meant to be a threat.

I think that he was attempting to tell me that, upon refusing to make the Titanic “shrug” of a convert to the gospel of self-interest, I must necessarily be beyond hope -- damned to wallow among the "poor masses" for eternity.

The effect was quite the opposite. I felt a rush of liberation: gleeful, giddy, light, running downhill, "school’s out!", popsicles on a hot afternoon, sunny-and-carefree July day-like liberation.

I realized that the majority of his correspondence boils down to a fear of ceding even an ounce of privilege, regardless of the potential returns.

In that moment, I saw that I indeed have been made into a different woman by marrying an undocumented immigrant (an odd albatross though that is carry through our currently very-documented life):

I have stared down that which this individual fears most and still, at the altar, I said “I do” – even though it meant having to strive just a little bit harder to achieve my dreams. To my boss I said “thank you and goodbye” – even though it meant working toward a better world through a new profession. At the airline counter, I said “checking in for São Paulo” – even though it meant traveling just a little bit further to reach my final destination.

I resent the laws catalyzing those high-stakes choices, but I don’t resent taking up the challenge. Sure, there are moments of worry and difficulty--

But I am not afraid.

I may still have much privilege that I will never be able to shake loose -- that is the real weight upon my shoulders -- but the pounds of privilege that have been clawed away are a burden that I do not miss.

I am free from the fear of losing it.

And I carry with me now the added gift of having been tested over the last few years and having endured. My path is clearer. My footing is surer. My voice is stronger.

Reflecting on the words of my unwitting emancipator, I can only assume that one cleaves to privilege so tightly out of fear for one’s position without it, so – feeling a bit sad for him – I responded that I also wished him the best of luck… and hoped that he would continue not to need it.

* The work of anthropologist Ann Stoler offers relevant insight into the lineage of this phenomenon.

News Round Up!

First, the totally unstoppable Hope (how's that for a name in this whole immigration mess?) was profiled in a recent article in the Huffington Post that (while still info-"lite") did a great job at, you know, actually mentioning the 10-year bar! For more about the struggle that she and her husband, Naz, are facing, please go to their website.

Next, Amy and Carlos of Destination Paradise are about to make a big move to South Korea. It's very sad that their fight to bring Carlos back to the US has not been successful, but here's wishing them all of the luck and happiness in the world as they navigate a third country option! Their story is an important reminder that undocumented immigrants are very much a part of American society, and therefore that their deportation is often just as much of a deportation of their USC spouse and kids (as the Blogging from Exile blogroll on the right -- which Amy will soon join -- demonstrates all too readily)!

And lastly, I wrote about our good friend "D" a while back (here and here). His story is a heartbreaking reminder of what is at stake for many undocumented immigrants -- with or without an American family! He took "voluntary departure" on the promise, which I am confident is false, that his bar was therefore "waived" -- a cruel tactic that judges and ICE seem to be using to get undocumented immigrants with no hope of actually receiving a hardship waiver to quickly and quietly take "voluntary departure" (these stories are popping up with a frightening frequency within our online communities). D will return to Brazil this Thursday. Please think good thoughts for him and his mom during what will be a very difficult time for them.