Conversations Across Our America: Talking About Immigration and the Latinoization of the United States

Mónica Hernández

Mónica Hernández of Casa Familiar in San Ysidro, California, is a University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies graduate who grew up in Tijuana and went to school in San Ysidro. She has decided not to apply for citizenship, even though she has a permanent work visa and could be eligible. She is softspoken but powerful in word and deed as she contributes to bettering her community from the ground up through this powerful agency. The group’s website explains its mission as follows: “Casa Familiar allows the dignity, power, and worth within individuals and families to flourish, by enhancing the quality of life through education, advocacy, service programming, housing and community economic development.”7 When Brent Beltran and I arrived at Casa Familiar’s office, Andrea Scopica, the executive director, was about to leave but stopped and talked with us for a few minutes. louis: Can you share your perspective on how life on the border has been impacted by the debates on immigration? andrea: Well, it has really changed. When I was growing up there was no fence; there was like three pieces of barbed wire. My grandma used to send our dog, Mongo, to my aunt’s house in Tijuana with a note. He was gone for un poco tiempo [a little while], and then he would come back with the answer. It was a very different type of border. It wasn’t until they criminalized the people who were coming that things changed. Before, everybody understood why they were coming and was okay with it, as long as there was enough work for them. louis: What year would you say they started militarizing the border? andrea: Probably in the early ’60s. At first they tried to say that immim ónica hernández 192 conversations across our america grants were taking jobs, but the people knew that the jobs they were taking , nobody wanted those jobs, so it didn’t work here in California. Then they started saying everyone was a burro bringing drugs. And that stuck. Then they also said they were coming over here to take advantage of all the services. Finally, after repeating it and repeating it and repeating it, I think it finally found some ears. I remember when Lou Dobbs was a financial guy. Now he has become the idiot of the century. It happened to our former mayor also, Roger Hedgecock. I knew Roger when he was the guru of putting people together. He was the first one who appointed Latinos to boards and commissions. But when he left, he had to find a gig.8 louis: In your opinion, is it on a trajectory of getting worse, or is it part of a cycle? andrea: Well, if you look at it historically, it is part of a cycle. The country has always had xenophobia, and we went through this once in the ’20s. But if you look at it just in your lifetime, it is getting worse and worse, and also the environment that sustains it has gotten worse and worse because of 9/11. They are exploiting that to the max. It is not going to ever go back to like it was before. I really do believe they are going to change the Constitution. It’s scary. That is the way I see it, and I tell people, “If you are not a citizen, Mónica Hernández at her desk in Casa Familiar in San Ysidro, California. Photo by Louis Mendoza. 193 asserting rights if for no other reason than securing your own place in society, you should become a citizen. Because first thing they are going to do is say anyone born to undocumented people here is not going to be a citizen anymore.” There is a lot of support for that. After that they are going to start shutting down more and more employment opportunities. People are just willing to give up their rights. louis: You don’t think there is any way to interrupt the debates in a constructive way? andrea: I think it is inevitable. I think we need to have some dialogue about it. Martin Luther King was able to get as far as he got because he had the SNCC [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] people. And he could say to people, “You want to listen to these idiots, or do you want to listen to me...