Immigration Law and the U.S.–Mexico Border: ¿Sí se puede?

12. Integration, Protest, and Reform

12 Integration, Protest, and Reform¡Sí se puede! —Cesár Chavez and Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers Slogan Yes, we can! —Presidential candidate Barack Obama, 2008 W hat does the future hold for Mexican migration to the United States? Predicting the future is always difficult, but it is especially perilous when we are dealing with an issue as contested as migration from Mexico to the United States. This chapter outlines some possibilities for the future, as well as sketching out a possible movement to promote social justice, changing the immigration relationship between the United States and Mexico as well as respecting the civil rights of Latinas/ os in the United States. It also contemplates the possibility of reforming US immigration laws. History has shown time and time again that courts have limited abilities to bring about meaningful social change. Political activism appears to be a promising alternative for the Latina/o community to promote social change in the future, especially as the percentage of Latinas/os continues to increase in the United States. In considering political action, this chapter examines the potential for a new civil rights movement, with immigration reform central to its agenda. A multiracial movement, including African Americans, Asian Americans , Latinas/os, and others, employing political as well as legal tools, in the twenty-first century would most likely bring improvements in the civil rights protections of a multiracial America. In this vein, this chapter analyzes the implications of the unprecedented immigrant rights marches of 2006, in which tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the United States to demand justice for undocumented immigrants.1 We also discuss the immigration reform proposals percolating in Congress in recent years and explore possible changes to US immigration law and policy. 242 Integration, Protest, and Reform Civil Rights and the Latina/o Community The US Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which held that legally enforced school segregation violated the US Constitution , sparked the civil rights movement and demonstrated the potential for courts to catalyze social change.2 Over the years, litigation by Latina/o advocacy groups, such as the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), have successfully secured some civil rights gains for the Latino community. Plyler v. Doe, which ensured a primary and secondary education for undocumented children, is a shining example.3 However, the evidence indicates that litigation in the courts historically has not been as successful as one might think in promoting change for the Latina/o community. Although a much-heralded victory for Latinas/os, Plyler v. Doe itself shows the need for solid political support to cement significant changes decreed by the courts. A slender 5–4 majority of the Supreme Court rendered the decision in Plyler v. Doe. Over the next decade, a political reaction slowly brewed and erupted in dramatic fashion in California in 1994. That year, immigration restrictionists placed an initiative on the ballot that, besides denying health and social service benefits to undocumented persons, would have barred the public education of undocumented children. Their hope was to convince the Supreme Court to revisit and overrule Plyler v. Doe. Unfortunately, the initiative campaign was marked by anti-immigrant, anti-­ Mexican sentiment . Although a court invalidated most of Proposition 187 as an unconstitutional intrusion on the federal power over immigration, Plyler v. Doe demonstrates the need to build strong political support behind any incremental civil rights gains secured for Latinas/os through the courts.4 Today, a political movement has grown concerning the access to higher public education of undocumented students, many of whom came to the United States as children from Mexico without proper immigration documentation. The central issue is whether such students might be eligible , like other residents of the state, for in-state fees at public colleges and universities. Over the last decade, Congress has considered many proposals for a law that would expressly permit states to allow undocumented students to pay in-state fees to attend public colleges and universities and to regularize their immigration status. Members of Congress almost annually Civil Rights and the Latina/o Community 243 sponsor legislation known as the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.5 Versions of the bill have defined residency requirements for in-state tuition without regard to immigration status, provided a path to legalization for eligible undocumented students, and made undocumented students eligible for federal financial...