Woke Up This Morning to Hurricane News and Thinking about How Immigrants Contribute to the Literal Re-Building of our Nation

Friends:

Many of us are waking up to regular news on the staggering devastation and wreckage of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. This morning, I woke up thinking about the 23 people who lost their lives, the hurricane's emotional and psychological toll, and the daunting task of rebuilding in those many areas impacted.

I was reminded of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, a category 5 hurricane, when immigrant workers were brought in to help rebuild the devastated areas. Similarly, undocumented immigrant labor played a key role in constructing Olympic Park in Georgia for the 1996 Olympics, as highlighted in the article titled, "Spirit of International Unity: How Immigrant Workers Helped Create the 1996 Olympics." 

The same situation occurred with Hurricane Ian in 2022. What’s deeply troubling is that despite immigrants’ consistently vast and invaluable contributions—so essential that our states couldn’t rebuild without them—they remain targets of persecution—as if they were less human. Why, then, are so many people susceptible to anti-immigrant rhetoric filled with blanket statements and stereotypes that are simply untrue? 

And why is Gov. DeSantis specifically so horrible towards them? As with our own governor here in Texas, it's clearly a great tactic politically because the issue makes people fearful and more willing to vote for the party that promulgates fear. It's ultimately, however, a toxic ideology that treats immigrants as "other," and as "less than" when the only non-immigrants in our nation are our native people Indigenous to this continent.

Most Mexicans and Mexican Americans are of Indigenous origins, as well, even if they don't claim it due to colonizing, historical processes of erasure, particularly in school curricula, that keep us from connecting to the stories, histories, and identities of our forebears. Hence, the importance of battles over school curricula that play out in local school boards, as well as in state policy, and the Texas State Board of Education.

I heard an elder say recently that treating immigrants harshly is unfair. "They're just coming home." If one has a sense of history that pre-dates the colonial period (1690-1820), this statement makes abundant sense. After all, our ancestors roamed freely across the continent. The Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs are in the same Uto-Aztecan language family as the Utes and Paiutes of the American Southwest. 

Like Texas, Utah gets its name from its Indigenous people. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, 26 of the U.S.'s 50 states have Native American names. Of all things, "Texas" comes from the Caddo people and it means "friendly." This is such a beautiful meaning that we fail to live up to when it comes to immigrants and Indigenous people.

Borders are thusly socially constructed through ideologies, policies, laws, statutes, ordinances, and ultimately through ways of knowing that distinguish who does and does not belong in our country. It's heartbreaking to realize that the greatest barrier to understanding is the layers of fiction used to separate people and justify prejudice and discrimination against them.

I have worked closely with the immigrant community my entire life. My grandfather even established a Baptist church in my hometown of San Angelo that was committed to the immigrant community. 

There is no one as hard working as them. And yes, they come to improve their lives, but also to offer a helping hand as the above stories indicate. Moreover, they give much more to our country than they ever get back in return. Heck, they keep everybody's social security afloat and receive no benefits in return.

I would only ask that folks consider the hypocrisy and animus when we witness the rebuilding of Florida and other states through the widespread use—and ongoing exploitation—of immigrant labor. 

Remember that they, too, are disoriented, shocked, and suffering from these Earth-shattering events that affect untold numbers of people. Moreover, like ourselves, they also have dreams and families with needs like our own and hopes for a better future.

-Angela Valenzuela