The Single Story of the "Illegal Immigrant"

When I typed in the words "illegal immigrants" on Google, these are just a few of the images that popped up:

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Video 1

Even though there may be media channels that promote a more open view on the subject, it seems the predominant view is still what is portrayed through this single story. Figure 1 shows that illegal immigrants come into the United States because they receive free benefits (food, education, healthcare, and jobs). Figure 2 shows the continued believe that most (if not all) illegal immigrants jump the border to come into the U.S. Figure 3 shows that the perception of illegal immigrants is equal to that of hardened criminals, and that they are nothing but criminals, sometimes equal to murderers and rapists (and are sometimes believed to be murderers and rapists just because they are now illegal - criminals of the worst kind). Figure 4 shows the believe that immigrants (and illegals, especially) must be Mexican. Video 4 shows us many different stereotypes of immigrants that Americans are presented with and led to believe. Through these portraits alone, we can determine the single story of the illegal immigrant: he is nothing but a criminal from Mexico who jumps the border and is here to receive the wealthy life of America by taking what belongs to Americans. By promoting this single story, those who are not familiar with the issue or with the people themselves will have created a perception that may not be easy to change and that this is the only story that matters when it comes to this group of people.

As any single story is restricting and limiting so is this one. It creates an identity in the outsiders mind that may not be accurate. Do illegal immigrants really receive all these free benefits? Are they all from Mexico, and do they all come through the border? Are they all as bad as murderers and should we treat them so? These are questions we need to ask to understand the many, many stories of the illegal immigrant. We need to take into account the fear that perhaps many of them live in - a fear that may stop them from getting "free healthcare" or other benefits we think they get, because they are afraid to be deported. We need to take into account the reasons why they are coming over; is it really for all these free benefits? Maybe the benefit is not that tangible, but maybe a security for their family from oppression or even real life danger. We need to take into account that perhaps not all illegal immigrants may be illegal immigrants, but could be illegal residents - immigrants who came here legally but whose visa expired, perhaps waiting on the system to renew their visas, a system that may take way too long to respond. We need to take into account that all illegal immigrants may not come from Mexico, or even from Central America, but from Asia and Europe as well; and that they arrived on a plane, and not crossing the border. We need to take into account that, while breaking a law is a bad, that shouldn't equate them to less than human - that because they are illegal, that does not mean that they are here to "rape our women and steal our jobs" as someone once mentioned, but maybe they are here to protect their family, a principle a lot of Americans can relate with. By creating this single story, we dehumanize this group and feel free to treat them with candor. By understanding the many stories they convey, we might not agree with their decision, but we will be closer to treating them humanely and with civility.

These artifacts show the single story of the illegal immigrant. He is a criminal and an evil doer. He is a thief, stealing our jobs and our money and our benefits. He jumps the border straight from Mexico and does whatever he wants, with our government doing nothing about it. This, as any single story, is dangerous because we close our minds to the human aspect of the issue. Through the story these artifacts present, we feel inclined to look at the illegal immigrant as a villain that deserves no right but to be sent packing, because they are all the same. Perpetuating this single story will be damaging not only to them as a group, but to ourselves, because we will teach ourselves not to see beyond the media and general perception, and our worlds will be small and restricting.

As a fun exercise, I decided to include this video where Jimmy Kimmel is trying to guess whether a person he's presented with is a foreigner or not. Can you guess?