As an immigrant and advocate for immigration reform, nothing upsets me off more than when I hear people who look like me complain and say, “President Obama is doing immigration for Latinos, but has done nothing for Black people.” It’s a rather myopic view of what is in fact a very complex situation. Sadly, many are of the ill-formed opinion that becoming documented is just as simple as going to the DMV and waiting in line.

If only the process was that simple, but it’s not. This type of rhetoric frustrates me. But I’ve come to realize that this country is chock full of ignorant people, who are easily influenced by the racist anti-immigration movement. And what’s even more frustrating when I hear this garbage? That said ignorance belittles the collective efforts of grassroots activists intent on seeing change; many of whom are undocumented themselves.

These are people who are willing to put their lives on the line who risk deportation and possible separation from their families. These are people like Verónica Bayetti Flores, an immigrant and queer woman of color, who was arrested in New York City recently. What was her crime? Standing alongside undocumented youth ion hopes of Governor Andrew Cuomo implementing New York’s version of the DTREAM Act. A measure that will at the least give people brought here as children a temporary respite from fear of deportation and a life of American normalcy.

Here is what Veronica had to say:

I am a queer immigrant writer, activist, and artist. I’ve worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color, and helped to lead social justice efforts in Wisconsin, New York City, and Texas.

Today, I stand as an ally to undocumented youth in the effort to demand the passage of the New York State DREAM Act, which has the potential to radically transform undocumented young people’s access to education in New York. In preparing for today’s action, I re-read the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail; the powerful lessons of this open letter remain relevant today. In it, Dr. King assures us that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, and that it must be not only demanded by the oppressed, but demanded now. That, although those who have not suffered from racial injustice too often claim that the time is not right, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

Justice has been denied to undocumented immigrants for too long. I am doing this today because I am a reproductive justice activist, and I know that education impacts access to health care. I am doing this today because I am queer, and I know that queer youth of color in New York are disproportionately poor and unable to afford housing, much less the rising costs of higher education. I am doing this today because, as an immigrant who was not eligible for financial aid when I applied for college, I know that most will not have the luck and the privilege that I had when I was still able to access the education has been integral to my success and happiness.

The comprehensive immigration reform being discussed in Congress will not address many of these concerns, and will leave much to be desired. State efforts like the New York DREAM Act remain critical in to the path toward justice for undocumented youth. Today, I demand that Governor Cuomo make this bill a priority. He needs to know that he does not have Latinos and immigrants in the bag if he has his eyes set on a presidential run in 2016: we need action, and we are watching.

Listen to her in her own words:

… immigration reform benefits the country.

When immigration reform does indeed become a reality and the ink that is the signature of President Obama has dried. It would be because of the hard work of people dedicated to change. It would be because those of us involved were able to build consensus by telling our stories. It would be because the people like Veronica were able to humanize an undesirable underclass of people in this country, also in pursuit of the American Dream.

As our political leaders debate and wrangle with the task of immigration reform. It’s important to know that while there is no shortage of ignorant talk when it comes to the issue. There are m,many courageous individuals who get it, who are standing up and speaking out in the interest of social justice. Not just social justice, but also human rights. Because believe it or not, immigration is indeed a human rights issue as well.

Still don’t get it?

Watch the following:

I mean while everyone is running around afraid of the little brown Mexican al-Queda jumping fences to come into the country illegally and have more babies than white folks. Nobody realized that the Asian immigrant community has surpassed Hispanics to become the largest immigrant group in the United States. Yeah, nobody is worried about them bringing in all that MSG to get us fat so we die of heart disease, diabetes, mesothelioma, or whatever as payback for dropping bombs  on them back in the day. Nope, instead, let’s fuck with the tanned people and make them out to be the job-stealing, drug-pushing, and no-insurance-having while driving illegally people they are.

Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success, according to a comprehensive new nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center.

A century ago, most Asian Americans were low-skilled, low-wage laborers crowded into ethnic enclaves and targets of official discrimination. Today they are the most likely of any major racial or ethnic group in America to live in mixed neighborhoods and to marry across racial lines. When newly minted medical school graduate Priscilla Chan married Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg last month, she joined the 37% of all recent Asian-American brides who wed a non-Asian groom.¹

These milestones of economic success and social assimilation have come to a group that is still majority immigrant. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Asian-American adults were born abroad; of these, about half say they speak English very well and half say they don’t.

Asians recently passed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States. The educational credentials of these recent arrivals are striking. More than six-in-ten (61%) adults ages 25 to 64 who have come from Asia in recent years have at least a bachelor’s degree. This is double the share among recent non-Asian arrivals, and almost surely makes the recent Asian arrivals the most highly educated cohort of immigrants in U.S. history.

Recent Asian immigrants are also about three times as likely as recent immigrants from other parts of the world to receive their green cards—or permanent resident status—on the basis of employer rather than family sponsorship (though family reunification remains the most common legal gateway to the U.S. for Asian immigrants, as it is for all immigrants).

The modern immigration wave from Asia is nearly a half century old and has pushed the total population of Asian Americans—foreign born and U.S born, adults and children—to a record 18.2 million in 2011, or 5.8% of the total U.S. population, up from less than 1% in 1965.³ By comparison, non-Hispanic whites are 197.5 million and 63.3%, Hispanics 52.0 million and 16.7% and non-Hispanic blacks 38.3 million and 12.3%.

Asian Americans trace their roots to any of dozens of countries in the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Each country of origin subgroup has its own unique history, culture, language, religious beliefs, economic and demographic traits, social and political values, and pathways into America. (source: Pew Research)

So what is this all about? Well, we already know how that fear-mongering thing works in America. You pick a certain minority ethnic group, you bastardize them, criminalize them, and the next thing you know, you have a folks in the racial majority afraid and ready to string them up in trees like a pinata while posing for pictures on Main Street. Well, on this immigration debate, I say it’s time we shifted the paradigm just a bit. Rather than worrying about “illegals” voting as Gov. Rick Scott and pretty much all Republicans who attempt to sell the faux voter fraud meme to justify purging registered voters. Why not focus on the benefits of immigration; or more specifically, the economic benefits our society has enjoyed by the many immigrants entering the country? With the US being a nation of immigrants, surely there must be benefits to bringing people into the country other than to pick cotton for free, right? But let the noisemakers tell it, this was just a politically expedient move by Obama. Newsflash: Obama was kicking Romney’s ass when it comes to Hispanic voters as far as polls have reflected:

Even amid concerns about the pressures of new, lower-income or less-educated residents, cities with high numbers of the foreign born saw tax bases grow and per-capita income increase, the report released today by the ratings company said.

“To make a case that immigration causes governments to go broke or jurisdictions to have budget overruns is a simplistic argument,” said Horacio Aldrete-Sanchez, a senior director in state and local government ratings for S&P and an author of the report. “There are undoubtedly costs to these governments, but there is also an overall increase in economic activity and a stabilizing impact on the labor markets.”

The company looked at cities where immigrants fueled population growth from 2000 to 2010 as well as cities where rapid population growth was primarily due to domestic migration.

The analysts found that while it is difficult to isolate the impact of immigration on local governments, it has not resulted in the deterioration of city economies or financial standings. No city has had its municipal credit rating downgraded because of the burden of immigration, Aldrete-Sanchez said.

“Regardless of whether foreign immigration or domestic migration, as long as there is population growth that seems to be the one factor that drives economic activity,” Aldrete- Sanchez said.

So yeah, about the debate over Obama’s execution of prosecutorial discretion mistakenly billed as an executive order (see here). When you sonsider that most of these kids and adults have been educated here in America, wouldn’t it be a waste to kick them all out for the crime of not having legal documentation because of the actions of their parents? Rather than look at immigrants — legal and otherwise — as criminals and an economic drain on society. Why not understand what we stand to lose by nor allowing DREAMers or all undocumented immigrants an opportunity by comprehensive reform? But hey, if you don’t believe me as most of you are known to do, let me remind you that over 50% of graduates with advanced degrees particularly in STEM programs, are in fact foreign-born students. That said, surely it’s understandable how this benefits us from an economic perspective.

Here’s what I’m talking about; you have to watch this:

GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has promised to veto the DREAM Act several times. DREAM activist have also pressed him multiple times on the subject, including interrupting a recent victory speech in Massachusetts with DREAM Act chants.

But now the pressure is coming from Romneys own Mexican relatives.

“Ellos (the Dreamers) no han hecho nada malo (they have done nothing wrong),” one of Romney’s relatives said in an interview aired Monday on Univision. “The U.S. certainly could use their talents.”

Check out the video:

Washington (CNN) — In a move that could shake up the U.S. immigration system, the Department of Homeland Security is going to begin reviewing all 300,000 pending deportation cases in federal immigration courts to determine which individuals meet specific criteria for removal and to focus on “our highest priorities.”

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the review will enhance public safety. “Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons,” Napolitano wrote Thursday in a letter to assistant majority leader Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and 21 other senators including Indiana Republican Richard Lugar.

[…] Napolitano said the Obama administration has frequently pointed out “it makes no sense to expend our enforcement resources on low-priority cases, such as individuals… who were brought into this country as young children and know no other home.”

Officials say immigration court dockets are clogged, putting public safety in jeopardy, costing money, resources and time. They want to see DHS enforcement resources diverted from illegal immigrants who don’t have criminal records to individuals who pose a threat to public safety and national security.

[…]Under the new process, a DHS and the Department of Justice working group will develop specific criteria to identify low-priority removal cases that should be considered for prosecutorial discretion, including cases with minors, the elderly, pregnant and nursing women, victims of serious crimes, veterans and members of the armed services and individuals with serious disabilities or health problems. (Source: CNN.com)

I’d say that the fact that the anti-immigrant movement  is lying about this change – as they always do – signals a small victory for those hopeful for immigration reform. Mind you, there’s still a need for more work in this regard; and yes, there is still more that the president can do by executive order. But after waiting for legislation to hit the floor for the last three years, we’ll say thank you president Obama However, expect us to turn up the heat even more.