Misjudgment of Illegal Immigrants

In the article, “Behind the ‘Illegal Alien’ Label, Real Kids with a lot to Contribute”, Marcos Brenton points out the issue on labeling and stereotyping illegal immigrants. He discusses the work that they do for us and how their contributions to society are often overlooked. They are hard workers who just want to help society and make a better life for themselves. Many times, we as Americans think of them in a negative light and do not give them the time of day; we do not care to listen to their story and automatically make them out to be the bad guys that feed off our tax dollars and welfare. But have we looked at the other side of the issue? Brenton successfully argues that there is a difference between the “day laborer and the drug dealer” by making the average American look from their perspective and understand that they are people with good intentions, wanting to make a difference.

Our American culture is depicted throughout the world as being lazy. In this article, Brenton talks about the farming industry and how Americans do not want to do hard manual labor. We want easy jobs that do not require much “blood, sweat and tears”. However harsh this may seem, I think we can all agree that our work ethic as a country is decreasing. Brenton makes reference to the Sacramento-based California Farm Bureau Federation who said that they would hire people within borders but no one is infatuated with the idea of working on a farm. Farmers have no other option than to hire illegal immigrants because they are the only ones willing to do it. The author makes a challenge in his article saying, “I dare some of you to take a ride up to the Yuba City area in July when it’s good and hot so you can pick melons all stooped over and moving fast as you can keep up with the real workers.” This really stood out to me because I realize that I do not want to do that kind of work. If there are other options, I will take those before I have to do farm labor. Without people doing that work, the farm industry would be in serious trouble. Brenton continues to elaborate that illegal immigrants have other things to offer. They are not “drug dealers” but good people who work hard to get an education so they can help contribute to society.

In conclusion, I think Brenton makes a very good argument that we are not giving the illegal immigration situation enough thought. We need to realize the huge impact they have on our country and that the stereotype of them being “drug dealers” needs to stop.