The issue of immigration in America: seeing beyond labels

It was the day of June 19, 2018 in Salem, Ohio when Immigrations and Custom Enforcement agents started out on one of the biggest raids ever conducted in a workplace in the United States.

The raid at Fresh Mark meat packaging plant resulted in 146 arrests,the majority of them Guatemalans, who were suspected to have entered the country illegally.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, ICE raids in northeast Ohio increased by 13 percent in 2018 alone under President Trump, who has been vocal about his immigration stance since launching his campaign in 2015.

“I can’t even explain how different it is now,” Lynn Tramonte said.

Lynn Tramonte is the director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, a group aimed at encouraging Ohioans to engage in pro-immigration advocacy with their representatives.

“Immigrants knew as soon as the day after the election — they knew their days were numbered,” the activist said.

After the presidential election, Tramonte said tension among many families in northeast Ohio was palpable.

“In November they were having meetings with lawyers on how to properly fill out power of attorney forms to make sure their children are with the right guardians if they get deported,” she said.

The activist said she wants people to understand these issues aren’t just happening to families at the United States’ southern border with Mexico, but here in northeast Ohio.

“I also want people to understand that immigrants are not people that live in a separate neighborhood from us. They’re our neighbors, and our family members, and our friends,” she said. “If you’re going to denigrate one group of people based on their immigration status, you’re actually hurting their children and American citizens at the same time.”

Becoming empathetic

Kent State Professor and storyteller Gary Harwood is no stranger to exploring these preconceived misconceptions.  

“I was a bit surprised that 30, 40 minutes from my house, there was a community of migrant workers from Mexico. So, I went out to see it and knew I wanted to do this project. Not much was going to stop me,” Harwood said.

It was over 15 years ago that he began working on Growing Season — a book that explores the lives of a tightly-knit migrant community in Hartville, Ohio. It was there where he met Erika Contreras, a naturalized citizen and mother of two.

“I was just curious about how they lived. I knew nothing about them. I was just curious to learn about how they do what they do,” the author said.

Harwood said one of the biggest lessons from this project was that each community and every person was so much more than the labels society had assigned to them.

“Their individual stories become very important, and I think if we heard more individual stories than a massive group that we have come to call a particular name, and if we just got to know them more on an individual basis, we probably would think differently, ” Harwood said.  

Seeing beyond labels

Erika Contreras was brought to the U.S. by her parents at the age of 10. It was a choice, she said, she had no say in.

“Going into middle school, not knowing any English, it was tough, really, really tough. I just looked around and I just was like I can’t tell what they’re saying and I couldn’t tell them I didn’t understand them,” the mother of two said. “So that left me with nobody to help me out… so I had to figure it out on my own, which I did.”

Years later, Contreras hopes her story will encourage others to be more understanding of those who come from a different background.

“You have to put yourself in their shoes to see how brave they are. Just to leave everything they have, and they must have a major, major reason to leave everything you’re comfortable with. You’re risking yourself for something you don’t want. They must have a very major reason to move here to a place where you won’t even be able to communicate,” Contreras said.

Most importantly, Contreras said wants people to look beyond labels.

“We’re just like anybody, any other community, just like any other race. We have the good, the bad, the worst, but if you don’t open yourself up and give yourself a chance to know us and give us a chance to show us who we really are, you will have the wrong impression because you’re not opening up and letting us show you who we are.”