A battle at the polls, and the deferment of a dream, by Oscar Landaverde, La Tribuna Hispana, 2011-04-14, Translated from Spanish by Lenc
It is the same feeling as when Congress did not pass legislation for a Comprehensive Immigration Reform that would have benefited millions of people. It's the same feeling as when the Senate did not vote in favor of the dream of thousands of immigrant students in the DREAM Act, and when four Democrats voted against it. It's is the same disappointment as when the promise of a driver's license for all undocumented immigrants in New York disappeared due to a lack of leadership and weak legislators. It is the same deception as when President Obama promised immigration reform, and we are still waiting. Worse still, it is to know that there are members in our community who are gladdened by these defeats.
It's the same old story. During electoral campaigns, they promise to work for the Hispanic and immigrant community and call for our votes, but, at the hour of truth, they vote and act against the Hispanic community. Their explanation is that the system works in that manner but that people don't understand it, that they are forced to vote the way they do, that they have no recourse to go against the system, and that we need to be in their shoes in order to understand their actions. That's how reduced school budgets get approved, teachers are laid off, and Hispanic school districts are majorly impacted.
Any way, disappointing the Hispanic community does not matter. With a calculator in hand, they apply the old formula: only one in 100 Hispanics vote. When Assemblyman Philip Ramos invited Steve Levy to the Central American Festival I, held in Brentwood, the Suffolk executive did the same math: Why go to this event when all I can gain is maybe 30 votes? That's Levy's formula.
Democracy is beautiful. And that's why there are polls, to define the differences. But like Nobel Laureate José Saramago would say, "The big problem with our democratic system is that it allows for undemocratic things to happen democratically."
In those very polls, proposals have been approved that give local police authority to ask about immigration status, that demand only English be spoken at the workplace, that denies health care services at hospitals to people who do not posses the right documentation.
Despite all this, it is at the polls where we must continue to fight for changes to benefit our community. The fight at the polls allows for legislators aligned with their communities to attain positions with the power to make decisions. Such is the case in Maryland, where a legislator of Salvadorian origin fought for a long time so that immigrant students would be treated just like any other student. The state approved a version of the DREAM Act thanks to his initiative and leadership.
Despite all these inconveniences, immigrants will not fail to take to the street this coming May 1; students will not abandon their dream of a DREAM Act; nor will the Hispanic community let go of its desire to put more and better Hispanic officials in positions of power.
