- Title: Latinos in D.C. have mixed reaction to Trump's tougher immigration measures
- Date: 25th January 2017
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) STREET CORNER WITH CARS DRIVING BY AND PEDESTRIANS WALKING VARIOUS OF PEDESTRIANS WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MARTA CECILIA AVALO, SALVADORAN HOUSEKEEPER IN U.S. 32 YEARS, SAYING: "I don't know why this gentleman (referring to President Donald Trump) opposes us (migrants) knowing we are all human beings and we have the same needs just as he had when he entered the White House. So I think-- well, I don't have any relatives who are looking to come or go but I do understand people's situation and I think this is very bad." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ROCIO MARIBEL NORIEGA, MEXICAN WOMAN FROM OAXACA IN U.S. TEN YEARS, SAYING: "It is absurd that our current president is doing something so illogical. Undoubtedly, the measures he is taking affect us also because many things that we consume will now go up in price because he is not allowing for trade." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ROCIO MARIBEL NORIEGA, MEXICAN WOMAN FROM OAXACA IN U.S. TEN YEARS, SAYING: "I think things are going to get a bit difficult now but we must keep our heads up because we aren't criminals. We are not people who come to do anyone harm; we come for opportunities like everyone else and, more than anything, we come in search of a better life. So if we can't have one in our own country and we can here, and we are following a straight path I think it is viable that we be here and we make our presence known." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GLORIA, EL SALVADOR STREET VENDOR, SAYING: "The truth is we come here to work and there are many people who truly need to be legalized here and he (referring to President Donald Trump), based on everything he says, is not good. Many people truly deserve this country's help and I think what he says is not good for all people. I don't think anyone agrees with him. Because those things he says about DACA-- he can't just leave many young people who really want to study and can't. It would be good for them if they gave them space so they can prepare themselves because they want to do so. I have a daughter who wants to continue studying and if they get rid of DACA, how will she study? Many Latinos want to better ourselves but he wants to get rid of all of that." GLORIA WALKING AWAY WITH HER FOOD WAGON THAT SHE SELLS ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED GUATEMALAN MAN WHO HAS LIVED IN U.S. TEN TO TWELVE YEARS, SAYING: "I look favourably on the president. I think he will be a good president. Those who don't behave will fight him. We are not natives in this country so I don't think we can come here and make laws. I know this country is the most powerful and richest nation in the world and has given a great opportunity to all Hispanics, all Latinos, people from all over the world, to come honestly and work to help our families." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED GUATEMALAN MAN WHO HAS LIVED IN U.S. TEN TO TWELVE YEARS, SAYING: "On the one hand, controlling the borders is good because otherwise, the country would fill up with drug traffickers, with evil people who come from other countries. The country could get bad." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) NORIS GONZALEZ, 25-YEAR-OLD LATINA BORN IN U.S. OF SALVADORAN PARENTS, SAYING: "I feel like he is separating families by doing that and I don't think it's right. By building a wall, he's just making a division between families and cultures and a lot more things than just a wall." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) NORIS GONZALEZ, 25-YEAR-OLD LATINA BORN IN U.S. OF SALVADORAN PARENTS, SAYING: "It's going to change both good and bad because, in a good way, a lot of people lose their lives trying to come here and trying to go over that wall. And maybe by building a bigger wall, they will reconsider even coming here and just stay over there. But then it's bad because a lot of people come here looking for another dream, another lifestyle, because it's dangerous back home and they don't have what we have here which is a lot of opportunities for children to go to school and have an education." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) DARREN HAYWARD, 52-YEAR-OLD AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN OF MEXICAN DESCENT, SAYING: "My great-grandfather was from Mexico so I understand the plight of the immigrants. However, me being an African-American and someone from the inner city, I understand without the wall, then we can't have security on our borders and Hispanics and African-Americans are victimized by the drugs that come through that border just as much as anybody. So anyone who has a problem with setting a border to keep everyone straight and make everyone come through and wait their turn, I think it's ludicrous. This is a country of laws and in order to have laws, you have to have people that follow them. So if the people who come in, come in breaking the law, then how can we have a civil society? How can we keep account of who is coming here? Because just as easy as they can come here, so can terrorists." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET
- Embargoed: 8th February 2017 23:12
- Keywords: immigrants migration immigration Latinos Hispanics reaction reax
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00160KZ7EV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: As news broke on Wednesday (January 25) that U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered construction of a U.S.-Mexican border wall and punishment for cities shielding undocumented migrants, Latinos residing in Washington, D.C. shared mixed reaction to the tightening of U.S. migration policies.
Less than a week into his presidency, Trump has moved aggressively to put his stamp on a range of policies, with Wednesday's directives signalled a tough action toward the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States, most from Latin America, whom he already has threatened to deport.
Salvadoran housekeeper Marta Cecilia Avalo has lived in the U.S. for three decades and says Trump should have greater consideration for migrants who enter the country out of necessity.
"I don't know why this gentleman (referring to President Donald Trump) opposes us (migrants) knowing we are all human beings and we have the same needs just as he had when he entered the White House. So I think-- well, I don't have any relatives who are looking to come or go but I do understand people's situation and I think this is very bad," she said.
The latest directives ordered the construction of a multibillion-dollar wall along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border, a wall Mexican Rocio Maribel Noriega called "absurd."
"It is absurd that our current president is doing something so illogical. Undoubtedly, the measures he is taking affect us also because many things that we consume will now go up in price because he is not allowing for trade."
Noriega, who has been in the U.S. for ten years, is originally from Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca, a humble area controlled by drug-traffickers from where many have fled. Oaxaca is also on the northward path for Central American migrants headed to the U.S.
She said it was important for Latino migrants to keep their pride and reject the rhetoric that they are criminals.
"I think things are going to get a bit difficult now but we must keep our heads up because we aren't criminals. We are not people who come to do anyone harm; we come for opportunities like everyone else and, more than anything, we come in search of a better life. So if we can't have one in our own country and we can here and we are following a straight path I think it is viable that we be here and we make our presence known," she added.
His plans prompted an outcry from immigrant advocates and Democratic lawmakers who said Trump was jeopardizing the rights and freedoms of millions of people while treating Mexico as an enemy, not an ally, and soiling America's historic reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants of all stripes.
"The truth is we come here to work and there are many people who truly need to be legalized here and he (referring to President Donald Trump), based on everything he says, is not good," said Salvadoran street vendor Gloria, who said she was particularly concerned about any possible repeal of former U.S. President Barack Obama's executive action that deferred deportation for undocumented migrants who entered as children, a program known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).
"Many people truly deserve this country's help and I think what he says is not good for all people. I don't think anyone agrees with him. Because those things he says about DACA-- he can't just leave many young people who really want to study and can't. It would be good for them if they gave them space so they can prepare themselves because they want to do so. I have a daughter who wants to continue studying and if they get rid of DACA, how will she study? Many Latinos want to better ourselves but he wants to get rid of all of that."
But not all Latinos were against tough immigration policies.
One Guatemalan man, who has lived in the U.S. for ten to 12 years, said he is thankful the U.S. has provided him and so many other people with the opportunity to work and help their families. He feels the country has a right to control its borders to keep out criminals.
"I look favourably on the president. I think he will be a good president. Those who don't behave will fight him. We are not natives in this country so I don't think we can come here and make laws. I know this country is the most powerful and richest nation in the world and has given a great opportunity to all Hispanics, all Latinos, people from all over the world, to come honestly and work to help our families," he said.
"On the one hand, controlling the borders is good because otherwise, the country would fill up with drug traffickers, with evil people who come from other countries. The country could get bad," he added.
The White House said the wall would stem the flow of drugs, crime and illegal immigration into the United States.
In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction on the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the United States "100 percent" of the costs. Mexican officials have said they will not pay for the wall.
The cost, nature and extent of the wall remain unclear. Trump last year put the cost at "probably $8 billion," although other estimates are higher, and he said the wall would span 1,000 miles (1,600 km) because of the terrain of the border.
Twenty-five-year-old Noris Gonzalez was born in the U.S. to Salvadoran parents. She said the border wall has a very human cost-- families and cultures are torn apart.
"I feel like he is separating families by doing that and I don't think it's right. By building a wall, he's just making a division between families and cultures and a lot more things than just a wall," she said, adding that the situation for future migrants will change, both for the good and bad.
"It's going to change both good and bad because, in a good way, a lot of people lose their lives trying to come here and trying to go over that wall. And maybe by building a bigger wall, they will reconsider even coming here and just stay over there. But then it's bad because a lot of people come here looking for another dream, another lifestyle, because it's dangerous back home and they don't have what we have here which is a lot of opportunities for children to go to school and have an education," she said.
But not everyone who identifies as a Latino disagreed with the building of a wall.
Fifty-two-year-old Darren Hayward is a descendant of a Mexican. He said he is sympathetic to migrants, but believes the country has a right to require would-be migrants to enter in an orderly and proper manner, pointing out that minorities are overrepresented as victims of violence in the U.S.
"My great-grandfather was from Mexico so I understand the plight of the immigrants. However, me being an African-American and someone from the inner city, I understand without the wall, then we can't have security on our borders and Hispanics and African-Americans are victimized by the drugs that come through that border just as much as anybody. So anyone who has a problem with setting a border to keep everyone straight and make everyone come through and wait their turn, I think it's ludicrous. This is a country of laws and in order to have laws, you have to have people that follow them. So if the people who come in, come in breaking the law, then how can we have a civil society? How can we keep account of who is coming here? Because just as easy as they can come here, so can terrorists," he said.
According to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter, the White House plans to temporarily stop receiving refugees and suspend visas for people from seven Middle Eastern and North African countries, saying they target Muslims and will make America less safe.
Making good on campaign promises, President Donald Trump is also expected to order a multi-month ban on allowing refugees into the United States except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.
His directives moved to strip federal funding from "sanctuary" states and cities that harbour illegal immigrants, and expanded the force of American immigration agents.
Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a key element of his presidential campaign, with supporters at his rallies often chanting: "Build the wall." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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