From the Other Side of the Edge….
A Tale of Two Immigrants 
By Joe Facinoli 

My Grandfather Francesco came through Ellis Island in 1892, with his three younger brothers, on his way to the “New World” from his beloved Italy.    

He never went back, nor ever had a reason to.   

Having endured the long and arduous Atlantic crossing, on a less than palatial vessel, he was then faced with the interminably long lines and endless inspection stations at this famous Port of Entry.   Passing all the medical and physical tests, and having all his paperwork signed, stamped, and approved, after even more interrogation, he was released into the golden land of opportunity.  

He spoke no English, and had no money.     

Greeted with certain appreciation, because of what they brought with them, this group of young men desperately needed work, and so were soon sent off to the pits of West Virginia, for the very difficult and extremely dangerous task of bringing “King” coal up from the deep ground, by hand.   

Because the burgeoning American “Industrial Age” economy needed more help than the sheer number of those already here could provide, these “new Americans” were thought of as valued assets.   They brought more labor, cheap and unquestioning, for the back breaking work that needed to be done to support the many exploding industries in this country then.   Coal, oil, steel, railroads, clothing, as well as farming and agriculture, all looked at huge shortages of manpower, to continue their unprecedented growth.  

This was the gift that those four boys, and millions like them, brought willingly to America.   This “sweat equity”, and their acceptance of the challenge of a new life, a new language, and a broad new world of opportunities, was more than enough to make them equal partners in these endeavors, exciting for some, purely necessary for most, and new to everyone. 

Oh, there were illegals, many of them.   There were so many “undocumented” Italians that they even had a name for them:  WOPs, which was short for “With Out Papers”.   But even those were accepted by the native born folks, if sometimes grudgingly, because there was still a place for all the new people, and they filled such a glaring need.    

It was not easy, and the struggles and culture conflicts were legendary, as this gigantic, nationwide integration took shape.   But integrate they did, the economy boomed, and the country was better for it.   

My friend Maria came to this country through Brownsville, Texas, in 2006 with about twenty others, on her way to a “new life” from her beloved Central America.   

She was afraid to go back, knowing what awaited her there, and yet had every reason to fear staying here.   

They swam (more like waded) across the Rio Grande, from Mexico, at a narrow spot near that poor border town (which is not exactly NYC), hid for days on end in the bush country when the sun was up, walking only at night, until they finally reached San Antonio, where they disappeared into the sea of Brown Humanity waiting there for them, and in so many other American cities. 

She spoke little English, and had no money.  

Greeted with contempt, because of the threat they posed, these determined compadres scattered to all corners of the U.S., to do the difficult, tedious, often demeaning and low paying work, which American workers would not.     

Because the recovering U.S. portion of the new “Global Economy”, in the early 21st century, was so heavily burdened by the American “entitlement culture”, these “New Americans” were not only seen as valued assets, by businessmen and entrepeneurs who loved their work ethic and loyalty, but also as interlopers, by those firmly entrenched in the “me first”, “hand-out”, “I want the money, but not the hard work” way of doing things today.   

They brought more labor, cheap and unquestioning, to do the back breaking work that needed to be done, to support the many struggling industries in this country now.   Especially since Americans, by the tens of millions, will not, or choose not, to do this work.   

Whole industries often go begging for workers, sometimes regardless of pay rate:   Migrant harvesting and farmwork, warehouses, and loading and unloading trucks wherever, cleaning of anything (houses, offices, toilets), in the heat and stench of hotel laundry rooms, in greasy steamy kitchens, and backrooms of restaurants, mowing lawns, picking up trash, and construction labor.   

This is the unspoken and unrecognized gift that this group, and millions like them, brings so very willingly to America.   This true “sweat equity”, and their acceptance of the challenge of a new life (often on the run, but always wholly different from everything which they left behind), a new language, and a broad new world of opportunities, should be more than enough to make them equal partners in these labors and new endeavors, exciting for very few of them, accomplished with pride by almost of all them, and absolutely necessary for every one of them. 

Yes, there are certainly illegals among them, maybe most, and definitely millions.   Americans have a word for these “undocumented” Hispanic folks as well:   Wetbacks, which alludes to the mode of entry used by so many of them, who came (swam) across our southern border.   But even these were welcomed with open arms by many American blue collar businesses, who had given up on the native born folks, while trying to find a sufficient labor force.   So, there is still a place for all these new people, and they still fill such a gaping need, and hole, in our economy.   

And truly, it has not been easy for them to integrate, nor for the country to accept them.   The struggles and culture conflicts have been legendary, and often horrific, as this gigantic, nationwide and drastic change attempted to take shape.   

Unfortunately, for this new group of immigrants, most of whom only want a better life, and in the process, make the U.S. stronger by its broadened diversity and renewed depth of work habits and ethics, the integration necessary for the economy to boom again has not happened, and the country is much worse for it.   

So what, if anything, makes these two groups of immigrants different from each other?    Maybe nothing, other than the fact that they are separated by 114 years, or so. 

They both came here for the opportunities, and in their own ways, they both came by invitation.  

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. was begging people to come here, because there was more work than the populace could handle.   There was full employment, with huge numbers of jobs still going unfilled.  We needed bodies, and families, and encouraged anyone who would listen to come, virtually opening all borders, just to get them here. 

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, American business was and is desperate for (and again begs for) good manual labor, because there’s more work here than the American populace is willing to do.   Unemployment is high, but not for the low end, gritty, grimey service type jobs, where one actually has to work hard for their pay.    They need bodies, and with the absence of willing Americans, are looking the other way on documentation, just to fill the jobs with adequate numbers.  

Once they were here, these immigrants, legal and illegal, eventually created, and then sustained, the greatest economic juggernaut and hegemony that the world has ever known.   And now, American politicians don’t know what to do with them.   

It’s the “dirty little secret” that everyone knows about, but no one wants to talk about.   The 800 pound gorilla, that’s sitting on our couch, that everyone wishes would leave, but everybody needs to it stay, and they don’t quite know how to solve that little “Catch 22” riddle.   

If we get rid of all the illegal immigrants, who will do all the dirty, low paying work they do??   Certainly not Americans, not in any great number.   

And with all the handouts, giveaways, stimuli, and “free stuff” that our government has been handing over for decades, any motivation towards that end, for Americans, is years of “re”-education away.  

So, if we don’t want $27 tomatoes, and wouldn’t want to part with $75 for a kid’s meal at McDonald’s, nor to fork over $300 to have our front lawns mowed, what should we do?   

These are questions that should have been asked and answered decades ago, and now have become virtually “rhetorical” (unanswerable) questions, because the solutions would involve such drastic changes to the culture and psyche, as to be nearly impossible, now.  

Do we look to Congress for guidance here?   Or the court system to sort this out?   Doubtful, on both counts.   Stay tuned to this space, in future weeks, and I’ll let you in on my plan, for a solution to this “Gordian Knot” of a quandary we now find ourselves.  

Suffice to say, however, that my answer will not find much blame with the undocumented folks involved.  Not from this “glass house” we’ve constructed, and now live in.   

No more than I would blame someone’s car for their road rage or drunk driving, a neighbor’s gun for a home intruder mistakenly getting shot, nor a voting machine for rigging an election.   

We’re looking in the wrong place, people.   The ones doing the heavy lifting and dirty cleaning should not be unduly, nor overly punished.   Not after they were invited into our house to clean the toilets, and carry our firewood.   

Joe Facinoli 

(Joe can be reached at:  joefacinoli@gmail.com )

Intelligent response encouraged !! 

© Copyright 2013, Joe Facinoli