The Plight of the Illegal Alien

T. C. Boyle's "The Tortilla Curtain" touched off a spirited debate at our couples book club. It painted ugly pictures of the plight of illegal Mexicans and the privileged whites who lived in a gated community in the LA suburbs.

From the opening scene where Candido gets hit by a white guy in a Lexus while crossing the road and paid $20 in damages, the impoverished Mexican and his wife America suffer one awful setback after another, including rape, robbery, and fire. They had struggled to get into this country illegally, she is 17 and pregnant, and they are living outside in a canyon for want of a better roof over their heads. The agony of getting occasional work through the labor exchange and the depth of their poverty are beyond belief. At the end of the book Candido is resorting to catching and stewing up domesticated cats to survive and feed his family. Ugh!

Their counterparts are Delaney, a self-proclaimed naturalist, and his successful-in-real-estate wife Kyra. They have a whole different set of worries from the Mexicans. Delaney actually initially opposes the wall and gate that are erected around their Arroyo Blanco community to keep out the despicable Mexicans and the coyotes, but by the end he is every bit as disgusting as his neighbors. They worry about their house and their cars and their clothes and their things.

These families are subjected to the same natural disasters in the end, which in a sense puts them on equal footing, but along the way their differences are quite pronounced.

The book causes you to stop and evaluate where you come out on immigration laws. We all know that if we just opened up the border between Mexico and the U.S., there would be a constant stream of immigrants hoping to enjoy the good life in this country. But instead they must sneak in and then hide from authorities, while providing cheap labor to anyone willing to pay with no recourse if they get screwed. This often means hazardous conditions in the workplace, disregard for the minimum wage, no access to health care, and on and on and on. On the other hand, for most of them staying in Mexico or El Salvador or any other Central American country would only present a dead end. So they take a chance on their dream, often at great personal and financial sacrifice.

I have a hard time with deporting someone who has risked everything to come here. I also have a hard time not recognizing their right to services and the privileges of anyone else living here.

But there is still this issue of whether an illegal alien has the right to take a job that might otherwise be done by an American citizen or at least someone who is here legally.

And what about their innocent children? I understand that they are not eligible for admission to most U.S. colleges and universities, where they would inevitably need financial aid. When can the American dream kick in for them?

The story of Candido and America hit me in the gut with the depiction of their plight, which is probably all too real. I found myself hating the rich Americans and wanting them to be consumed by the forest fire and the mudslide in return for their totally unacceptable behavior toward the Mexicans.

Immigration policy is a tricky wicket. I'm really undecided on the issue of who should be able to come in legally. But I am of a mind to recognize and support those who are here by whatever means. They are humanity too.

So have you branded me as a bleeding liberal? Where do you come out on this issue?