There's a lot more to understanding immigration than rhetoric

Most people have never heard of Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción.

It was recently in the news, but relegated to the inside pages, despite what happened there. Not a lot of follow up either, likely because it’s located on the outskirts of Guatemala City and not many people in this country care what happens in that country.

The “USA Today” version is that Virgen de la Asunción is a state-run home for minors, and not necessarily homeless or orphaned minors. According to a March 19 story in The New Yorker, simply put, it’s had issues, accusations of human rights violations with several staff members found guilty of sexual abuse in 2013.

On the night of March 7, fed up with the abuses and conditions, the children rioted, breaking out and fleeing into the surrounding countryside. Police and school staff eventually rounded them up and returned them to Virgen de la Asunción.

Boys were placed in one building and girls in another. For reasons not currently known, the girls were denied basic needs such as water and the ability to use the bathroom.

Coupled with pre-existing conditions — witnesses reported they saw some of the girls the night before “throwing rocks at their teachers and at the police and tauntingly shouting, ‘Come on and rape us again here, if that’s what you want!’” — the denials created desperation.

Sometime near mid-morning of March 8, fire broke out in the girls’ building. Some reports indicated several girls set it.

For some reason, the door to the building was locked and, apparently, nobody could find the key.

First reports from the scene indicated 17 girls died in the blaze. Then 19. At last count in The New Yorker story, 40 of the 52 girls in that building perished.

The various stories about Virgen de la Asunción got me thinking about immigration, both kinds. As a frequent traveler to Guatemala, and definitely not the touristy part, I’ve witnessed conditions that likely cause desperation in people, so much so that they leave everything behind for the hopes of a better life somewhere — legal or illegal, doesn’t matter.

That got me thinking about how much we know about immigrants, both kinds. Fortunately, there’s research to be read, if one is so inclined.

For instance, a 2014 report on ProCon.org indicated that 59 percent (6.72 million) of the estimated 11.43 million undocumented workers in the U.S. in 2012 were from Mexico. Around 15.57 (1.78 million) came from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador, while 10.24 percent (1.17 million) hailed from the Philippines, Korea, China, Brazil and India.

The numbers from Mexico aren’t surprising. The latter two sets are interesting. We know our solution to the Mexican issue, but what about those from the Asia countries or Central and South Americas.

A wall wouldn’t be possible, but are we going to round them up and ship them home too? Will that be the focus after we send the Mexicans home? We don’t hear much about the 1.17 million illegals from Asia.

A March 16, 2017 study by Pew Research provided an insight into where immigrants, both kinds, worked in 2014. The “industry” with the highest percentage of immigrant workers was private households, with 45 percent of the 947,000 people working for private households being immigrants.

Second was textile, apparel and leather manufacturers at 36 percent while third was agriculture, with 33 percent of the 2 million agriculture workers “Born outside the U.S.A.!” (Sorry Bruce.)

With regards to Mexico, a number of studies indicate immigration from there is declining. An interesting tidbit from a March 2 Pew Research study revealed Mexican unauthorized immigrants are more likely to be long-term residents of the U.S., 78 percent, for at least a decade than similar immigrants from other countries, 52 percent.

There’s a lot more, and you can take what you want out of these and other stats. My take is that instead of learning for ourselves who immigrants are to develop an understanding about what might send them crossing borders to countries unknown, we let others’ fears and prejudice become our own.

Fear and prejudice aren’t ways to conduct positive human relations — but they will build your wall.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.