Latino Memphis: Immigrants are a vital part of ‘901 salsa’
Before our city was founded, Hernando deSoto, a Spanish-speaking explorer traced our future — a land of opportunity for those willing to work hard.
Memphis’ Southern hospitality has paid off. We welcomed outsiders such as B.B. King and Elvis Presley. Danny Thomas, the son of Lebanese immigrants founded St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, after being inspired by his priest, Cardinal Stritch, a son of Irish immigrants.
Today, we can see in Downtown the fruits seeded by Carlos Cantu, the former chairman of ServiceMaster and the son of migrant workers. And who hasn’t been lifted from a seat watching Marc Gasol? Isaac Rodriguez, founder of SweetBio, and hundreds of other scientists and entrepreneurs in our area are helping elevate Memphis.
But despite the obvious contributions of immigrants, President Donald Trump continues to use a narrative of fear and division that is counterproductive. Perhaps this is the only meaningful campaign promise on which he can deliver.
In the past few weeks, our team at Latino Memphis has been conducting workshops and meeting with officials about this issue. Our legal department, working alongside our many partners, have talked to hundreds of people about how to be prepared for possible deportation, helping individuals create power of attorneys and custody arrangements.
I invite you to imagine what it would be like to have to decide who will take care of your children in case you don’t come back from work today. Consider the conversations taking place around dinner tables in these homes about the uncertainty and fear of being separated. When a knock on the door triggers the “who is it?” question, for many immigrant families, it could mean the end of life as they know it.
I honor the rule of law and recognize that we are a country of laws. But we expect good and fair laws. Yes, undocumented immigrants have broken the law, but deporting people and separating families constitutes “cruel and unusual” punishment for a violation of an administrative law, and not a crime.
The opportunity to “get right with the law” simply doesn’t exist for most immigrants.
The president wants to build infrastructure and make America safer. I second that. But don’t separate; instead, legislate.
Reform our immigration system, with protection at the border, but also by allowing people who are here, and those who want to come, to apply for work visas and guest worker programs that make sense.
Millions of people will be willing to pay fees and fines.
Mr. Trump has attempted to use a broad brush to paint immigrants as criminals. The fact is that in Shelby County, the number of crimes committed by immigrants is very small.
We constantly hear how immigrants take jobs away. This is far from being true. Memphis has an estimated skills gap of 16,000 unfilled jobs. This means that, even with a sizable number of immigrants in our community, there are thousands of jobs available.
I know from serving on the board of the Greater Memphis Chamber, that our No. 1 challenge in attracting industry is the readiness of our workforce.
Our city is richer than ever because the diversity of contributions to food, music and the arts of different people with different experiences coming together to make our city thrive.
We no longer look like a melting pot, but rather like a salsa, where we combine all of the ingredients without losing any of our individual identities. This “901 salsa” adds color and flavor to our already amazing city.
With adversity comes opportunity. Memphis has a huge opportunity in front of us. J. R. ‘Pitt’ Hyde, Fred Smith and Kemmons Wilson all created innovative solutions to problems that made our world a better place.
Memphis was resilient after the yellow fever epidemics and after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And together, we will do it once again.
At Latino Memphis, we stand ready to protect and support our families. This is vital not only for the Latino and immigrant communities; but also for the future success of our city and our country. Would you join us?
Mauricio Calvo is executive director of Latino Memphis.