All Latinos Should Come Together For Immigration Reform

Recently, blogger Julio R. Varela became incensed over comments that Puerto Ricans cannot understand other Latinos when it comes to immigration, due to their automatic U.S. citizenship. For several reasons, Varela takes umbrage with this assertion and talked to NewsTaco about he thoughts on Puerto Rican history with citizenship and Latino unity.

The Latino political bloc in the U.S. is not predominantly Mexican-American, he told us, given that some of the fastest growing Latino groups here are coming from Central America, Dominicans are the largest Latino group in New York City and there are more Puerto Ricans here than on the island. So, to try to divide Latino groups into us-and-them is not only derisive to all of us, but an insult to the history of Puerto Rico.

“That’s the part that drives me crazy,” Varela told NewsTaco. “It’s not like we woke up in 1898 when the U.S. invaded us and said, ‘Oh yeah, we want to become a part of the U.S.’ This was imposed upon us.”

There’s more than one choice between Latino groups in the U.S., Varela told us, and that’s either to fight amongst ourselves, or learn from each other and work together. In that vein, Puerto Ricans are, in many ways, second class citizens. Varela explained, “When I’ve lived in Puerto Rico, I’m a second-class U.S. citizen. I can’t vote for president, I don’t have any elected leaders and we have a non-voting member of Congress.”

Then there’s the fact that Puerto Rico does have a history of illegal immigration — from Dominicans. “It’s the same type of mentality from an immigration perspective that is on the border. Our cheap labor, the guys that cut our grass, are Dominican. There’s an incredible tension.” And, along the same lines, Puerto Ricans arrived to this country in large numbers as labor to the East Coast, “We were the first browns in New York city, so to say that we don’t understand discrimination and issues of social justice is not correct,” he said.

Ultimately, the best thing would be for Latinos to band together — “If we’re going to be 54 million people, then let’s be 54 million people,” he said — and work on the issues that we have in common based on what we share, rather than what differentiates us. “I’m Latino and immigration reform is important to me why can’t I talk about it? It doesn’t matter who I am,” Varela said. “I’m proud to be Puerto Rican, but I choose the option of ‘I’m a Latino and I have a lot in common with a lot of people who share the same cultural background.’”