A Luther College lecture in Decorah challenged students and community members to look beyond current arguments over immigration enforcement and examine how U.S. policy helped shape undocumented migration.
Dr. Rene Rocha, a political science and Latino studies professor, spoke at Luther on Sept. 23 during a Hispanic Heritage Month event. His lecture, titled “The Borders We Built: How U.S. Policy Created Undocumented Migration,” focused on the history behind migration and the government’s role in creating and responding to the immigration system.
Lecture focused on history behind migration
Rather than centering the discussion on enforcement or removal, Rocha asked attendees to consider where migration comes from and how government policies have influenced it.
“We want to be thinking about the origins of migration and then thinking about what the government’s role in that process is,” Rocha said.
Rocha said immigration policy was not an interest of his while he lived in Texas because immigration was not experienced there primarily as a political issue. After moving to Iowa, however, he encountered immigration enforcement far from the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I’ve lived my whole life on the border, and now I’m in Iowa, and I’m still encountering immigration enforcement,” he said.
That experience helped direct Rocha’s attention toward interior enforcement, or immigration enforcement carried out within the country rather than only at the physical border.
The lecture also connected that subject to the 2008 Postville raid. The source described the operation as one of the largest immigration raids in U.S. history and reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 389 immigrants and deported 287.
Students considered local and personal impacts
Brooklyn Schultz, a Luther student who attended the lecture, said the presentation prompted her to think about how people affected by policy can be overlooked when discussions focus primarily on economic consequences.
“It’s awful to think that we don’t stop to think about the people impacted by our actions and only think about the economic benefit or loss,” Schultz said.
For Schultz, the lecture provided a way to view immigration through both historical and systemic perspectives instead of focusing only on current migration debates.
She also questioned the country’s changing relationship with immigration.
“I think it is ironic that the US used immigration to our benefit and now that we feel threatened by immigration we are now criminalizing it,” she said.
Rocha encouraged the audience to examine systems beyond government policy, including occupational systems and migration policies. He also asked listeners to consider their own connection to the immigration system, arguing that government is not separate from the public it serves.
“When we understand our role. And you know we say, the government. But what is the government? Right? It’s us,” Rocha said.
Luther staff member points to need for support
Michelle Boike, Luther’s assistant dean and director of CIES, said immigration carries historical, political and emotional significance for many people and communities. She noted that, although the Postville raid occurred in 2008, immigration enforcement remains a current concern for communities affected by ICE and other federal agencies.
Boike said those communities are seeking additional support and resources for immigrants. She also hoped students would understand that immigration is not tied to only one community, but affects communities in different ways.
“The topic of immigration carries historical, political, and emotional resonance for many people and communities,” Boike said.
Rocha said recognizing how people participate in the operation of the immigration system could change how immigrants are viewed and treated.
“If we understand that we’re part of the way the system operates,” Rocha said, “I would hope that changes it in a way that helps us humanize immigrants in that population more.”
The lecture placed a national immigration debate in an Iowa and Decorah-area setting, asking the audience to consider how federal policy, local communities and individual choices are connected.