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The harmful narrative portraying Latino immigrants as resource-drainers with nothing to contribute fails to recognize the vital role they play in our everyday lives nationwide. Their contributions are essential in countless ways to a country like the United States.

I’m proud to be Mexican American and come from two Mexican immigrant parents. I’m also proud to be from East Los Angeles, California, a community of immigrants, their descendants and advocates.

My parents crossed the border in the late 1990s with my two oldest siblings, who were then three and eight. To increase their chances of making it, they split up; my mom and brother took one route, my dad and sister another.

My mom and brother had it the roughest, sleeping in the cold desert, walking in the brutal heat and eventually running out of food and water. That’s all my mom has ever shared with me from their experience. Even 30 years later, the trauma is too painful to fully revisit, which I understand. The bits she’s offered reveal a story layered with pain, both physical and emotional.

My parents left Mexico in search of better opportunities. They grew up in poverty and unstable homes. Their education was cut off at a young age and they joined the workforce prematurely to help their families. They didn’t want that for their children.

Instead, they came to achieve the so-called “American Dream.” I say so-called because the concept promises success through hard work, but it ignores race, class and privilege. Still, my parents pursued the closest version of that dream they could.

Once in California, they worked endlessly — from owning a produce truck to taking underpaid garment jobs — doing any and every side hustle. Rent was high, so they moved often. They don’t talk much about those early years, so I’ve had to piece together their story from the fragments they’ve shared.

In many ways, they succeeded. Their kids didn’t grow up in poverty, and we had access to opportunities they never did. Three of my siblings earned bachelor’s degrees and some went on to earn master’s degrees, and I’m in the midst of earning my bachelor’s too.

While all of these efforts demonstrate the very grit this country praises, there’s a certain narrative in the U.S. that often paints Latino immigrants as “criminals” or “invaders,” reducing them to harmful stereotypes. This narrative erases their stories and struggles.

Saying immigrants are “taking jobs” fails to recognize the kind of jobs they’re taking: the grueling, low-paid and often undesirable ones. This ignorance is rooted in a lack of information, education and compassion. It’s also rooted in purposeful hate.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics analyzed the economic benefits of Latino immigration to the U.S. As of 2019, Latinos remain one of the youngest and largest minorities in the country, and still significantly drive economic growth through labor and entrepreneurship.

Census data and reports show Latino immigrants have high rates of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship, starting businesses at a higher rate than the general U.S. population. Also, Latino educational attainment is rising, approaching national averages, which will lead to higher wages and increased economic productivity.

Sophia Burke | Design Editor

The National Agricultural Workers Survey said about 68% of farmworkers are Latino immigrants, most from Mexico. On a hot day, we grab fruit from the grocery store without a second thought of where it came from.

Behind that mindless luxury, though, are the workers who pick produce under extreme conditions. Many of my relatives are those workers. They labor in unbearable heat and freezing cold, suffering from respiratory problems and body aches caused by the physical toll.

This is the reality for immigrant workers. I’m not asking you to feel guilty about enjoying produce, I’m just asking you to be conscious of the hands that picked it.

These workers are essential to our economy. A report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented immigrants contribute $96.74 billion in state and local taxes annually. California alone receives $8.5 billion. So the idea that they don’t contribute is simply false.

But Latino immigrants offer more than just economic value. They enrich culture, evident in the 2022 opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino. From food and music to film and innovative ideas, Latinos add vibrancy to this country. Without them, the U.S. wouldn’t be the melting pot it claims to be.

Sometimes, people use their lack of personal connection to immigration as a reason not to engage. But you don’t need to personally know someone with an immigration story to care. Just understanding their lived experiences can help build empathy.

Misconceptions block progress. We forget that we’re all human beings with shared struggles and dreams.

I’m not asking you to go out and change everyone’s opinion on immigration. I’m asking you to change your perspective and stop seeing immigrants as “illegal” bodies or statistics. Start seeing them as people.

I can’t bypass xenophobic rhetoric when lives are on the line. Latino immigrants are human beings crucial to this country, whether through labor, culture or community. To ignore the people behind our privileges is to ignore the truth. It’s time we see them, respect them and fight against the narratives that try to erase them.

Ivonne Ortega is a senior majoring political science. She can be reached at ivortega@syr.edu.

Published on April 27, 2025 at 10:37 pm