The 21st century immigrant story

On Monday May 1^st, millions of immigrants protested across America, including more than a thousand people who gathered in a park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

They wanted to be recognized for the contributions they make to America.

But some of the illegal immigrants also worried that this protest might draw the wrong kind of attention and lead to mass deportations.

Jesus: I’m scared this past few months. You know the protests  all the protests in Los Angeles, Arizona, Texas.

Trino’s older brother and the rest of the family attended the rally.

Maribelle: Well, I feel great because we’re fighting for the future well-being we want for our kids. This is where they live. And well this is where we live...

But Trino went to work that day at Gould Construction.

Trino: We come here to work not for not for anything else.  We come to work.

Tom Brokaw, NBC News: You came to work?

Trino:  Yeah.  We work and after do my eight hours of work, I go there.

Trino is hoping that all his hard work will pay off and he can eventually return to Mexico and start a business of his own.

Brokaw: Do you wanna be a citizen or do you wanna go back to Mexico?

Trino:  Gonna go back to Mexico.  No like this life live it here.  We just come to make some money. 

Brokaw: And then go home again?

Trino: To Mexico to start a business over there.

Brokaw: How long do you think you’ll stay here?

Trino:  Ah, I think probably I’ll leave this country when I get—when I get like 30 years old. I’m 23.

Brokaw: So seven years you’ll stay here, make money and then go home?

Trino: (nods)

Of the 25 Hispanic workers at Gould Construction, only 5 failed to show up for work on May 1^st, but the supervisors of those men felt betrayed and they were a little annoyed.

Tim Bagely, worksite supervisor: These people have jobs and here they’re taking a day to protest to have a job, basically and, uhh you know, they’ve all taken the day off.

The Vail construction site was dead on May 1^st but that’s because Supervisor Sammy Sorenson struck a deal with his men.

Sammy Sorenson: I shut my job down.  I made everybody work Sunday and let ‘em have Monday off.

Brokaw: Was there a fair amount of tension during that time?

Sorenson: I’ve seen I’ve seen a lot—there’s a lot more tension on the job site.

Brokaw: Between the Anglos and the Hispanics?

Sorenson: Yep, it’s not—it’s not a verbal tension.  It’s a written tension and I find it in the bathrooms.

Brokaw: You mean their graffiti is left behind?

Sorenson: Yep.

Brokaw: On both sides?

Sorenson: Yes.

Gould Construction could survive. It could get by for one day without its Hispanic workers, but Sammy is more concerned about whether the American culture will survive the huge influx of Hispanics in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Sorenson: I believe that the way things are right now our culture’s gonna be overwhelmed.

Brokaw: There have been generations of Americans who’ve come here from other places and they have assimilated?

Sorenson: Yes.

Brokaw: They’ve become part of the broader fabric of American life.

Sorenson: Yes, and that’s what I would say that’s the concern.  There’s such a mass migration happening right now that I don’t know that assimilations taking place.  So that’s what I’m talking about when I say one culture overwhelming another.

It looked that way at the Crystal River Elementary School on May 5^th,  where the student body is 80 percent hispanic. It was the annual Cinco De Mayo Festival, celebrating a Mexican victory in a big battle.

Tom Tancredo, Republican Tom Tancredo: I am worried about the fact that we are not assimilating people to the extent that we were.  I’m worried about the fact that many people coming don’t want to assimilate.

Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado has made a name for himself in national politics by pushing for tougher measures against illegal immigrants.

Brokaw: Isn’t the experience in southern California that a lot of Hispanic Americans have assimilated? I can take you to sections of New York where third generation Italian Americans are cheering the Italians on in the World Cup and going back to the home villages every year because they feel an attachment to it, but they’re still first Americans.

Tancredo: I’m Italian.  I still go to the feast of Saint Rocco in Denver. There’s nothing wrong with the—celebration of that kind of diversity. I’m all for it.  But I’m telling you that I don’t recall millions of people in the streets, demanding rights as illegal immigrants—waiving flags of Mexico or American flags upside down.  This is a relatively new phenomenon.  And—

Brokaw: Have you ever been to New York during Puerto Rican day parade?

Tancredo: Yeah, but the difference is dramatic.  There is a difference between the expression of ethnic pride and an in your face expression that I think is what was happening in the demonstrations we saw.  And it indicated to me there wasn’t this degree of assimilation that everybody believes exists.

But it’s important to remember that millions of Hispanics have assimilated quite well into America. In fact, more than 300 of the soldiers who have lost their lives in the Iraq war were of Hispanic origin.

From Colorado, two fifth generation Mexican Americans who happen to be brothers have been in public office for years—Democratic Senator Ken Salazar and Democratic Congressman John Salazar.

A week after Cinco de Mayo, as the debate on immigration raged on Capitol Hill. The president made a prime-time speech on immigration.

He called for 6,000 national guard troops to be sent to the border, a temporary worker program, a crackdown on employers who hire illegal workers, and he made the case for a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in this country.

Mark Gould and some of his friends watched the speech at a Pub in Glenwood Springs.

Mark Gould: We need Hispanics that can make it in this society and to make it in this society, they need to be in the forefront, not in the background hiding.

Trino and his brothers watched from their Carbondale home. They said more border police simply means more bribes.

Trino:  You know how much those guys make for an hour? I think they are rich but they are rich with the money we’re paying. Not the money the government pays for them.

Mark Gould said he didn’t mind being held more accountable as an employer, but he wants some method to find reliable workers.

Mark Gould: We are turning down proposals, requests for proposals every week because we don’t have the employees.

And things were about to get worse, as a new law targeting immigrants was about to go into effect in Colorado.

Mark Gould: If it’s enforced and everyone complies, we are going to lose a almost ten percent portion of our workforce in Colorado, which is absolutely—will have an impact on our economy.

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