Otto Santa Ana - Arizona Firestorm: Global Immigration Realities, National Media, and Provincial Politics

Preface

Juan Gonzlez

T he raging public debate over immigration in the United States has generated too much heat and too little light in recent years. Politicians, journalistseven some academicshave invariably gravitated to sensational sound bites or simplistic framing of the issue. Such facile approaches typically ignore the long and tortuous history of U.S. immigration policy. They neglect to acknowledge how that policy is deeply influenced by the needs of transnational markets, by foreign policy goals of our leaders in Washington, by the rise and fall of colonial empires and despotic governments in other parts of the world.

That is why Arizona Firestorm is so timely and remarkable. This collection of essays begins by documenting how the controversial show me your papers law approved in 2010one that provoked an international outcrywas part of a series of measures adopted by the states conservative white leaders, following the 2008 economic crisis, to scapegoat Arizonas growing Mexican-American and Mexican immigrant population.

The examination doesnt stop with contemporary Arizona, however. They delve into the contentious history between Anglos and Mexicans in Arizona and throughout the Southwest. They place the migrant flows between Mexico and the United States in the context of the spread of global capital.

Our country, of course, is hardly unique in its growing unease over immigration. Since World War II, the shrinking of the modern world through air travel and mass communications and the widening chasm between the developed countries on the one hand, and the poorest areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America on the other, has fueled unprecedented immigration to the West. Invariably, those Third World immigrants gravitated to the metropolises of their former colonial masters: Algerians and Tunisians to France; Indians, Pakistanis, and Jamaicans to England; Turks to Germany; and Latin Americans to the United States. Such vast demographic changes have understandably led to deep insecurity among the older inhabitants of those countries, and the less accurate the information those inhabitants receive about how and why the new immigrants have settled in their midst, the easier it is for demagogues to arouse anti-immigrant fervor.

Thus, Arizona Firestorm s most important contribution could well be its examination of how news media narratives, both Spanish and English language, in both the U.S. and Mexico, have failed to provide ordinary Americans and Mexicans adequate facts and context to understand this enormous movement of peoples between the two countries.

We are both Americans of the New World, after all, and our most dangerous enemies are not each other, but the great wall of ignorance between us. This book pokes a huge hole through that wall.

Acknowledgments

O ur concern for the people of Arizona , Ottos home state and Celestes adopted one, grew in the days after Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070. In the midst of the worst recession in memory, its residents would now experience entirely gratuitous pain. We both knew a sizable proportion of Arizonans did not share the governors views. Many Arizonans might feel immediate relief but would endure significant economic losses as a result of this legislation. We were most distressed that Arizonas youth would suffer the long-term consequences of the shortsighted policies of their elders. Our gloom deepened with the knowledge that the unfolding media blitz would contribute to the success elsewhere in the country of demagogues like Russell Pearce and political opportunists like Tom Horne.

A few days after SB 1070 was signed, Celeste contacted Otto to find out what research he was conducting on SB 1070 and the media. Her idea was to coauthor an article, and he responded with the idea of putting together a book! We collaboratively designed Arizona Firestorm to deepen the nations understanding of the globalization processes and unintended consequences of reactionary immigration policy and to fill in the gaps left by the news media. We hope it might help avert other political conflagrations prompted by emotion and incomprehension. It is our sincere hope it contributes to deeper understanding and tolerance.

We want to thank the scholars who gave generously of their valuable time to produce a tightly controlled chapter on an exceedingly short timeline. All of our contributors quickly said Yes! Patricia Gndara responded within an hour! We were encouraged by their authoritative responses to ignorance and reasoned opposition to wrath. Their commitment to a better-informed citizenry shines through each chapter. We especially want to thank the following contributors who produced a chapter in less than three months when sickness or overcommitment forced others to step away from our project. Arizona Firestorm is a testament to the outstanding dedication of Jack Chin, Judith Gans, Carissa Hessick, Lilliam Martnez-Bustos, Marc Miller, Anna Ochoa OLeary, Andrea Romero, and Mercedes Vign.

Two UCLA people were instrumental in making possible Ottos work on Arizona Firestorm . Chicana/o Studies Department Chair Abel Valenzuela and Arts and Science Dean Alessandro Duranti facilitated his UCLA leave during the academic year when the book was put together. He also wants to thank University of District of Columbia Trustee Fernando Barrueta, Provost Graeme Baxter and Dean Rachel Petty, who materially supported his scholarship during his leave. He also counted on the support and friendship of Rodolfo Acua, Frederick Aldama, Katherine Archuleta, Michael Camuez, Cecilia Castillo Ayometzi, Katherine Benton-Cohen, Ronaldo Cruz, Jesse De Anda, Gabrielle Foreman, Edmundo Gonzales, Jane Hill, Tsianina Lomawaima, Roberto Lovato, Reynaldo Macas, Christine Marn, Lauren Mason Carris, Steven Means, Alfonso Morales, Teresa Nio, Juan Muoz, Roberto Reveles, Roberto Rodrguez, Ron Schmidt, Juan Seplveda, Guy Shroyer, Ricardo Stanton-Salazar, Federico Subervi, and Ana Celia Zentella.