Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted
Our work contract's out, and we have to move on
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves
We died in your hills, we died in your deserts
We died in your valleys and died on your plains
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes
Both sides of the river, we died just the same
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won't have your names when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be "deportees"
~ Woody Guthrie
On January 28, 1948, a plane carrying mostly migrant workers being sent back to Mexico crashed over Los Gatos Canyon in California. There were 32 deaths (four Americans and 28 migrants). When the crash was reported by the New York Times, the names of the migrant workers were not listed. Woody Guthrie took note of this and penned a poem about the deportees. It wasn't until a decade later that a school teacher named Martin Hoffman put the poem to music. Pete Seeger began performing the song, which is responsible for it being popularized. Since then, it has been recorded by too many artists to list here, but notable on the list are The Kingston Trio, Judy Collins, The Byrds, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, and Old Crow Medicine Show. The link above will offer you a version by The Highwaymen (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson) featuring Johnny Rodriguez, recorded in 1985.
The migrants who were being deported were part of the Bracero Program, initiated in 1942 to provide a work force to compensate for the American men and women serving in the military during WWII. The program lasted 22 years. One of the problems associated with the program was the provision that the migrants would have to be repatriated to Mexico when their work contract was up. Upon their return to their homeland, however, they would cross back into the United States to sign on to another contract.
One of the reasons I selected these lyrics is in response to some confusion in terminology when referring to those seeking to come to America. Most recently, the man trying to run our country tweeted out a reaction to a previously constructed "deal" with our ally Australia, in which we would accept 1200 refugees. In the irritated tweet, these refugees were referred to as "illegal aliens." Words matter. There is an important difference between "refugees" and "illegal aliens." Before I go further, however, let me just comment on the (mis)use of the word "alien." It implies something completely foreign at best and non-human at worst. Words matter. The correct term is "immigrant," and that is not a mere matter of "political correctness." An immigrant is a person who chooses to resettle in another country, usually in search of a better quality of life. A refugee, on the other hand, is a person who has been forced to leave his/her country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Refugees are defined and protected by international law. We have a legal and moral obligation to welcome these suffering victims to the safety and sanctuary of our country.
While the victims of the plane crash nearly 70 years ago were not refugees, they were not technically illegal, either. The Bracero Program provided work visas for their legal residence here during the length of their contract. American companies profited from the cheap labor, a practice which continues today. When the contract was up, the migrant workers were deported. What angered and upset Woody Guthrie about the victims of the plane crash was the fact that they were nameless. A few years ago, writer Tim Z. Hernandez was able to find the names of the victims of the plane crash, and now their previously unmarked grave bears their names.
And what's in a name? Names represent who we are, names humanize us, names make us unique, names endear us to families and friends, names differentiate us from everybody else, names give us identity beyond "the other." In her 2003 release "Christmas in Washington," Joan Baez sings
Come back, Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from Paradise
And rise again somehow
It appears to me that Woody Guthrie did, indeed, come back to right a wrong that had been done to these deportees, these people with names.
And in an ironic twist, it seems that Woody Guthrie rented a Brooklyn apartment in 1950, but was angered by the racism of his landlord, who found ways to prevent blacks from renting the units. Guthrie was so outraged, he wrote a poem and a song about the evil landlord. The landlord's name? Fred Trump. Yep, father of you-know-who. You can't make this stuff up.
Ironic and a 'Simple Twist Of Fate'
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