Qué Pasa, OSU? ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? ¿Qué Pasa, OSU?

24 Pages·2013·1.68 MB·Spanish

¿Qué Pasa, OSU?
¿Qué Pasa, OSU?
¿Qué Pasa, OSU?
¿Qué Pasa, OSU?
¿Qué Pasa, OSU?
Volume 21
Number 1
Autumn 2013
A Community Based Magazine About Latinos at Ohio State • quepasa.osu.edu
¿Qué Pasa, OSU?
Victoria Muñoz
Literary Travels and Translations
8 Immigration at the 9 21 16
Chicanafuturisms: Effects of Parental Anabel Galan
Crossroads of Historic
Approaches to Science Fiction Deportation Forges Ahead
Reform and Tragedy
Millán and Morales L. Macías A. Wiggins
B. Hoffman
Who We Are
/Quiénes Somos
Editor
Esquina del Editor
Theresa Rojas
The New Qué Pasa
Art Director
Jacinda Walker
Editorial Consultant It gives me great We are fortunate to have the contributions
Indra Leyva pleasure to welcome of Isabel Millán and Orquidea Morales,
our readers to the two scholars who presented their work on
Staff Writer
Anthony Wiggins new ¿Qué Pasa, Chicana approaches to science fiction at the
OSU?, the result of 2013 Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio
Production Assistant
our collaborative Social (MALCS) summer institute, hosted by
Debby Renée Amézquita
efforts to modernize Ohio State this year. Further, Leticia Wiggins
Managing Director our publication as we reports on the film Violeta se fue a los
Yolanda Zepeda continue to put forth cielos/Violeta Went to Heaven (2011), which
content that highlights ran parallel to the conference.
Contributors
Frederick Luis Aldama the diverse labors of
Dani Anthony our OSU community. Our cover story comes from Victoria Muñoz,
Doug Bush This issue ushers ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? into a a PhD student in the Department of English.
Jorge Chapa
Nicholas Jon Crane new era of compelling design and content “Literary Travels and Translations” offers
Delia Fernandez as we work together to transition to our a window into how Muñoz’s research on
Anabel Galan new University branding standards. Perhaps English Renaissance Literatures raises
Brian Hoffman
Indra Leyva most exciting in this slightly smaller, lighter questions of cross-nationalism. Brian
Luis Fernando Macías format is that we can now publish in full color Hoffman’s piece “Immigration at the
Paloma Martinez-Cruz throughout the magazine. Crossroads” and Luis Macías’ piece on the
Carmen Meza
effects of parental deportation illustrate the
Isabel Millán
Orquidea Morales We warmly welcome our new designer, growing complexity of immigration reform.
Victoria Muñoz Jacinda Walker, a first year graduate student
Aleandra Pizarnik in Design Research and Development. Neuroscience alumna Anabel Galan shares
Stephen Rodriguez Jacinda comes to Qué Pasa, with many her work as she carves her path toward
Sharon Rodriguez
Mónica Saccucci years of professional experience in graduate school, while Dr. Frederick Aldama
Taylor Sawyer publication design, marketing, and planning. shares the legacy of El Vaquero Restaurant
Joey Terrill We also welcome the photographic talents and Latinos in Columbus. Carmen Meza’s
Miguel Valerio
Leticia Wiggins of Deborah Amézquita, along with the contribution to this issue points to the
continued industrious work of Anthony connective tissue between Chicana feminist
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion Wiggins, Indra Leyva, and our steadfast writing and Renaissance scholarship.
publishes ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? each autumn
adviser, Yolanda Zepeda.
and spring semester and publishes a
Finally, the fall art exhibit “Rojas & Terrill:
special graduation issue in the summer.
While this semester’s faculty profile Worlds of Art” brought my own artwork
¿Qué Pasa, OSU? is produced introduces our community to new Assistant together with that of Los Angeles transplant
in collaboration with the Hispanic Professor Paloma Martinez-Cruz from the and long time AIDS activist and artist, Joey
Oversight Committee.
Department of Spanish of Portuguese, Terrill. The show, which included an opening
The Ohio State University is not our student profile focuses on Mónica reception, afforded us the opportunity to
responsible for the content and views of Saccucci’s work on salamanders, reminding discuss and harmonize divergent work.
this publication. The publication does not
necessarily reflect the views and opinions us of the cutting-edge research happening
As always, a heartfelt congratulation to our
of the staff. All submissions for publications at all levels of the university. Likewise, our
must include contact name and phone “Around the World” spread highlights the most recent graduates—the summer, 2013
number or e-mail address. ¿Qué Pasa, class. ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? has graduated
work of OSU scholars, myself included, who
OSU? reserves the right to refuse any
with you and this is certainly a wonderful
submission for publication. traveled to various parts of the world over
new beginning.
the summer, exploring and sharing research
For questions and inquiries, please contact
and service opportunities. We also feature
[email protected]. Con amor,
work from award-winning poet and first year
Theresa N. Rojas,
Note: We use the term “Latinos” to graduate student, Miguel Valerio. Miguel’s
represent both Latino and Latina. Editor
haunting Noche de Ohio will strike a chord
Photos for each piece are provided by the with long-time and adopted Buckeyes alike.
author or interviewee unless otherwise
noted. Additional photo credits: Deborah
Amézquita, Indra Leyva, Nyanda Redwood,
Emily Strouse, Joey Terrill, Mike Travis, and
The Wexner Center for the Arts.
Inside This Issue...
(cid:31) 5 Student Profile
(cid:31)(cid:30)(cid:29)(cid:28)(cid:27)(cid:26)(cid:25)8(cid:23)
Above: Monica Saccucci’s exemplary
research, “It is important for all people
to be represented in all fields. If Latinos
15 Worlds of Art ey Terrill ethnecno mit opnalsys m17a%k eosf soeunr sceo uthnatrty 1’7s% p oopf uthlaet ion,
Jo STEM fields (as well as all other fields) are
represented by this quantity as well.”
Below: The Morales Family business
reaches out to the OSU community.
7 Borderlands
Above: Carmen Meza
brings together
renaissance scholarship
12 Around the World
and feminist theory. 6 El Vaquero
4 Faculty Profile
Above: Paloma Martinez- 11 Violeta...
Cruz, Assistant Professor of
10 Noche de Ohio
Latino/a Cultural and Literary
Above: Violeta se fue a los cielos is
Studies employs frameworks
an engaging and visually striking story
Above: Miguel Valerio, 2013 recipient
from performance,
of a woman (played passionately and
of Editorial Paroxismo’s I Premio
radical feminism, and
convincingly by Francisca Gavilán) who
Interuniversitario de Poesía (interuniversity
alternative Latin American
dreams of documenting and remembering
prize for poetry) for his collection Los
epistemologies to write,
a quickly disappearing folkloric musical
Presentes de la Muerte, shares his
teach, and create works
history. On the surface this goal seems
latest work.
that contribute to decolonial
selfless, but in execution, Violeta finds it
practices in the Americas.
difficult to share her cultural tradition
without deeply considering her own
personal pride.
Dr. Paloma Martinez-Cruz
Valuing the Imagination
By Anthony Wiggins, Staff Writer and Senior, Center for Life Sciences Education

from New York and my dad was a Chicano from L.A. My
parents met each other during the Chicano movement of
the 1960s and 70s, so I was very much raised with the Aztlán
mythology, Chicano power, and cultural pride.” Martinez-Cruz
didn’t limit herself to the West Coast: “I was glad that I went
to the East Coast for graduate school because it gave me
the chance to explore other vocabularies of Latino presence
in the United States. It was hard being the only Chicana, but it
was an important move for my cultural and theoretical work.”
Martinez-Cruz has embraced this diversity to further explore
Latino/a studies, including an interesting take on Chicano
history. “I’m working on a book project about Chicano pop
culture tentatively titled Breaking the Bean Scene: Utopian
Movements after Aztlán. The current chapter is called
“Indexing the Burrito Circuit: How the Dirty Reggae of The
Aggrolites Remains an Eastside Persuasion.” The Burrito
Circuit refers to the circuit in and around East Los Angeles
where Chicano bands plugged and played. It was the place
where the Los Angeles’ Chicano sound was born, and I am
As an assistant professor in the Department of Spanish and excited to be mapping its genealogy. The L.A. reggae band
Portuguese, Dr. Paloma Martinez-Cruz works to expose The Aggrolites is an aesthetic and political product of this
aspects Latinidad previously undiscovered by conventional first generation of Mexican-American musicians who chose
academia. With a fusion of subjects blending feminism, not to assimilate.”
performance, and the decolonization of Latin America,
Her love of music extends into her fusion band Tijuana Jai
Martinez-Cruz uses a variety of disciplines to unite her
Alai. “I love playing bass, singing, and having the chance to
studies. “Performance deals with live transmission, embodied
chase down good music and good food. I enjoy when a song
performance scholarship, performance art, ethnography,
reaches an audience, and everyone feels like they are in the
and performance pedagogy in Latino cultural studies
right place in time. These are my creative disciplines and are
environments.” She also recognizes her studies as formerly
central to who I am.”
unexplored: “Often we are dealing with an America-based
knowledge flow that defies, or is completely excluded
Further, Dr. Martinez-Cruz has high hopes for Latino/a
from mainstream literary production. For example, my
studies. “I hope that we find ourselves providing Americas-
book Mesoamerican Women and Knowledge: From East
based frameworks that challenge colonial values, and start in
L.A. to Anahuac argues that women of Mesoamerica were
our homes and relationships by honoring our memories and
intellectual and spiritual authorities, but because colonial
ancestors. I am working with colleagues and friends to start
thinking teaches us to value archival (textual) knowledge
Onda Latina Ohio, a creative collective for Latinas here in
over performed, embodied knowledge, we have not
Columbus, so that we have a safe space to take risks. Being
spent much time valuing their contributions. I advocate for
us; being who we are, is a radical practice. The pressure
the broader inclusion of subjects like these women who
that we get is to be the replica of the elite norm. Imitation is
were previously undervalued because they relied on the
self-effacement: it edits out the self. We have a lot of work to
performance of healing; rather than the publication of text, to
do to rescue the imagination, to create a self that does not
transmit their ways of knowing.”
apologize for taking up space.”
Martinez-Cruz embraced diversity from a young age. “I grew
up in Northeast Los Angeles. My mom is a Puerto Rican
4 quepasa.osu.edu
Mónica Saccucci
Cutting Edge Researcher
By Mónica Saccucci, Senior, Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
I was born in Toledo, Ohio and grew new genes into offspring, these
up in Milwaukee. My mother is from unisexuals have been able to survive for
Medellín, Colombia and moved to the millions of years. I hypothesize that the
US in her late twenties. My dad is Italian, ability to perform tissue regeneration
but was born and raised in Toledo. I is coupled to asexual reproduction
travel to Colombia every two years for in these salamanders. I will compare
about a month at a time. I have family tissue regeneration between unisexual
all over the world: The US, Colombia, and sexual lineages to see if there is a
Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, Germany, correlation between tissue regeneration
and Peru. My family is ambitious, and and asexual behavior.
we do everything we can to obtain the
best education possible. This has led Along with conducting my own
to a variety of opportunities. One of the research, I am also assisting my mentor
things I love most about my family is with laboratory work. I collected tail clips
that we thoroughly enjoy learning about from hundreds of salamanders in the
other cultures. field and extracted DNA from them. He in STEM fields. I encourage Latinos
has taught me a variety of laboratory interested in STEM to stay motivated
At the end of my sophomore year, I techniques and procedures, such as and continue with their studies because
became involved in a research group PCR, which is a technique to isolate and they should pursue their dream job.
composed of undergraduate and amplify a section of DNA. Being able to
graduate students. Since then, we have apply techniques I had previously only In addition to working in the lab, I co-
convened weekly to discuss different read about in books has given me a founded Sigma Lambda Gamma, the
research papers. This has been a great taste of what I could be doing with my first Latina-based multicultural sorority
experience because it introduced me to future career. at OSU. We have events devoted to
scientific research, and I have learned breast cancer awareness and cultural
about the extensive process that goes This experience has given me a deep awareness. This semester we are
into conducting research and publishing appreciation for nature. I had the focusing on academics by conducting
results. After expressing my interest in opportunity to collect egg masses from workshops and holding ourselves to a
research, my mentor, Robert Denton, ponds across Crawford County, Ohio higher academic standard. Furthermore,
quickly motivated me to think about my so I could raise my own salamanders we have several sisters, including
own research topic. for my investigation. Although I had myself, involved in the LASER program
been studying and caring for dozens of on campus that provides mentors for
My investigation focuses on tissue salamanders for over a year, this was high school Latinos.
regeneration because it is one of the first time I saw them in their natural
the most fascinating processes that habitat. It was interesting to see how I feel like a little kid at a playground
occur in nature. Not only does tissue they interact in wildlife as opposed when I’m in the lab because everything
regeneration vary across different to in captivity. I collected these egg about it is exciting. I love the different
animals, but also within species. masses in April and have been raising aspects that inherently come with
Body size, age, and tissue location them since. I have over one hundred working in the lab. The people who
all influence regeneration ability. salamanders: Smallmouths, Unisexuals work there go out in the field and
Regeneration research has historically and Spotted species. The experience collect samples, then also spend
been conducted in Ambystoma fortified my decision to major in Biology. time in the laboratory to work with
salamanders due to their abilities to DNA. Furthermore, they read and
regenerate a variety of structures. Marian Wright Edelman believes that, write research papers. I could never
These salamanders have both unisexual “You can’t be what you can’t see,” envision myself working in an office and
and sexual lineages. What interests me and although I think this is somewhat crunching numbers all day. Working in
most about them is that despite how of a drastic opinion, I do believe that this lab is kind of a dream job.
asexual reproduction can have harmful it is difficult. I hope that Latinos are
effects, such as the inability to introduce not deterred by underrepresentation
Autumn 5
Mirror, Mirror
El Vaquero Restaurant and Latinos in Columbus
By Frederick Luis Aldama, Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of English
Of course, this Cinderella story has its other side. The
brothers experienced their fair share of prejudice in the
Midwest—especially when they first arrived in the 1990s.
This was a time in Columbus when there were only a few
Latinos—so few that one younger brother, José Morales,
recalls waiving and greeting the one or two Latinos they
might encounter at the shops. While only a few, they created
strong bonds of solidarity in a social climate that either didn’t
know what to do with Latinos or reacted in racist ways.
Sign of the Times
Today, Latinos in Columbus number in the low 40,000s. As
José remarked in an interview, “Now, we are everywhere.”
He also reflected on how over the years the restaurant’s
patrons have transformed from mostly Anglos looking for
a bit of spice, to Latinos (and Anglos) of all walks of life,
day and night. It’s a young population, with one in four
Latino children playing in playgrounds across the city. At
gatherings, the Morales family numbers in the 40s—with a
great percentage of that taken up by a young generation of
bilingual Latinos, from newborns to high-schoolers.
Los hijos Morales from Guadalajara, Mexico, are a sign of
the Latino times in Columbus—and the Midwest generally. In Much like the rest of the country, Columbus is seeing more
the early 1990s, older brothers Sergio and Fernando (from a and more Latino-owned businesses like El Vaquero sprouting
family of nine children) arrived in the U.S. in North Carolina, up all over the city. Just as with the brothers Morales and El
where they washed dishes for a living while saving money Vaquero, we also see many Latino-owned businesses giving
to fund their dream. Being around food was in their blood— back to the community. El Vaquero, along with the familia
not just the mama Josefina’s cooking at home, but also the Santos-Cruz (La Panaderia Oaxaqueña y Mi Pueblo Market),
papa Jesus’s business selling fruit in the Guadalajara open and Aida Sabo (VP Diversity Cardinal Health), supported our
marketplaces (first the economy, then the violence of the 2nd Annual Latino Role Models Day at Ohio State. We had
drug wars in Mexico drove their homegrown business into over 120 Latino high school students visit the OSU campus to
the ground). The brothers knew that dishwashing would meet with Latino faculty, students, and professionals from the
only be a stepping-stone to something bigger. With money Columbus community. With generous help from our sponsors
saved and an invitation by friend Efrain to come to Columbus and that of the participants, we succeeded in breaking
to set up shop, they soon opened their first Mexican food down psychological barriers that hold back young Latinos
restaurant, El Vaquero, on Riverside Drive. from succeeding.
El Vaquero became the roots of a healthy family business, Although we still have a great deal of work ahead of us to
leading to what are now 13 El Vaquero restaurants, all run bring the kinds of deep changes that will allow all Latinos in
by family and friends who grew up with the Morales family in Columbus to realize their dreams—from becoming professors
Mexico. With strong ties to local communities, they run five to restaurant owners, for instance—if the familia Morales are
Columbus restaurants, several throughout Ohio, and one in any indication of the future of Latinos in Columbus, our future
Monroe, Michigan. looks bright.
6 quepasa.osu.edu
Inspired by Borderlands
Chicana Feminist Lens Enhances
Renaissance Scholarship
By Carmen Meza, PhD Student, Department of English
Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La slang like troca to say truck. This is an a good girl. Maybe you can give me a
Frontera: The New Mestiza is the most element of audience that Anzaldúa sign letting me know what is happening
influential book of my academic career. highlights. She says that she changes to me” best encapsulates her own life
The appeal is not only what Anzaldúa languages according to whom she is story. In fact, she was shocked that
says, but how she says it. Writing from with. If she’s with Chicana women she someone shared her story. I am similarly
the perspective of a Chicana lesbian speaks one way; if she’s with family she drawn to Anzaldúa’s writing. While
woman living along the borderlands, speaks another; if she’s with friends she Borderlands does not fully articulate my
Anzaldúa’s book engages with multiple shifts again. life, the way it documents borderlander
languages and genres. The way she identity formation resonates strongly
masterfully weaves multiple writing with my own experience.
genres into one another is part of her
overall project to theorize the new Personal narratives and feminist theory
mestiza consciousness. The evidence are critically linked. Black feminists
she uses from her life to theorize why such as bell hooks for example argue
we should care about mestizas who that women of all races need to
learn to juggle cultures and language create a sense of sisterhood to better
is the reason why students, scholars, understand the diversity of female
and borderlanders return again experiences. Conceptually, “sisterhood”
and again to her book. In looking to both highlights similarities and catalogs
herself, Anzaldúa forces her readers to differences in women’s oppression—
think about the material realities that underscoring the importance of
Mexican-Americans face against racism, breaking silences and crossing borders
homophobia, and poverty in the US often fraught with risk.
and Mexico.
This book inspired my passion for
gender and sexuality studies in
The Psychology of Location
unexpected ways. Anzaldúa’s work
Feminist literary theorists argue that was the first feminist text that genuinely
where one reads literature matters to changed me by forcing me to think
our understanding of what’s contained more critically about the connectivity
in a text. Before attending Ohio State of women’s narrative and shared
University, where I am earning a experiences. One of the concepts that
PhD in Renaissance Literature and feminist theorists raise is how and why
Feminist Literary Theory, I lived in El literary canons are formed as well as
Paso, Texas, my hometown since I Unexpected Inspiration what constitutes “major” and “minor”
was five. Geographically, the El Paso/ My older sister Natalie is a big fan authors. As a student of Renaissance
Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) area embodies of Oprah Winfrey. She kept up with literature, I have used these questions
Anzaldúa’s message about borderland Winfrey’s talk show and now regularly to think about why certain playwrights,
language, culture, and history. To live in watches and records the new series like Shakespeare and Jonson, are
the borderlands is to witness precisely Oprah’s Master Class. While I am not as widely assigned on course syllabi
what she means by borders as less of much of an Oprah follower as my sister whereas women writers during the
a physical divide than a psychological (my own viewing is mainly a way to same period such as Lady Mary Wroth
inner whirlwind of opposing messages. spend time with Natalie), I am aware that and Elizabeth Cary are less known
When I’m in Ohio I feel myself restricted Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is the and studied. Anzaldúa’s work offers
to speaking Standard English and book that has most influenced Winfrey’s distinctive ways of thinking about earlier
academic language. When I’m home I life since she sees herself reflected in women’s writing and the way in which
feel I can go back to code-switching, the narrative. She has stated that the Renaissance women documented
using Spanish and English in the opening lines “Dear God, I am fourteen their experiences.
same sentence and using borderland years old. I am and have always been
Autumn 7
Chicanafuturisms:
Approaches to Science Fiction
By Isabel Millán and Orquidea Morales
Our recent talks at the 2013 MALCS a border patrol car. The short video recurring thread within all of these texts
Summer Institute at Ohio State drew repurposes Hollywood images of alien is the influence of current world politics,
inspiration from Catherine Ramírez’s encounters, including clips from the particularly as they relate to Chicanas
work on Chicanafuturism. Ramírez movies Close Encounters of the Third and Latinas. Herrera’s children’s book
(2002) defines Chicanafuturisms as Kind, Star Wars, and Independence protagonist, Esmeralda Sinfronteras,
texts that attend to “cultural transforma- Day. These recognizable images are for example, fantasizes about using
tions resulting from new and everyday distorted and mixed with video foot- her superpowers to rescue her mother
technologies (including their detritus).” age of UFO sightings and an alleged from an immigration detention center,
These texts excavate, create, and alter chupacabra autopsy. This pastiched whereas both Lunar Braceros and the
“narratives of identity, technology, and science fiction narrative expands upon Santa Olivia series are set in future
the future.” They also interrogate “the and questions the conceptualization of dystopias saturated with seemingly
promises of science and technology,” the “alien” as well as the “alienation” of imaginary global conflicts. This
and redefine “humanism” through colo- Latina/os in popular culture. Thus the imagined sense of futurism(s) enables
nial and postcolonial histories. Ramírez’s video destroys the dominant narrative these authors to indirectly comment on
definition builds on afrofuturism, and on which classic science fiction films current trans-border politics such as
continues conversations started by oth- rely. Artists like Ortiz-Torres reap- immigration reform, border policing, and
er Chicana scholars like Gloria Anzaldúa propriate science fiction tropes and citizenship debates.
and her articulation of self as alien, and reframe rhetorics of “fear” by utilizing
Chela Sandoval and the cyborg. In what new Chicanafuturist aesthetics that are In closing, we can agree that science
follows, we each highlight take-away necessarily grounded in the spatial and fiction and fantasy often present
points from our recent ventures into temporal borderlands. readers with imaginary worlds meant to
science fiction and fantasy. Orquidea uncover truths about our own realities.
begins with a reading of how science Similar to my co-author’s focus on film, The examples above briefly expand
fiction film tropes are deconstructed my survey of literary works is greatly on Catherine Ramírez’s articulations of
while Isabel follows with an exploration influenced by Catherine Ramírez’s Chicanafuturisms. Science fiction and
into science fiction literary works. theorization of Chicanafuturisms. fantasy have proven useful in producing
Trends in Chicana/o and Latina/o a space in which to play with(in) the
As a non-science fiction fan, I gave science fiction and fantasy parallel Latin margins, intentionally muddling the
myself the task to give it a try, inspired American magical realism, blurring the borders of reality and utopic/dystopic
largely by Ramírez’s work. Working from lines between fiction and non-fiction. ideals of the future(s).
her definition, I preview here Rubén I find it useful to expand the category
Ortiz-Torres’ video Alien Toy (1997). I of Chicanafuturisms to include texts
argue that Chicanafuturism aesthetics as diverse as Juan Felipe Herrera’s
Isabel Millán is a Postdoctoral Fellow
push beyond typical understandings Super Cilantro Girl/La Superniña del
at the Center for Mexican American
of “space” and the alien that are so Cilantro (2003), Rosaura Sánchez and
Studies at the University of Texas at
prevalent in the science fiction genre. Beatrice Pita’s Lunar Braceros: 2125-
Austin and Orquidea Morales, is a PhD
Alien Toy can be comedic and jarring 2148 (2009), and Jacqueline Carey’s
Student in American Culture Studies at
because of its use of sound and specific Santa Olivia (2009) or Saint’s Astray
the University of Michigan.
visual elements. Ortiz-Torres is an artist (2011). These examples vary in target
originally from Mexico City and currently audience, encompassing children,
a professor at the University of Califor- youth, and adults. I am also drawn to
nia San Diego. In Alien Toy Ortiz-Torres these authors because they privilege
features a customized car by Salvador groups of people not usually associated
“Chava” Muñoz, also from Mexico but with mainstream science fiction, such
living in the U.S. The customized car as bilingual children, the working class,
is a Chevy Impala made to look like women, and queer communities. A
8 quepasa.osu.edu
Immigration at the Crossroads
of Historic Reform and Tragedy
By Brian Hoffman
Just over a year ago in August, U.S. case involving the assets of a Russian immigration reform bill in the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services insurance company, explaining that “[t] Senate, the last two years have seen
(USCIS) began accepting applications he nation as a whole would be held to a veritable flurry of legislative activity
for a new initiative known as Deferred answer if a State created difficulties with on immigration issues from the Ohio
Action for Childhood Arrivals or “DACA.” a foreign power.” General Assembly.
The DACA initiative, announced
by President Obama last June, can Two perfect examples of the kind of Driver’s License Eligibility
safely be called the most significant thing Justice Douglas warned about
Between the time that the first DACA
development in immigration law of happened in Alabama in 2011. The
applications were approved at the
the 21st century thus far. The new Alabama legislature had enacted a
beginning of 2013, Ohio, as were the
policy allows young people who meet law requiring police to determine an
vast majority of states, was issuing
a variety of requirements (coming individual’s immigration status during
driver’s licenses to DACA grantees who
to the U.S. before age 16, getting an ordinary traffic stops. Shortly after the
were able to pass a regular driving
education, and obeying the law, among law went into effect, a Mercedes-Benz
test. Then, without warning, problems
others) to obtain the right to remain in executive on a business trip from
began to occur. At first, some BMV
the United States (at least temporarily), Germany was arrested because he
branches gave licenses to people
apply for a work permit, and--in most had forgotten his passport in his hotel
who brought their DACA papers,
states--get a driver’s license. room. A month later, a Honda executive
The Dramatic Impact of DACA Despite years of Supreme Court
The dramatic impact that DACA has
had on the approximately 400,000 precedent on this issue, state legislatures
young immigrants who have been
approved so far cannot be overstated. try to regulate immigration with
The initiative has brought people out
of the shadows in multiple ways. As dismaying regularity.
immigration enforcement becomes
more aggressive, especially here
in Columbus, the undocumented while others refused. Eventually BMV
visiting from Japan was detained under
community has been forced to live with officials quietly admitted that they’d
the same law. Mercedes and Honda
the extreme mental stress of knowing received new instructions from within
reportedly employ almost 7,000 people
that, on any given day, contact with an the agency to stop giving licenses to
in Alabama and have invested billions in
immigration official could make it the DACA grantees entirely. Finally, after
plants and infrastructure.
last day one spends with the life and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine
family they’ve built in the U.S. Thanks to told the Columbus Dispatch that he
Regulating Immigration
DACA, many young immigrants are, for thought Ohio law as written did include
the first time, now experiencing what it’s Despite years of Supreme Court DACA recipients within the driver’s
like to live without that fear. precedent on this issue, state license eligibility requirements, BMV
legislatures try to regulate immigration officials relented and on March 29
The status quo in the U.S. has long with dismaying regularity. Partly due began allowing DACA recipients to
been that immigration is an exclusively to the attention DACA has drawn to apply for driver’s licenses. But that was
federal issue. The U.S. Supreme the hundreds of thousands of young far from the end of the story. Although
Court has observed that the treatment immigrants who grew up in this State Reps. Alicia Reece (D-Cincinnati)
of foreign nationals is “one of the country despite lacking legal status, and Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) introduced a
most important and delicate of all and partly due the national debate bill that would amend the Ohio Revised
international relationships.” Justice over immigration reform that resulted Code to make DACA kids explicitly
William O. Douglas put it best in a 1942 in the passage of a comprehensive
continued on next page
Autumn 9
eligible for licenses, State Rep. Matt Lynch (R-Bainbridge) to check the immigration status of persons suspected of
introduced his own bill, HB 114, that would do the opposite being in the country illegally. Neither bill would provide
– it would explicitly exclude DACA recipients from the list of any additional training or funding for the public servants
people eligible for driver’s licenses in Ohio. responsible for enforcing these laws, bringing into sharp
focus the problems--articulated by the U.S. Supreme
DACA Recipients Declared Eligible for In-State Court--that arise when states try to interfere in the federal
Tuition Rates government’s exclusive power to control immigration.
Later in 2013, after a tremendous effort by grassroots activists
led by DACA recipients, the Ohio Board of Regents, which The Need for Federal Immigration Reform
governs Ohio’s public colleges and universities, decided that The complexity of the U.S. immigration system, state
DACA recipients should be eligible for in-state tuition rates. legislatures disinclination to leave the issue to the federal
Prior to that decision, many DACA recipients, despite having government despite the Supreme Court’s many opinions on
work permits and Ohio driver’s licenses, were being charged the issue, and the dramatic consequences that immigration
international tuition rates to attend college. Since this is often laws have on the lives of millions of people all support
two to three times as much as an Ohio resident would pay, the need for some form of comprehensive immigration
it presented a significant financial hardship for many young reform at the federal level. With the passage of S.B. 744 in
immigrants who wanted to pursue higher education. Despite the U.S. Senate, it now appears that the choice between
the positive decision from the Board of Regents, State Rep. achieving an historic and life-changing immigration reform,
Matt Lynch has recently announced plans to introduce a bill or continuing the increasingly expensive disaster that is our
that would reverse the Regents’ decision and make DACA current immigration system, lies squarely in the hands of the
recipients ineligible for in-state tuition rates. The bill will likely leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives. History will
be set for a committee hearing when the General Assembly judge whether immigration reform in the 113th Congress was
reconvenes later this year. progress long overdue or a tragic missed opportunity.
Apart from the major developments on driver’s licenses
and higher education, the Ohio General Assembly has also
considered a bill (recently introduced for a second time) that Brian Hoffman (Moritz ‘09) practices immigration law in
would “prohibit illegal and unauthorized aliens from receiving Columbus and blogs about immigration issues for the
compensation” under Ohio’s Workers’ Compensation Law, as public policy think tank Innovation Ohio.
well as another bill that would require Ohio’s police officers
La noche de Ohio
He nacido tanto / y doblemente sufrido en la memoria de aquí y de allá -Alejandra Pizarnik
Cuando la noche se planta en mis ventanas sin la bisabuela sacada de las mil y una noches
le cierro las persianas y le corro las cortinas que me legó el miedo a la noche
porque le tengo miedo a esa caja de Pandora con sus cuentos medievales
siempre le he tenido miedo: sin la abuela cuya voz era la luz del día
de niño cuando tenía que enfrentarme con ella a solas sin los tíos protectores
siempre me armaba de terror sin las voces cálidas de los primos
especialmente por los alrededores sin el calor de los hermanos en el lecho familiar
de aquel árbol gigante que aun de día sin Carmen esperándome detrás de la casa de su abuela
hacía la noche con su sombra solo en la noche entre cuatro paredes
y ni hablar del arroyo poblado de luciérnagas y de pongo la comedia de Ray Romano
murmullos para olvidar que estoy solo en la noche de Ohio
al que nunca se descendía de noche pero aunque me fuera a un bar
como la noche del Bronx aún estaría solo en la noche de Ohio
con la cual uno jamás se quiere encontrar aunque volviera a Manhattan
pero en Manhattan nunca oscurece aún estaría solo en la noche de Ohio
allí las noches a las tardes son iguales aunque volviera al Cibao
pero no estoy en Manhattan aún estaría solo en la noche de Ohio
sino en el Valle de Ohio
donde la noche es la misma del Valle Cibao
por eso cuando se planta en mis ventanas
-Miguel Valerio, PhD Student,
le cierro las persianas y le corro las cortinas
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
porque estoy solo
10 quepasa.osu.edu