Monday, July 25, 2011
Walking the undocumented tightrope
Posted By Stephen Dark on July 25, 2011, 10:54 AM
A story in Saturday's Deseret News on the numbers of undocumented people being deported from the United States with and without criminal convictions was a painful reminder of the need for caution when reporting on immigration.---
The story highlighted that while since a three-year-old Bush-administration program called Secure Communities had resulted in 30,000 undocumented immigrants with convictions being deported, 33,000 had been kicked out of the United States with no non-immigration crimes.
This story caught my eye because my CW cover story this week explores the contrast between Real Salt Lake's legally imported Latino soccer players and the struggles of the children of undocumented players to realize their dreams to play soccer.
I spent several evenings with one West Valley club run by an undocumented father and son where Latino children train for free. But such is the climate with regards to being undocumented, both in Utah and in the United States, that despite the father saying he is not afraid to have his name and face published, it seems wiser to err on the side of caution and employ nicknames and not identify the club they play for.
Try to get Real's Latino players to comment on immigration issues in Utah and they understandably shy away from a subject that is fraught with social and political pitfalls. Yet go to a game and the fervor that Real's fans embrace the Latino players is strikingly at odds with the often dire nature of Utah political discourse on immigration.
The story, currently titled 'Immigration Goal', hits the stands on Wednesday.
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