Azteca América, the U.S. subsidiary of Mexico's TV Azteca network, recently joined other networks in producing a public service announcement (PSA) for the purpose of encouraging legal immigrants to pursue dual citizenship. The campaign pretty much confirms what we've said all along regarding immigration's role in Hispanic media. However, the sheer scope of its audacity is still breathtaking.
"¡Protégete Ciudadanía Ya! ("Protect Yourself, Citizenship Now!") is a joint citizenship drive featuring talent from several Hispanic media outlets in the Los Angeles area. The ad may seem innocuous enough on its face:
ELVA SARAY, TELEMUNDO: And with double citizenship, you are not betraying your country.
ADRIANA RUGGIERO, ESTRELLA TV: To the contrary, you're benefitting it.
GABRIELA TEISSIER, UNIVISION: Becoming a citizen isn't hard. You can do it on your own.
ROBERTO RUIZ, AZTECA AMERICA: Visit the website, ciudadaniaya.info.
ADRIANA RUGGIERO, ESTRELLA TV: Protect yourself. Get your citizenship now!
Innocent enough, right? Perhaps, except for the first part of the PSA, which neccesitates all the above encouragement.
ROBERTO RUIZ, AZTECA AMERICA: We're working together in order to help protect you and your family.
ELVA SARAY, TELEMUNDO: Protect yourself! Citizenship now!
ADRIANA RUGGIERO, ESTRELLA TV: By becoming a citizen, you can save. You can vote.
GABRIELA TEISSIER, UNIVISION: You'll have access to more government benefits, better jobs, and better salaries.
ROBERTO RUIZ, AZTECA AMERICA: You can easily travel overseas and bring back relatives from your country.
Furthermore, what's with this "loyalty" business? Are the announcers implying that naturalization-eligible immigrants remain obligated to their countries of origin above their own personal self-interest or their new loyalty obligation to the U.S. that is part and parcel of U.S. citizenship? It's hard to determine whether anyone with script oversight actually read or took the U.S. naturalization oath of allegiance, which IN ITS VERY FIRST LINE says:
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;...
To suggest otherwise displays a both a dim view of our immigration process and a fundamental ignorance of our civic fiber. For crying out loud, there's a summary of the Oath right there on their website!
Here's Azteca anchor Roberto Ruiz, clarifying the issue even further: it's about loyalty to Mexico.
ROBERTO RUIZ, ANCHOR, AZTECA AMERICA: We have the obligation to vote in our country of origin, as well as in the United States. Let me remind you, for your right to count, solicit your voter credentials in any Mexican consulate in the United States, call MexiTel at 1-877-639-4835 to set up an appointment.
In short, the sole purpose of the PSA appears to be to encourage non-citizens to seek citizenship for the purpose of securing government benefits, voting, advancing the interests of their country of origin and fomenting additional chain migration. Missing from CITIZENSHIP NOW! were such words as assimilation, education, or responsibility.
It is one thing to posit that our domestic Spanish-language media faces eventual obsolescence without continued chain migration. It is entirely another to see agents of that media confirm this with such a brazen pitch.
