Updated and Bumped
I wrote a post earlier today in which I highlighted parts of Newt Gingrich‘s immigration ideas. In that post, I said most Americans understand why immigrants, legal and illegal, work so hard to get to America. I have to say, however, that any sympathy Americans may still have for the plight of illegal immigrants will be gone if the protest organizers achieve what they hope to on May 1. That’s when a massive illegal immigration protest is scheduled to take place in a number of cities across America. Take a look at what the organizers hope to accomplish:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pro-immigration activists say a national boycott and marches planned for May 1 will flood U.S. streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as it debates reform.
Such a massive turnout could make for the largest protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, though not all Latinos — nor their leaders — were comfortable with such militancy, fearing a backlash in Middle America.
“There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We’re going to close down Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno,” said Jorge Rodriguez, a union official who helped organize earlier rallies credited with rattling Congress as it debates the issue.
They can go right ahead and try it. Not only will the American citizens who live in these cities be really ticked off, but the rest of America watching these cities being shut down by border-crossing, law-ignoring illegal immigrants will be disgusted as well.
And take a look at what the protesters are demanding:
“We want full amnesty, full legalization for anybody who is here (illegally),” Rodriguez said. “That is the message that is going to be played out across the country on May 1.”
What arrogance. Not only did these illegal immigrants sneak across the border and acquire fake documents for the purpose of working here illegally, their children are educated here at taxpayer expense and they get free healthcare. Now they actually have the nerve to demand full amnesty as if they are victims of some kind of American oppression. On top of that, many of these people make their money under the table, so they don’t pay taxes that go into the funding they require.
But, there seems to be some dissention in the ranks:
Hispanic leaders have been divided on how strong the nationwide May 1 event should be. Some shy away from the term “boycott” as being divisive and prefer a “National Day of Action” to describe the event. Others want supporters of the effort to stop shopping for the one day to dramatize their economic impact.
But there appears to be growing sentiment to back away from walking off the job or skipping school, which have brought appropriate sanctions in previous, smaller demonstrations…
…Local organizers are asking students not to leave school but to join the rally afterward. They also don’t want workers to walk off their jobs unless they have permission to use leave or vacation time.
Does anyone think this will happen?
Update: The California State Senate has endorsed the immigrant boycott:
State senators on Thursday endorsed Monday’s boycott of schools, jobs and stores by illegal immigrants and their allies as supporters equated the protest with great social movements in American history.
By a 24-13 vote that split along party lines, the Senate approved a resolution that calls the one-day protest the Great American Boycott 2006 and describes it as an attempt to educate Americans “about the tremendous contribution immigrants make on a daily basis to our society and economy.”
“It’s one day … for immigrants to tell the country peacefully, ‘We matter … (we’re) not invisible,'” said Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, the resolution’s chief author. She said immigrants make up a third of California’s labor force and a quarter of its residents.
Opponents said the nonbinding resolution was misleading because it failed to mention a goal of the boycott was pressuring Congress to legalize millions of undocumented people.
“It is a disingenuous effort to put the government of California on record supporting open borders,” said Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside.
This protest is neither American nor great.
Expect Democratic groups to recruit at these protests.
Jason at Texas Rainmaker reports that the California Senate Democrats are planning a walk-out in solidarity with the illegal immigrant protest. Jason has the audio of a Republican state senator responding to this stunt.
Update II: César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández at AlterNet explains why he will join these protests.
Update III: Dan at Riehl World View reacts:
And it isn’t going to be pretty. This isn’t 1968. They aren’t former slaves, they aren’t even citizens. People are going to get pissed.
Update IV: Peter Brown has an article at Real Clear Politics about Monday’s protest and boycott:
If the folks who want to allow illegal immigrants to become legal residents and eventually citizens are lucky, the planned May 1 general strike to pressure Congress in their direction will be a bust.
That’s because even more than mass demonstrations, the work, school and shopping boycott is likely to backfire — pushing public opinion toward stricter border security without making it possible for such immigrants to remain in the United States legally.
Of course, some immigrant-rights activists understand the potential backlash, which is why there has been division within that community over the wisdom of the May 1 protest.
Update V: Michelle Malkin has obtained copies of the May 1 protest planning documents from the LA Unified School District. I recommend you go to her site and read them.
Update VI: The Mexican Congress supports the immigration protest. Of course it does. The Mexican government is thrilled poor Mexicans are coming to America because each poor Mexican who crosses the border into America is one fewer Mexican it has to support. But it is interesting that both the California Senate and the Mexican government are encouraging the protest.
Others blogging:
Iowa Voice
California Conservative
Previously:
Immigration Common Sense
Whose National Anthem Is It?
Democrats Kill Immigration Reform While Courting Immigrant Vote
Democrats Recruiting at Illegal Immigrant Protests
Massive Immigrant Protest Scheduled for Monday
Immigration Compromise Collapse: Bloggers React
The 1965 Immigration Act
Patriot Mark;
Well said!! I lived in Texas for almost 20 years and watched the transformation. In fact, I was effectively forced to shut down my home improvment business since I would not hire the aliens and therefore could not compete. Now, and for the last 7 years, I live in Florida and I see the same thing here – an illegal alien invasion. My observation is that the common, hard working citizens of Mexico are achieving what Santa Anna and his army couldn’t. I would, with much reservation for fear of sounding like a loonie :-), like to suggest a conspiracy is well under way.
You are a complete dork! America was built by immigrants, many of which were hard working, law abiding citizens. Hispanics are the hardest working, most law abiding people in this country, and have been for 100 years. Now Bush man decides they are all terrorists and wants them out of the country. That is the real issue!
Why wake up a sleeping giant? it is the same mistake Japan made when the bombed the USA.
Son of an immigrant parent.
hmmm, looking at these posts. I looks like most of those against the may 1 protest are the lazy toothless rednecks from the south east. This makes a lot of sense immigrants tend to happily take the $4/hr jobs that those toothless rednecks would take (if they made it out of 6th grade that is).
@ immigrant and John Deere …
Why is it that you insist on proclaiming that those who are against ILLEGAL aliens being here, and being granted amnesty are also against those who come here legally?
Are your reading skills really that poor? Are you just being disingenuous for the purpose of starting a pointless argument? Are you just that stupid?
I mean not to offend any of the posters on this blog with my comments, but I feel I must respond to the ignorance of Lee and offer a different outlook on the issue.
My family lived in the Carolinas and Georgia for years. They were farmers, hunters and fishermen. They had an established religion and form of government. They hunted game in the forests, built their homes and villages, had summer and winter residences, raised livestock and, in general, prospered. Then in 1492 a man named Christopher Columbus sailed under the Spanish flag and discovered a “New World.” My family did not consider this world new, we knew it was here.
With-in 200 years the Spanish were followed by the French, Dutch, British, Germanics (although Germany was not a country at that time), Irish, Scots, Welsh and a host of other Western Europeans. My ancestors were told they were savages. We were told our religion was the work of the Devil. We were driven from our homes, we were shot and killed by weapons which spit fire, we were forced to convert to Christianity, our women were raped, our crops stolen or destroyed and our villages burned. Our language was virtually obliterated. Then under the fair and equitable acts of US President Martin Van Buren, Gen. Winfield Scott, with 7000 troops, relocated my ancestors west to Oklahoma in 1838. Over 4,000 Cherokee men, women and children died on the forced march, known as the Trail Of Tears.
Since that time Western Europeans have lied to us, have broken treaties, and have raped our land and shown little to no respect for the earth that sustains ALL of us. “White Man” has placed us on Reservations and made us into second class citizens. Lee, while you are lamenting the plight of the “poor illegal aliens” think about this: Maybe to someone else it is YOU and YOUR PEOPLE who are the illegal aliens. This country belonged to my people before anyone came here from Western Europe to steal it from us. We did not ask you to come here, we did not invite you, yet you came here, you saw what you wanted and you just took it. Perhaps, after close to half a millennia of living in this country, which I believe is the greatest country in the world, the people who are posting on this blog in protest of the demonstration planned for Monday feel the same way. They feel the illegal aliens (and no one said the protests were limited to people of Hispanic origin) are coming here, seeing what they want, and just taking it. They possibly feel the illegal aliens are taking their homes, their jobs and their rights to live here in security and comfort.
Again, I apologize to anyone whom I may have offended, but in my own defense I will say this: My right to be able to post this is one of the things which makes the USA the greatest nation in the world.
John Ross
Cherokee Nation
PS – I will not indulge John Deere’s asininities other than to say I am neither toothless nor a redneck, having several post graduate degrees, all my teeth, living in the north east, owning my own corporation and being one of the top in my field internationally.
hey lissakay, i think that before making any more comments you should do some history research.
-Aztec people was indeed vanished from mexico ,but it was not the only native people living in mexico around 1492,aztecs didnt ruled all the mexican territory, but the southern part.
-Mexicans are banned from any kind of legal immigration to the United States of America,like the famous lottery,not like salvadoreans,or other latin american or around the globe countries.an average Mexican person CAN NOT COME TO WORK TO THE UNITED STATES unless they are petitioned by a U.S family member,or you are rich ,a professional or an artist.even as a tourist is hard to get here if you are a mexican.
We could have done something before all this immigration debate started, by changing immigration laws 20 years ago instead for preventing all this people to go underground and be abused by employers, “polleros”,”coyotes”,and racists like Right-wing radio host Brian James of KFYI in Arizona:
“”What we’ll do is randomly pick one night – every week – where we will kill whoever crosses the border. Step over there and you die. You get to decide whether it’s your lucky night or not. I think that would be more fun…[I’d be] happy to sit there with my high-powered rifle and my night scope.””
there are mothers and children sneaking the border to get their families reunited
This people could be coming legally and not having to jump over the fence putting at risk their lives ,like all those here legally,but this is part of a well elaborated Gov-bussines Corporate plan, to drive mexican people to the shadows so they could be forced to conditions an american wouldn’t take ,accepting low wages,heavy work and little pay,living with fear to be deported but anyways better than their country.
The law is the problem, is not working for anybody.we need to secure our borders,build a fence so no one can jump it over,we will keep the drugs and the criminals out but we also need to create a program to supply the demand of non-skilled workers, farm workers , and give those who are here a legal status, im not talking amnesty ,but a place in the american dream waiting line,thats what the racist people is using as a excuse to pop out against mexicans.
by the way,Im a welder,i’ve got a wife and two beautiful kids,i pay my taxes,and contribute to my community, I love America and i will fight to protect it’s freedom,I came here 2 years ago and learned english, im 24 and there are 12.000.000 million people like me living with fear to be deported and separated from my family every time i go to work……just think about it.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Marco … here illegally are you? Lovely. Just who the fuck gave you the right to break into our country, flaunt the laws and partake of the resources that people like me PAY for? Huh? Fuck you and the damn mule you rode in on.
Life ain’t fair. Get over it. So you had the damn rotten luck of being born in a country governed by corrupt crooks. Why should WE have to pay for it???
Go HOME and tell Vincent Fox to fix his country and quit exporting his problems here. You want to protest? Go burn the Mexican flag in downtown Mexico City. Knock yourselves out. I’m sure Vinnie will be all impressed and shit. You’re just pissing us off here, and believe me, you will NOT like the consequences of your actions. You think it sucks now? Heh …
Oh, and for pulling the race card, fuck you, you racist bastard. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you are black, brown, pink, purple polka dotted with yellow stripes … if you are here illegally, you are a criminal. Go home!
LissaKay….I sure pissed you off .hu? well let me fuck you back,I came here to work ,you don’t have to pay for me in any way asshole,I pay my morgage, My services,My medical needs and you should be glad you didn’t have to pay 50.000 more for the house you are living in,(if you are a home owner,. I’M ) if it wasn’t for the immigrants, legal or not they get screwed with low pay wages, and forget about Me and my people leaving this place,are you gonna send the 2.000 illegal mexicans fighting in irak back home too?,.you are nothing but a facist ,hater,and disrespectful person,don’t forget you are talking to a person ,idiot!don’t talk to me like that because the only thing is that i’m here without the proper documentation,civil offense,got that?,cannot go to jail pendejo.
while the bussines owners that are tired of lazzy people who just like to get good paid for easy work ,not showing up 2 or more days a week,being arrested for domestic violence , we are going to FUCK YOU UP, like it or not.
I’m a nice guy.Thank you
WE HAVEN’T seen anything as odious and hateful as the Sensenbrenner legislation since the Fugitive Slave Act of 1857. People should look it up–another law that asked citizens to participate in the persecution of others and the returning of escaped slaves to their former masters. HR 4437 is the culmination of state and local legislation that we have been faced with–persecution in different places for the past 10 years.
It’s also the product of 10 years of hate speech on right-wing radio. The level of hate speech and hate-mongering coming from the Clear Channel and others is unprecedented.
This is also globalization coming home to roost. There is a dynamic with the economic powerhouses of Europe and North America in relation to developing countries. The powerhouses are extracting as much wealth as they can from those countries. Legal and undocumented immigration is going to continue in a structural and profound way as long as this is the case.
Our greatest fear is that the Democratic Party is going to cut a deal behind closed doors and contain the movement that has been born.
Capital is creating for us a movement that we didn’t have 20 years ago. Capital has sent immigrants to every corner and every town of the country, so that mass demonstrations are possible everywhere. Therefore, I’m going to go to the capital and invite George Bush to join us in “One Day Without Immigrants” on May 1 and participate in the movement that he is helping to create.
There are some people, who are criticizing the call to boycott, but nevertheless, the call has been made, the word is out there, and people are ready to pursue it.
I happened to be at a conference last Friday at the Catholic Cathedral of Los Angeles, right after Cardinal Mahoney made the announcement not to boycott. I talked to the workers who work at the Cathedral. They came up to me and told me excitedly, “Nativo, we’re not going to work on May 1!
This movement is based on the Ghandian principals of non- cooperation. It’s also based on the idea that the only power we possess is our labor power. The only power we have is the power that creates value in this society. When workers refuse to cooperate, they realize the power they have to tinker with and stop the system.
The immigrant “problem,” as some call it, can only be resolved when workers themselves refuse to cooperate with the system until it fairly remunerates them. And in this case, fair remuneration is full unconditional legalization for all workers past and present.
Marco … you are exactly the reason that Americans are fed up and pissed off at you ILLEGALS. Criminals. Law breakers. Come the dawn of May 2nd, you will find out just how pissed off we are. You asked for it. You will get it.
You do NOT deserve and are NOT entitled to ANYTHING here .. got it?
How about I come take your house? Would that be OK? I don’t own one. Poor me. I’m a poor single mom that works hard but doesn’t make enough to buy a house. So I think you should give me yours. And you should pay the electric and phone bills for me. Does that sound OK to you? You ILLEGALS are asking Americans to do just about the same thing.
Go home. I don’t care if you came here from Ireland, Mexico or Mars. If you didn’t do it the legal way, you need to leave. This poor pitiful me, my country is so awful … it doesn’t cut it. Go yell at Vincent Fox. He and his corrupt government are the reason why it sucks in Mexico.
I happen to adore my hispanic neigbors, the ones that stood in line, filled out the forms and waited months for their green card. Lovely people. And you know what? They are pissed. At you. And other ILLEGAL ALIENS just like you.
You cheat. You cut in line. You PISS on your brothers and sisters who OBEY THE LAW. You should be ASHAMED of yourself! You disrespect your countrymen with your law breaking ways. You bring shame on your people and then you try to blame it on those you steal from. You call those who do not like law breakers racists. YOU, sir, are the racist. You, sir, are the hater, the fascist, the criminal. You are ILLEGAL. Go home, just go … to the nearest border. East or west will do just as nicely as north or south. Just GO.
And “nice guy”, my ass. Nice guys don’t break the law.
hey lissakay, one last comment….
don’t take it personal, i don’t know what makes you mad,illegal people or your economic-social situation,Life ain’t fair. Get over it,as you said,yes ,i may be illegal here but remember we are on the same ship,this world , and everybody is trying to stay alive ,if you are not intelligent you are not going anywere, it’s about survival now,you and me like everybody else is looking for a better life , but don’t blame it on a bunch of “illegal immigrants” if you are not succesfull , or rich ,or feel like the goverment is not doing enough for you. I didn’t get nothing for free,nobody came and gave me nothing,I work hard 10 hours a day, 5 o’clock in the morning, I help to construct buildings here for you ,me an americans ,perhaps an hospital , who knows?,and my life style is far better of those who are walking on the streets, my country is all messed up but i can not do anything to fix it up ,you want me to start a revolution??,maybe we should get the united states off irak and invade mexico to get all those corrupt burocrats off the power if it doesn’t want to be invaded by millions more illegal mexicans,…..but ,on the mean time i’ll stay here and try to help out,maybe giving my american children to the army on a near future,
if i could come “legally”,trust me ill doit,but i can’t , and i also can not afford to wait 15 years also .Im an educated person ,got some college back in mexico and got morals,i didn’t cheat the system,the system is not working .
i don’t like to be rude but you provocated me ,and I’m sorry.,i apologize and i hope you can understand my situation .
hope your son gets better.
We need to remind our Senators and Representatives who elected them and whose interest they are supposed to represent. I think we all should email or otherwise contact them on Monday, May 1.
Contact your Senators
Contact your Representative
The following is an excerpt of what I just sent off to Sen. Nelson (D-FL) DADvocate.
Simply put – No jobs, no public assistance, no birth rights, no place to hide, no amnesty, no “guest” worker program, no reason to stay or come to the US illegally. Through attrition, the undocumented aliens will leave on their own in due time. While that is happening, the money that is no longer used to support them can be applied to enforce and improve our failed immigration system – that’s “middle ground” to me.
Furthermore, it is painfully obvious current laws are being ignored by various elected officials and departments in the government and have been for a long time. Investigations have been performed and reports generated, repeatedly over the years, that expose the shortcomings of the Immigration system and yet the situation is getting worse. As I understand it, all elected officials swear to an oath of office that contains words something like “to uphold the laws and the Constitution of the USA” before assuming their responsibilities. I expect nothing less from current and future representatives of the people. Otherwise, I will be one of the many who will work vigorously toward removing from office those who put their political careers and receipt of contributions from special interest groups before their sworn obligations and the interests of their constituents, regardless of party. By the way, I also understand that violating their oath of office subjects the violator to penalties such as removal from office.
Finally, statistics illustrate the records of the current and previous administrations for the past 20 years regarding the illegal alien issue are deplorable, disgusting, etc.! The time has come to cease dabbling in the grey area, giving in to special interest groups, do what is required by our laws and use common sense to protect this nation and it’s citizens – no more excuses or sympathetic programs!
Go home leave my country, and quit demanding rights in my country, I can’t go to your country and demand rights especially if I’m not a citizen. Go Home Now!
I THINK IT WAS THE BEST WAY TO DO SOMETHIN PEACEFULLY AND AS YOU HASEEN INTHE TV WE MAY WIN THE FIGHT