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While civil rights groups have continued to be critical of ICE over the past year, the first protests against their recent misadventures has been spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Starting yesterday, the SEIU mobilized their members to participate in vigils outside ICE offices across the country to call on the agency to bring itself back to the enforcement goals it had set at the beginning of the Obama administration last year, goals that it seems to have lost sight of.
One of the country’s largest labor unions, the SEIU held prayer vigils outside USCIS offices in Oakland and Sacramento yesterday and outside ICE headquarters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston and Minneapolis today. Speaking on behalf of thousands of workers and human rights advocates across the country, Executive Vice-President of SEIU, Eliseo Medina said-
When DHS first announced its enforcement goals – including its increased focus on worksite I9 audits – SEIU was optimistic that the Obama Administration would clean up past wrongdoings…Instead, the agency has added flames to the fire by replacing worksite raids with electronic raids. Field officers are acting like cowboys, more interested in adding scalps to their belts than targeting criminals and abusive employers, which would actually help solve our immigration problems. As a result, communities lose, businesses lose, families lose, America loses.
Rather than wasting limited funds to chase hard-working, tax-paying cleaners, home-care providers and nannies, the activists will call on President Obama and Secretary Janet Napolitano to re-focus ICE enforcement on its original goals of targeting crooked employers and criminals.
The human repercussions of political decisions made behind closed doors cannot be under estimated. If the promises that the administration made are not upheld, retaliatory actions will continue to take place across the nation.
Watch the latest video from America’s Voice, telling us how the current state of immigration is “More Rouge Than Right.”
With less than a week to go, advocates across the country are gearing up to “March for America,” the massive mobilization for immigration reform where 100,000 supporters are expected to descend on the nation’s capital on March 21st. In anticipation of the march, members of the National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON) have set off from different parts of the country to Washington D.C., with the aim of building support amongst local communities on the way and calling attention to the desperate need for reform of immigration laws that tear families apart and repress the immigrant community.
The Puente Movement, and their “Human Rights Caravan” of day laborers, advocates and community members left Phoenix on March 6th for a three-week, awareness-raising journey through Arizona that will culminate in Washington D.C. on March 21st. As part of their efforts, they have been organizing events in small towns and big cities to highlight the civil and human rights crisis in Arizona and other places where large communities are impacted by increased enforcement policies. On March 13th, the caravan was joined by Rep. Luis Gutierrez in Houston for a large rally that called for immigration reform. On the East Coast, several day laborers from New York and New Jersey began a 300-mile “Walk for Human Dignity” on Saturday, March 13th. Inspired by the courageous “Trail of Dreams” walkers, they will be stopping at various day labor corners, churches and worker centers on their way to Washington D.C.
So is all this buzz around the “march” reaching Washington D.C.? When President Obama announced three meetings on the issue of immigration reform last Thursday (March 11th), it seemed like the message that immigrant rights advocates across the country were sending out was finally hitting home. After the President had a “feisty” meeting with representatives from immigrant rights groups on Thursday morning, Sen. Schumer and Sen. Graham presented their legislative plans for the bill on comprehensive immigration reform in the Oval office. The Senators requested the President for his support in ensuring bipartisan support for the bill, and while the President committed his “unwavering support” to reforming immigration laws, he gave no concrete plan of action or time-line for moving forward. However, as summed up in a New York Times editorial about the meetings that President Obama had with immigrant rights advocates, with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and with Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen. Lindsey Graham, “What we’d rather know is when the bill is coming, what it will look like and what he is going to do to get it passed. Enough with the talk.”
In a statement released by the White House after the meetings-
Today I met with Senators Schumer and Graham and was pleased to learn of their progress in forging a proposal to fix our broken immigration system. I look forward to reviewing their promising framework, and every American should applaud their efforts to reach across party lines…I also heard from a diverse group of grassroots leaders from around the country about the growing coalition that is working to build momentum for this critical issue. I am optimistic that their efforts will contribute to a favorable climate for moving forward. I told both the Senators and the community leaders that my commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering, and that I will continue to be their partner in this important effort.
As indicated by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, it seems that while immigration remains an important issue for President Obama, it is not a priority in this election year, thereby making the concrete action that the Obama administration had promised within the first year of office, seem like a distant dream. It is clear that the meetings were a result of the mounting pressure for action on immigration reform from the grassroots and community level. In spite of the build-up towards the nation-wide mobilization on March 21st, the outcome of the meetings, beyond a reiteration of the promise of support, remains unclear.
As if to highlight just how pressing the need for reform of the broken immigration system is, while Obama was meeting with advocates who were frustrated with increased enforcement and deportations under the Obama administration and anxious to enlist his support for moving reform forward, a series of raids in Maryland led to the arrest and detention of 29 workers. Not far from D.C. on Thursday morning, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted simultaneous raids in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties at two restaurants, several residences and an office. On Friday, advocates from the immigrant rights organization Casa de Maryland were back outside the White House, but rather than meeting with the President, they had gathered to protest the raids and splitting of families as a result of enforcement policies. Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of Casa de Maryland denounced the raids-
Everyday, tens of thousands of hardworking immigrants in Maryland leave their families to go to work, and tonight twenty-nine of our brothers are detained as their families are left to grieve…This is not an acceptable way to treat members of our community who work hard every day to make Maryland strong for us all.
In the face of the push for the nation-wide push for reform, the efforts of mobilization towards the March for America, and the Presidential meetings, it is not difficult to wonder about the timing of the ICE raids in Maryland. Either way, the continuation of such unjust and inhumane enforcement policies is unacceptable. We can only hope that the final push for support over the next week bears fruit and the impact of the march in Washington D.C. is felt by everyone.
A New York Times op-ed states that the “March for America” could be the “game changer” in the equation, so come to Washington D.C. and make it count! Like we said before, this is your march, so see you at the National Mall in Washington D.C.!
On January 1st, four courageous students embarked on a 1500-mile symbolic walk from Miami to Washington D.C. to strengthen and inspire the immigration movement. Inspired by the idea of non-violent resistance, the Trail of Dreams has been joined by hundreds of inspired folks who walk along with the students in small towns and cities, to stand together for the passage of the DREAM Act.
But Felipe, Gabby, Carlos and Juan have also met with their share of challenges along the way. Coping with limited resources, finding shelter at each stop on their journey, and being away from their families for four months, they have also had to contend with some opposition to their cause. Now in the deep south, the most recent, and decidedly the most jarring of these, has been their encounter with the Ku Klux Klan in Nahunta, Georgia last week.
Yes, we too thought the KKK had no place outside of the embarrassments of history. Apparently we were all wrong on that. While the group is not very strong or active nowadays, there are still a few thousand Klan members scattered around the country, 50 of whom decided to hold a rally “against the Latino invasion” in Georgia at the same time that the “dreamwalkers” were passing through the area. One of the students, 20 year old Juan Rodriguez, wrote about the encounter on the Trail of Dreams blog -
Today we drove to Nahunta, GA where the Ku Klux Klan was organizing an anti-immigrant demonstration, under the premise that “God put each race in their respective continent and they were meant to stay there”. I can’t help but keep being amused by these concepts that the very organization can’t seem to be able to uphold appropriately. Is the KKK secretly on a campaign to reclaim all lands back for the indigenous people of North America and preparing for the voyage back to Europe? I find this highly unlikely….It is disappointing that after so many years of social reformation, we still have organizations filled with so much hate convening and gaining the support of communities….Ultimately, the success of today was to be able to stand hand in hand with our friends from the NAACP; singing liberation songs together and acknowledging our united struggle for racial justice. We ALL deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
It seems unacceptable that while the walkers and the NAACP (who had organized a rally to counter the KKK) were promoting tolerance, dignity, and humanity, the KKK were propagating hatred and racism. And it’s far from over. After completing 600 miles of their walk, the four students are in a part of the country that is notorious for its anti-immigrant sentiment. This week they will enter Gwinnett County, Georgia, home of Sheriff Conway, known for his anti-immigrant stance.
It takes a lot of courage and determination to do what the dreamwalkers are doing and that’s why they need your support. Check where your Member of Congress stands on immigration reform and let them know what you think about it.
In the 2008 Presidential Election, Republicans won only 31% of the Latino vote, down from 40% of Latino votes they had four years earlier when George Bush took office for the second time. And based on exit polls, it seems apparent that the Hispanic vote played a large part in President Obama’s Electoral College victory and win over John McCain. Add to this the fact that from 1998 to 2008 the number of Latinos eligible to vote rose by 21% (from 16.1 million to 19.5 million), and factor in estimates that say that by 2050 the Hispanic population is expected to increase by 200% and you get a reasonable explanation why Republicans are beginning to panic about how to ensure support from the Latino community. Now that Republicans have woken up to the fact that they desperately need to secure Hispanic support, the question is how they intend to go about doing this, and whether they have it in them to go beyond the surface and address issues that resonate deeply with the Latino community.
Earlier this month, America’s Voice brought out a report that spotlights the growing power of the Latino electorate and suggests that candidates in all political races should keep a close eye on the issues that influence the Latino vote if they intend to remain viable in the House and Senate elections for 2010. The report, The Power of the Latino Vote in America, gives a detailed account of Latino voting trends, identifies 40 Congressional races across 11 states where Latinos are likely to made a huge impact in the November elections, and makes a strong argument for how deeply the issue of immigration reform will affect the Hispanic vote.
While it rates the economy as the top-most issue for the Hispanic population, the report makes it clear that immigration reform has played a key role in how the Latino voters made their choices in 2008, and will continue to do so. The report says,
Polling of Latino voters shows that the Republican Party’s image has been severely damaged by GOP lawmakers’ demagoguery on the issue, and that the vast majority of Latinos simply will not vote for a candidate who advocates mass deportation instead of comprehensive immigration reform…Politicians of both parties also need to approach the issue responsibly during their election campaigns. Heated rhetoric coupled with unrealistic policy solutions like mass deportation will turn off both the crucial Latino voting bloc and other swing voters, who are tired of Washington policymakers talking tough, but delivering little.
But life isn’t hunky dory for Democrats either. Moving forward, the report tells us that while Hispanics have been tending towards the Democrats for years, taking the Latino vote for granted would be a huge fallacy on the part of Democrat candidates. The recent victory of GOP candidate Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley in Massachusetts was attributed to the fact that Coakley failed to reach out to the Latino vote base, and works as a good warning to Democrats who must show leadership and work towards ensuring that their campaign promises be kept in order to keep the support of the powerful Hispanic voter base. Moreover, the Latino-swing constituency, comprising of foreign born, naturalized U.S. citizens of Latino descent who represent about 40% of the Latino population, tend to be favorable to some of the Republican ideals such as the emphasis on “family values.”
On the day of it’s release, Janet Murguia, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, wrote an article in the Huffington Post in which she prescribed that this report should be bedside reading for any politician in America today. And looking at the activities within a segment of the Republican party in the past few weeks, it looks like many have taken her advice quite seriously. Tea Party extremism aside, a number of Republican candidates in states such as California and Texas, seem to have adopted a more favorable attitude towards immigration reform in order to gain the support of the large Hispanic voter bases. In Texas, George P. Bush, an attorney of Mexican descent and son of Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has founded a political action committee, The Hispanic Republicans of Texas, aimed to promote Hispanics running for office. A number of Republican party strategists are researching social and economic issues that affect the Latino community. And in order to bridge the gap between the Hispanic community and Republican ideals, the Christian group, The Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, plans to spend $500,000 on helping pro-immigration Republican candidates and promote conservative values in the Latino community.
Running a focus group that is researching economic and social issues that face the Latino community, Former Republican National Committee Chairman, Ed Gillespie wants to reach out to Hispanic voters on issues that are important to them. Gillespie blames the loss of Latino support on past “Republican rhetoric,” and says that the key lies in changing the “tone and body language” when addressing the issue of immigration.
We have to make clear to Latino voters that we care as much about welcoming legal immigrants into our country as we do about keeping illegal ones out.
Actions speak louder than words. So while the new GOP language on immigration is evident when Sarah Palin said on Fox News that conservatives needed to be “welcoming and inviting to immigrants” and recognize that “immigrants built this great country,” a lot more than that is necessary before the tides turn. When Republicans stop blocking all immigration reform bills introduced in the Senate and the House, then we will talk.
Republicans are facing a major fork in the road on immigration, highlighted this week at CPAC (the major conservative conference in DC right now).
Does the GOP choose the backward-looking, anti-immigrant route led by former Congressman, now Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth, or the path toward real immigration solutions, led by Grover Norquist, who is supporting Hayworth’s primary opponent John McCain.
Hayworth is among the most egregious examples of the failure of the anti-immigration wedge strategy. Nevertheless, he had a prominent role at CPAC yesterday. Dave Weigel reports that Hayworth was a “CPAC Superstar.” In addition to speaking on a panel, he introduced an anti-immigrant movie, Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration.
There’s a very strong editorial today in La Opinion on the issue of immigration reform. Translated, the title reads, "No More Empty Words." It lays responsibility for any inaction on immigration this Congress squarely at the feet of Democrats. It notes that in the past Democrats were able to blame Republicans for blocking comprehensive immigration reform, but not now, not with control of the White House and solid majorities in both chambers.
Now, most politicos won’t read this editorial because it’s in Spanish. So allow me to translate.
La Opinion is the country's leading Spanish-language newspapers, and a large swath of Spanish-speaking voters across the country will read it. But it doesn’t stand alone. The editorial reflects a growing sentiment among Spanish-speaking Latino voters, who turned out in record numbers in 2008 to vote Democrats into office (marking a major swing from 2004, when large numbers of Spanish-speaking voters turned out for Bush). The piece reads:
In an interview with La Opinion, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she has hopes that reform would happen this year, without offering anymore details. This statement is as disappointing as were the words of President Obama in his State of the Union message to Congress. The time for empty words is over.
For many years, Republican intransigence was responsible for blocking comprehensive and fair immigration reform. Now the White House and Congress are in the hands of Democrats and the stalemate continues. House and Senate leadership are responsible for failing to place immigration reform on the agenda, and for failing to influence their ranks so that legislation is brought forward for consideration.
The editorial closes with a paragraph that should make all Democrats shudder:
Promises made during elections win votes and create hope. The commitment to immigration reform attracted many votes and fed the hopes of millions of working people. Now Congress must keep its promise.
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act sets the standard for an immigration policy, which will boost our nation’s economy and strengthen and expand its middle class.
The Institute administered a two-part “middle class test,” which the bill passed with flying colors. The legislation was given a soaring “A” for “bolstering the contributions immigrants make to the U.S. economy, and a solid “A-“ for “its potential to end the exploitation of undocumented immigrants that threaten the wages and working conditions of America’s aspiring middle class.”
I was at the Washington screening of the new CNN series, “Latino in America” last night and was, well, not too happy when I left the building. I’ll get into the details about that in a minute, but what really set me over the edge was when Laura Esquivel, from Media Matters, came up to me and asked if I had heard the latest from Dobbs. I hadn’t, so she read me a transcript from his radio show earlier that day. He was talking about a black Chicago community activist who was upset about the President’s trip to Chicago the other day. And Dobbs had some advice for the black community about issues in their community:
It’s a black community problem. And part of the problem is the black community is not being responsible and I mean turning Heaven and Earth to protect our children.
What’s more astounding, I argued, was that key Democrats, Senators Baucus (D-MO) and Conrad (D-ND) to be specific, seemed to be validating Wilson's outburst. Republicans were scaring up a fake bogeyman – the undocumented immigrant who would benefit from taxpayer funded health insurance – and rather than pushing back with the facts, Baucus and Conrad told the American public to take them seriously.
Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst during the President’s joint Congressional address on Wednesday has exposed—for the entire nation—one of the Republican Party’s favorite political plays: the illegal immigration wedge strategy.
What’s more astounding, however, is that key Democrats, Senators Baucus (D-MO) and Conrad (D-ND) in this case, seem to be going along. Republicans were scaring up a fake bogeyman – the undocumented immigrant who would benefit from taxpayer funded health insurance – and rather than pushing back, Baucus and Conrad seem to be taking them seriously.
Update from Color of Change: 62 companies have now stopped their ads from running on Beck's show as a result of his extreme statements.
As Media Matters notes, Lou Dobbs took the opportunity last night to pat Glenn Beck on the back for his extreme comments on air that Obama is a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred for white people--" comments which caused dozens of advertisers to ditch their ads on Beck's program in August. (Check out Color of Change's ongoing campaign to hold Beck accountable for these statements.)
President Obama is citing the Healthcare debate as a reason for postponing immigration reform until 2010. But in the interim, the White House is laying the groundwork foran enforcement agenda by expanding programs such as 287(g), Secure Communities and e-Verify, amidst a growing matrix of detention centers. Anti-immigration factions are taking advantage of the lull in legislative action to push their own agenda.
The Progressive takes the unequivocal stand that "President Obama is wrong to postpone immigration reform."Author Ed Morales makes it clear that while healthcare and economic issues are "understandably urgent," the choice to delay reform "de-prioritizes" people who have paid their taxes but have not been given a path to citizenship.
The problem is, immigration reform and healthcare reform are inextricably connected. WireTap cites a central tenant of healthcare reform's "artificially amplified 'public' opposition" to immigration, as reported by the Los Angeles Times: It's "the notion that 'Congress would give illegal immigrants health insurance at taxpayer expense.'"
Is the racially charged core of this "chameleon colored outrage" being purposefully left out of the general dialogue? The ugly facts are that a "third of all 'Hispanics' in the U.S., almost half of the undocumented, and a fifth of African Americans" lack health insurance today. And yet, only "one in eight whites" lack health care.
After all, "Not all immigrants are alike." New America Media's David Hayes-Bautista compares the experiences of two immigrants named Jean-Claude and Juan Carlos. Hayes-Bautista effectively illustrates the Good Immigrant/Bad Immigrant paradigm and asks "Why do some immigrants move quickly and swiftly up the educational and professional ladder, while others appear to remain stymied at the bottom?" Ultimately, "both segments of immigrants deserve to be included in the future healthcare system that their presence will help to fund."
Update: Today,Media Matters launched its television ad calling on CNN to credibly address its Lou Dobbs problem. CNN has repeatedly allowed Dobbs to promote racially charged conspiracy theories about President Obama's birth certificate on his prime-time television show. You can watch the ad, set to air this week on major news networks, here. Sign their petitionover at DobbsConspiracy.com.
Recently we reported on how CNN pundit Lou Dobbs was stirring up controversy over at "The Most Trusted Name in News" with the long-debunked claim that President Obama's birth certificate is fake. Here's the latest video roundup, in case you missed it:
The letter, from executive director Frank Sharry, is hard-hitting and worth quoting in full:
As America's Most Trusted Name in News, CNN has a responsibility to its viewers to provide commentary and analysis that is substantive and accurate. However, those promoting conspiracy theories about President Obama's citizenship, the threat of leprosy from immigrants and other falsehoods should be held accountable for spreading misinformation.
One of the loudest birther enablers is not at Fox but CNN: Lou Dobbs, who was heretofore best known for trying to link immigrants, especially Hispanics, to civic havoc. Dobbs is one-stop shopping for the excesses of this seismic period of racial transition. And he is following a traditional, if toxic, American playbook. The escalating white fear of newly empowered ethnic groups and blacks is a naked replay of more than a century ago, when large waves of immigration and the northern migration
of emancipated blacks, coupled with a tumultuous modernization of the American work force, unleashed a similar storm of racial and nativist panic.
Duke, a pro-migrant blogger at The Sanctuary (click here if you don't know what a pro-migrant blogger is), has a post up
about Senator Schumer's tough enforcement talk, whether national advocacy
groups will repeat errors of the past, and why the McLarty-Bush Council
on Foreign Relations report looks like a pretty decent compromise-- but
warns against it being a starting point.
Duke, let's talk, man. I get the mistrust given what went down in 2007, but in this round we have to win two debates to get to a workable and humane reform:
2) The debate over the details of reform. I actually think we agree on most of the key elements of this reform. Your proposal of a standing commission
to determine future worker flow is spot-on, and it's a key part of both
the CFR report and the consensus by labor advocates. I agree that the
CFR report's tone toward skilled vs. unskilled workers is problematic
and applaud the cautions there. I'd encourage you to also read the Task
Force recommendations on immigrant detention, which are quite
progressive.
As
for the politics, look for a House version to be more progressive than
a Senate version, given what it will take to get the votes in each
chamber, setting up, hopefully, an end game that will leave the 2007
version of reform a painful and distant memory.
I am currently sitting amidst a group of over 700 screaming migrant advocates at the Reform Immigration for America Summit. I came here with the Student Immigrant Movement, and will be working with America's Voice to help mobilize people to push back against hate online. I believe it is important to state my organizational affiliations for the sake of honesty, but anyone who knows my blogging knows that I write unfiltered.
Whether you celebrate Passover, Easter, or any other holiday this month, let's take a stand together, as people of moral conscience, for families across America. Watch this video, send a fax to Congress, and share this with your loved ones.
Keeping families together isn't just a value for people of faith -- it's a human value. It's a cornerstone of our society, and it's supposed to be a foundation of our immigration policies.
Who: National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Puente Arizona, and Zach de la Rocha
What: March to Stop the Systematic Persecution of Migrants and Latinos in AZ.
Where: March Start Location for Feb 28th: 300 E Indian School Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85012
When: March to Stop the Hate in Phoenix to be held 9:00 am on February 28.
In the last month Sheriff Joe Arpaio intensified his on-going escalation of attacks against Latinos by segregating the county jail and parading undocumented migrants shackled in a chain-gang into "tent city." He erected and surrounded the tent with an electric fence in a grotesque display of human degradation.
Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine responded to the news by saying, "To witness what is happening in Arizona and remain neutral is to be implicated in human rights violations that are occurring right here on US soil against migrants. History will not be kind to Joe Arpaio. He will be remembered with other infamous sheriffs like Bull Connor who subjugated and terrorized communities for shortsighted political gain. I hope everyone will join me in protesting Sheriff Joe."
To take action NOW sign the petition asking for the Department of Justice to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
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