The Trail of Dreams encounters the KKK

by: Restore Fairness

Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 13:16:44 PM EST

From the Restore Fairness blog.

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.

Photo courtesy of trail2010.org

Is the Tea Party's racist rhetoric going to save broken families?

by: Restore Fairness

Mon Feb 08, 2010 at 17:52:54 PM EST

From the Restore Fairness blog. 

While it is difficult to find much coherence within the fractured and fast-changing Tea Party Movement, a look at their convention in Nashville last week shows that the issue of immigration seems to have gained greater popularity, emerging largely from the links made between immigration and the healthcare debate at their town hall meetings held last summer. Spearheading this issue for the Tea party agenda was Tom Tancredo, a former Colorado Congressman who kicked off the Nashville Tea Party Convention with a slew of racist comments meant to further the argument against immigration reform.

And then because we don’t have a civics literacy test to vote, people who couldn’t even spell vote, or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House named Barack Hussein Obama.

The Nashville Convention sought to unite the movement against the path to legalization. Tancredo’s opening speech included the argument that while Obama’s plans for immigration reform needed to be halted, it was a good thing that McCain had not been elected or he would already have ensured that Rep. Gutierrez’s bill for immigration reform was passed and “amnesty” given to the country’s undocumented immigrants. He incited the audience to protect the country’s culture saying “our culture is based on Judeo-Christian values whether people like it or not!”

While some, such as a Tea Party blogger Keli Carender said that immigration was not a part of the official agenda, Tancredo’s opening remarks, the prominent presence of the anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA, as well as a number of signs against “amnesty” from their individual supporters at the convention indicated that immigration issues could become a prominent feature on the movement’s agenda.

So what would Tom Tancredo have to say about the latest report by the Urban Institute that holds that immigration enforcement has a large-scale, detrimental effect on children? The truth is that the immigration system is in dire need of reform and racist rhetoric is not going to solve the complex problems caused as a result of a broken immigration system.

The report is based on research conducted amongst over 100 children of undocumented immigrants that were targeted by raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in six U.S. states. Of the 190 children interviewed for this study, two-thirds were U.S. born citizens. The study says,

Children whose parents were detained for longer than a month experienced more changes in eating, sleeping, frequent crying, fear, anxiety, regression, clinginess, and aggressive behavior.  68% of parents or caretakers questioned said they noticed at least three behavioral changes in the short-term, or three months after a parent was arrested. In the long-term, or nine months after an arrest, 56 percent of children ages 6 to 11 and 12 to 17 showed angry or aggressive behavior. The most typical changes were an increase or decrease in eating among all age groups.

Long-term separation of children from their parents is “exceptionally harmful” to the development and growth of children. The report recommends immigration reform must include alternatives to detention such as electronic monitoring and supervised released, as well as a priority quota for immigrants with children to be considered for legal residency.

It’s groups like Tancredo’s that have gone on about the connections between immigrants and crime. An ACLU brief finds that the increasing criminalization of undocumented immigrants has led to a diversion of attention and resources away from more serious criminal offenses such as organized crime, gun trafficking and white collar crimes. For starters unlawful presence in the United States is NOT a “crime”. And secondly only the Federal Government can regulate immigration. So when states and localities use criminal laws to go after undocumented immigrants, they are not only adding to the misinformed rhetoric around “criminal” immigrants but actually diverting resources from where they should be applied. Moreover, studies have shown that increased immigration does not lead to increased crime and that immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated for violating criminal laws than non-immigrants.

Once again, we urge the leaders and citizens of this country to step away from their petty vendettas and take a look at the bigger picture, both in terms of what already exists and in terms of what would be best for all.

Congressman Patrick Murphy Should Reject Bridge to Nowhere, Online Ads Say

by: AmericasVoice

Thu Feb 04, 2010 at 11:10:22 AM EST

Today America’s Voice is launching an online ad campaign asking Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA) to remove his name from a controversial immigration resolution, H.Res. 1026 -- the so-called “BRIDGE Resolution.”

The measure has been dubbed the "BRIDGE to Nowhere" by Americans who are sick and tired of costly “get-tough” proposals that do nothing to fix our broken immigration system. The Irish Immigration Center in Philadelphia kicked things off by calling on Murphy to remove his name from BRIDGE.  The call was amplified by Markos Moulitsas, founder of the progressive political blog Daily Kos, who called it a “cheap anti-immigrant shot.” 

White House Joins Democratic Senators to Appease Joe Wilson

by: AmericasVoice

Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 14:11:36 PM EST

Note: Cross-posted at Huffington Post. and America's Voice

On Friday I explained how Rep. Joe Wilson’s controversial heckling during President Obama's joint Congressional address last Wednesday laid bare the ugly-as-ever, Republican illegal immigration wedge strategy for the nation to see.

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.

Heckle Obama to Include Everyone in Health Care Reform

by: MaverickLal101

Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 23:31:56 PM EST

Congressperson Joe ‘You Lie’ Wilson was hard hit this week while the POTUS effectively got away with snubbing women and undocumented immigrants in his health care speech.

But even after his re-election opponent, Rob Miller, raised a million due to the outcry and an apology to President Obama, Wilson seems to have won. Today, Democrats Max Baucus and Kent Conrad delivered a more anti-immigrant bill health care bill on a silver platter with costly eligibility verification that threatens to exclude more than just undocumented immigrants.

Which U.S. citizens cannot provide proper government documentation? The first people to be affected by verification procedures is the Trans community. Oppressing against a particular group is often the slippery slope for oppression against other groups.

John Aravosis at America Blog cannot fathom why Democrats are on the defensive. He writes:

Why would anyone think that Wilson, or any of the extremists he represents, will support Baucus and Conrad’s plan, regardless of the changes? […]Wilson is holding firm. Perhaps Conrad and Baucus can delete women from the bill too, or gays, or blacks. That might finally get Wilson on board.

And Aravosis is right. Why is the Democrat party pandering to right-wing paranoia in the name of facts? Is ceding so much ground to nativists in the health care debate really the way forward? Will they also write the bill for immigration reform?

If you are still betting on Democrats like Senator Schumer (D-NY) to be a champion of the cause, expect a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric and measures. After all, he has adopted the ugly discourse of the extreme right and is busy drawing a framework of eligibility verification using biometric tools complete with iris-scanning and finger-printing. I don't know about promigrant, anti-immigrant groups or even the American people but the winner here is certainly the company who gets the contract for this multi-billion dollar opportunity.

Weekly Immigration Wire: Women Central to Immigration Story

by: The Media Consortium

Thu May 21, 2009 at 10:58:16 AM EST

by Nezua, TMC MediaWire Blogger

Celebrated stories of early American pioneers, explorers, and immigrants typically center around men of fortitude and bravery. Depictions of modern-day migrants are still very male-centric, and this cultural lens is a default in most cases. But women play a central and overlooked role in today's immigration story. Even when not directly highlighted, women often bear the weight of keeping families together and helping them grow stronger.  

Shot Yourself? Blame a Hispanic: Pro-Migrant SanctuarySphere

by: symsess

Thu Jun 19, 2008 at 07:34:46 AM EST

Watch Members Embarrassing the Minuteman group at Pro Inmigrant. This video tell us of the wife of a Minuteman who claimed she was shot and raped by Hispanics when the truth was she just shot herself. Also read Lou Dobbs Nightmare. Since When is Searching For A Better Life A Crime? While the U.S./Mexico border is constantly given attention there's a huge wide open border to the north. And we learn of more raids in New Instructions to ICE: Get FEMA. Find Every Mexican Available. Feds Make Immigration Raids In Rutherford County.

Oh Stop Saying Republicans Are Racist at Vivir Latino. Also read Bloggers of the World Unite Against AP. Apparently the AP is going after bloggers who link to their news stories.

Immigrant Scapegoating - Definitely Not an Election Winner

by: DreamActivist

Wed Jun 04, 2008 at 11:50:49 AM EST

George Bush made a 10% gain in Hispanic voters during his re-election bid in 2004; it is more than likely that the gain would reverse itself into a loss for Republicans come this November.

This time around, pledging to step up immigrant crackdowns throughout the year, the Bush Administration is risking a political fallout with Hispanic voters. The lame-duck President has nothing to lose but it doesn't bode well for the non-teflon Republican Party and John McCain's bid for Presidency.

Regardless of the fact that immigration enforcers claim to be anti-(illegal) immigration and not immigration per se, ICE actions and political rhetoric is nonetheless perceived as just anti-immigrant. And perfectly legal immigrants are being harmed in this so-called anti-(illegal) immigrant climate. Take a look at the Congress economic stimulus package to disallow tax rebates to undocumented workers; it ended up affecting many legal residents who filed joint tax returns with their spouses without social security numbers. In counties like Prince Williams that are now policing immigration, even legal immigrants who perceive hatred and hostility are moving and taking their businesses elsewhere.

The Latino vote is crucial, especially in swing states like Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado. Fostering a climate that is heavily perceived as anti-immigrant would undoubtedly turn-off many Hispanic voters, who are the majority of the minority ethnic population and feel targeted due to increased crackdowns and legislation.

If the Bush Administration is merely playing politics and want voters to look past McCain's reformist attitude to immigration, it is taking an ill-calculated risk. John McCain would most likely win the votes of the rabid anti-immigrant crowd regardless of his flip-flop on immigration issues. But he surely risks losing the gains made with Hispanic voters and other immigrant groups in 2004 if the anti-immigrant hysteria continues with inaction from Congress on immigration reform.

Americans usually poll vehemently against illegal immigration  in surveys but it hardly translate into votes at the polling booth. An overwhelming majority of Americans would obviously answer "Yes" to the cleverly worded question: "Are you opposed to illegal immigration?" but start polling for solutions and providing a pathway to citizenship ranks higher than the "deport them all" mantra circulated by hate groups. In fact, 52% of Americans support Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

And at the voting booth, immigration ranks as a seventh major concern, far behind issues like the economy, war and healthcare. The immigration issue is clearly not an election winner for candidates. But it can become a major spoiler for Republicans come November.