BY SETH GALINSKY
The Militant, Vol. 74; No. 11
March 22, 2010
As the administration of Barack Obama continues its attacks on undocumented workers, thousands of people from around the country are preparing to demonstrate in Washington, D.C., March 21 to demand legalization of immigrants and an end to deportations.
In a March 5 press release, the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, one of the coalitions backing the march, points out that “the Obama Administration’s shift in emphasis from ‘worker raids’ to ‘paper/desk raids’ has provided a veneer of civility to immigration enforcement.”
“Deportations have increased by more than 60 percent since the Obama Administration took office,” the coalition adds. In 2009 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported the highest number of immigrant workers in U.S. history.
While reducing the number of high-profile factory raids, in 2009 ICE tripled the number of immigration audits, which often lead to the firing of workers who can’t present proof of legal residency in the United States.
By claiming they are focusing on deporting criminals, U.S. officials seek to scapegoat immigrants and foster divisions among immigrant workers. In a three-day operation at the end of February, ICE agents arrested 284 immigrants in Texas. ICE said more than half have “violent criminal histories.”
Washington is expanding the “Secure Communities” program, which aims by 2012 to check the fingerprints of every person held in federal, state, and local jails against a Department of Homeland Security database.
ICE has continued the rapid expansion of E-verify, which allows bosses to check the immigration and work status of current and potential employees through the Internet, making it more difficult for workers without papers to obtain jobs.
The U.S. government has also deepened militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. There are now more than 20,000 armed agents stationed there.
The purpose of these measures, promoted by both the Democratic and Republican parties, is not to stop the flow of immigrant labor, which U.S. employers need to bolster their profits and compete against businesses from other countries, but to control it. Their anti-immigrant policies are used to divide working people and drive down the value of their labor power.
The March 21 demonstration provides an opportunity for working people, union activists, and students to oppose these anti-immigrant and anti-worker measures.
Among groups sponsoring the demonstration are several immigration reform coalitions, the AFL-CIO union federation, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Food and Commercial Workers union, UNITE HERE, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the National Council of Churches.
Eugenio Villasante, a spokesperson for SEIU Local 32BJ, told the Militant the union members are “very motivated” to join the march. “Many of our members are immigrants and everyone knows someone who has been deported,” he said. “It’s a wrong policy.”
Laborers locals 10, 78, and 79, which organize construction workers in the New York City region, will be participating in the march. The Workplace Project, an immigrant rights group that works with day laborers on Long Island, is organizing a bus to Washington along with a contingent that will walk to the demonstration from Hempstead, New York, starting March 12.
In Salinas, California, the United Farm Workers will also hold an immigration rights action March 21.
Luis Gutiérrez, U.S. congressman from Illinois, will be the featured speaker at a Houston rally March 13 that is part of promoting the March 21 actions.
Gutiérrez has introduced a “comprehensive immigration reform” in the House of Representatives that is similar to proposals that Obama has raised. The bill is presented by some Democratic Party politicians and union officials as a “road to citizenship” and a way to “fix the broken immigration system.”
The bill does not guarantee legalizing undocumented workers or an end to deportations. It calls for stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws and the creation of a “Southern Border Security Task Force.” It would create a nationwide “employment verification system” to aid bosses in weeding out undocumented workers.
Under the section “Earned legalization program for the undocumented,” the bill proposes granting a six-year “conditional nonimmigrant status” to undocumented immigrants.
Any immigrant applying for legal status has to undergo “complete criminal and security background checks” and pay a $500 fine. Immigrants who qualify must wait for six years after the law takes effect to receive a green card showing they are permanent residents.
http://www.themilitant.com/2010/7411/741105.html
Showing posts with label March on DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label March on DC. Show all posts
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
New Immigrant Rights Campaign to Mount Largest March of Obama Era
By Randy Shaw
The Huffington Post
March 14, 2010
"I cannot underscore strongly enough how pissed off the base is over the lack of action." --Gabe Gonzalez, Center for Community Change
Last week, immigrant rights groups became the first major progressive constituency to issue a release publicly denouncing the Obama Administration. Blasting the White House for "escalating deportations and detentions" while taking no action toward enacting comprehensive immigration reform, national immigrant rights leaders are escalating a pressure campaign that will feature the largest march of the Obama presidency in Washington DC on March 21. The march comes amidst growing frustration over the President's failure to advance an issue that galvanized enough Latinos to the polls in 2006 to give Democrats control of the House, and which helped elect Obama president in November 2008.
Within days of the public criticism, the President met with activists to frankly discuss the political realities of moving forward. Having used massive marches in cities across the nation to put immigration reform in the national spotlight in 2006, activists are now returning to this tactic as part of new campaign to escalate pressure on Obama and Democratic Congressional leaders. The goal is to finally pass comprehensive reform this year.
After activists came close to winning comprehensive immigration reform in 2006 and 2007, the election of Barack Obama and Democratic control of Congress seemingly made enactment a certainty in either 2009 or early 2010. Given the steep political cost of inaction -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and dozens of Democratic Congressmembers need large Latino turnouts to keep their seats -- one would have thought that the Democratic Party would act quickly on this signature issue.
Congressman Luis Gutierrez certainly thought so. The strong immigrant rights advocate told the UNITE HERE convention in June 2009 that President Obama had assured him that if a comprehensive reform measure were not introduced in 2009, it would happen at the start of 2010.
But after Obama devoted but a single sentence to immigration reform in his State of the Union speech, and March 2010 began with no legislation even on the horizon, activists decided to take matters into their own hands.
The March for America
Organized by the Center for Community Change (CCC), the March 21 event will be the largest protest march since President Barack Obama took office. It will include activist groups from nearly every state, and revives the labor-religious-community coalition that built the mass marches of 2006.
According to lead CCC March organizer Gabe Gonzalez, SEIU, UNITE HERE, LIUNA and the UFCW have all committed to mobilize for the march. Gonzalez also told me "the churches are totally on board," with evangelical churches--- which have seen a steady rise in Latinos---playing a larger role than in 2006. Such faith-based activist networks as Gamaliel, PICO and the IAF are also involved, which means that a large cadre of very experienced organizers is involved in ensuring the event's success.
Having written a book about how the immigrants rights movement was built, and then exploded onto the public stage in 2006, the reassembling of this movement in Washington DC next Sunday is significant. It means that many of the nation's most strategic organizers from diverse fields---labor, immigrant rights, faith-based activism---are again working in concert to protect the over 10 million undocumented immigrants who face deportation and the break-up of their families due to the government's failure to legalize their status.
And while the march sends a powerful message, Gonzalez and key organizers know that even more important is what happens afterward.
The New Immigrant Rights Campaign
Following the march, activists plan to turn out in large numbers to the Town Hall meetings that congress members will hold during the two week recess starting March 29. The traditional media gave massive coverage to Tea Party members attending town halls last August, and should be under pressure to provide something close to that coverage for the immigrant rights activism at these upcoming events.
On April 10, there will be an immigrant rights rally in Las Vegas with Senator Reid. Reid knows his re-election depends on massive Latino turnout in November, and immigrant rights advocates are sending a message that they will mobilize for him provided he provides leadership on legalization.
Other rallies are also planned, but the chief focus will be on pressuring legislators to support legislation that activists now expect to be introduced in April. The key issue that divided progressives in the past -- the treatment of guest worker programs -- is likely to be resolved through various potential compromises, including the possible appointment of an independent commission to regulate such programs.
Because the groups aligned with the CCC-spawned "Fair Immigration Reform Movement" have weaker ties to the Democratic Party than do some of the key health care advocacy groups, the upcoming campaign will not hesitate to publicly criticize and wage protests against wavering Democrats. Gonzalez has already made it clear that "we expect the Democratic leadership to act as leaders and hold their Party's votes," and said New York Senator Chuck Schumer---who would be the lead Democratic Senator on the immigration bill---has "got the ball and he's got to get off the dime."
The Politics of Reform
Both President Obama and activists recognize that immigration legislation requires some Republican support in the Senate. This is not as impossible as it seems: recall that John McCain once co-sponsored a legalization bill, and Maine's two Republican Senators, along with Lindsey Graham (SC), Judd Gregg (NH), Scott Brown (MA) and George Voinovich (OH) are potential yes votes.
Facing a primary challenge from a right-wing former Congressmember whose anti-immigrant attacks cost him his seat in 2006, McCain no longer supports legalization. But a grassroots pressure campaign that includes religious groups could potentially sway enough Republican Senators to avoid a filibuster, and Reid can use his clout to prevent any Democrat from joining a fililbuster, even if they eventually vote against the bill.
So comprehensive immigration reform that offers a feasible path to legalization remains winnable this year. And for President Obama and other Democrats looking to fulfill their 2008 campaign promises to Latino voters, this requires acting by all means necessary to either pass legalization legislation or move the bill as far as politically possible.
This means forcing Republicans to actually take to the floor and spend day and night on the filibuster, clearly exposing GOP obstructionism---rather than the Democrats' betrayal---as the cause of legislative inaction. Republicans have paid a steep political price for opposing legalization, and with key Senate contests upcoming in Colorado, Nevada, and Florida, and other states where Latino voters could prove the difference, Republican Senators may want to avoid a high-profile opposition strategy that galvanizes Latinos to come out and vote against them.
In a recent speech on health care reform, President Obama countered calls for delay by stating, "If not now, when?" The same question should be asked about comprehensive immigration reform, which is why activists are mounting this unprecedented grassroots campaign to win legalization for millions of families this year.
Randy Shaw is the author of Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-shaw/new-immigrant-rights-camp_b_498544.html
The Huffington Post
March 14, 2010
"I cannot underscore strongly enough how pissed off the base is over the lack of action." --Gabe Gonzalez, Center for Community Change
Last week, immigrant rights groups became the first major progressive constituency to issue a release publicly denouncing the Obama Administration. Blasting the White House for "escalating deportations and detentions" while taking no action toward enacting comprehensive immigration reform, national immigrant rights leaders are escalating a pressure campaign that will feature the largest march of the Obama presidency in Washington DC on March 21. The march comes amidst growing frustration over the President's failure to advance an issue that galvanized enough Latinos to the polls in 2006 to give Democrats control of the House, and which helped elect Obama president in November 2008.
Within days of the public criticism, the President met with activists to frankly discuss the political realities of moving forward. Having used massive marches in cities across the nation to put immigration reform in the national spotlight in 2006, activists are now returning to this tactic as part of new campaign to escalate pressure on Obama and Democratic Congressional leaders. The goal is to finally pass comprehensive reform this year.
After activists came close to winning comprehensive immigration reform in 2006 and 2007, the election of Barack Obama and Democratic control of Congress seemingly made enactment a certainty in either 2009 or early 2010. Given the steep political cost of inaction -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and dozens of Democratic Congressmembers need large Latino turnouts to keep their seats -- one would have thought that the Democratic Party would act quickly on this signature issue.
Congressman Luis Gutierrez certainly thought so. The strong immigrant rights advocate told the UNITE HERE convention in June 2009 that President Obama had assured him that if a comprehensive reform measure were not introduced in 2009, it would happen at the start of 2010.
But after Obama devoted but a single sentence to immigration reform in his State of the Union speech, and March 2010 began with no legislation even on the horizon, activists decided to take matters into their own hands.
The March for America
Organized by the Center for Community Change (CCC), the March 21 event will be the largest protest march since President Barack Obama took office. It will include activist groups from nearly every state, and revives the labor-religious-community coalition that built the mass marches of 2006.
According to lead CCC March organizer Gabe Gonzalez, SEIU, UNITE HERE, LIUNA and the UFCW have all committed to mobilize for the march. Gonzalez also told me "the churches are totally on board," with evangelical churches--- which have seen a steady rise in Latinos---playing a larger role than in 2006. Such faith-based activist networks as Gamaliel, PICO and the IAF are also involved, which means that a large cadre of very experienced organizers is involved in ensuring the event's success.
Having written a book about how the immigrants rights movement was built, and then exploded onto the public stage in 2006, the reassembling of this movement in Washington DC next Sunday is significant. It means that many of the nation's most strategic organizers from diverse fields---labor, immigrant rights, faith-based activism---are again working in concert to protect the over 10 million undocumented immigrants who face deportation and the break-up of their families due to the government's failure to legalize their status.
And while the march sends a powerful message, Gonzalez and key organizers know that even more important is what happens afterward.
The New Immigrant Rights Campaign
Following the march, activists plan to turn out in large numbers to the Town Hall meetings that congress members will hold during the two week recess starting March 29. The traditional media gave massive coverage to Tea Party members attending town halls last August, and should be under pressure to provide something close to that coverage for the immigrant rights activism at these upcoming events.
On April 10, there will be an immigrant rights rally in Las Vegas with Senator Reid. Reid knows his re-election depends on massive Latino turnout in November, and immigrant rights advocates are sending a message that they will mobilize for him provided he provides leadership on legalization.
Other rallies are also planned, but the chief focus will be on pressuring legislators to support legislation that activists now expect to be introduced in April. The key issue that divided progressives in the past -- the treatment of guest worker programs -- is likely to be resolved through various potential compromises, including the possible appointment of an independent commission to regulate such programs.
Because the groups aligned with the CCC-spawned "Fair Immigration Reform Movement" have weaker ties to the Democratic Party than do some of the key health care advocacy groups, the upcoming campaign will not hesitate to publicly criticize and wage protests against wavering Democrats. Gonzalez has already made it clear that "we expect the Democratic leadership to act as leaders and hold their Party's votes," and said New York Senator Chuck Schumer---who would be the lead Democratic Senator on the immigration bill---has "got the ball and he's got to get off the dime."
The Politics of Reform
Both President Obama and activists recognize that immigration legislation requires some Republican support in the Senate. This is not as impossible as it seems: recall that John McCain once co-sponsored a legalization bill, and Maine's two Republican Senators, along with Lindsey Graham (SC), Judd Gregg (NH), Scott Brown (MA) and George Voinovich (OH) are potential yes votes.
Facing a primary challenge from a right-wing former Congressmember whose anti-immigrant attacks cost him his seat in 2006, McCain no longer supports legalization. But a grassroots pressure campaign that includes religious groups could potentially sway enough Republican Senators to avoid a filibuster, and Reid can use his clout to prevent any Democrat from joining a fililbuster, even if they eventually vote against the bill.
So comprehensive immigration reform that offers a feasible path to legalization remains winnable this year. And for President Obama and other Democrats looking to fulfill their 2008 campaign promises to Latino voters, this requires acting by all means necessary to either pass legalization legislation or move the bill as far as politically possible.
This means forcing Republicans to actually take to the floor and spend day and night on the filibuster, clearly exposing GOP obstructionism---rather than the Democrats' betrayal---as the cause of legislative inaction. Republicans have paid a steep political price for opposing legalization, and with key Senate contests upcoming in Colorado, Nevada, and Florida, and other states where Latino voters could prove the difference, Republican Senators may want to avoid a high-profile opposition strategy that galvanizes Latinos to come out and vote against them.
In a recent speech on health care reform, President Obama countered calls for delay by stating, "If not now, when?" The same question should be asked about comprehensive immigration reform, which is why activists are mounting this unprecedented grassroots campaign to win legalization for millions of families this year.
Randy Shaw is the author of Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-shaw/new-immigrant-rights-camp_b_498544.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)