Immigrant Rights Activists: "It's Showdown Time"
Activists from across the Prairie State are keeping the pressure on Congress and the White House to fix the nation's broken immigration laws this year. Next month, they plan to send 10,000 Illinoisans to D.C. for a national march in favor of comprehensive reform.
If there's one point that Illinois' immigration reform activists have driven home over the past year, it's that they won't take "next year" for an answer. When naysayers on Capitol Hill said that legislative reforms had no chance of moving forward in 2010, Illinois' own Rep. Luis Gutierrez responded by introducing legislation that would put some 12 million undocumented people on the path to citizenship. Those community groups, faith leaders, and students that came out in record numbers to help elect President Obama in 2008 aren't backing down either. This spring, they are focusing their attention on the White House and Congress -- and taking the fight to their doorstep.
Activists from across the Prairie State -- from union organizers to clergy to nonprofit leaders -- came together yesterday to highlight their effort to send 10,000 Illinoisans to D.C. on March 21 for a national rally in favor of comprehensive immigration reform. (If you're interested in participating in the march, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has more information here.)
"It's showdown time," Centro Sin Fronteras' Emma Lozano said. "We are united as never before. We will mobilize as never before." Watch Lozano and fellow reform supporters, including Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz and United Electrical Workers District 11 President Carl Rosen:
As we've noted before, the overreaching goal of this campaign is to see the immigration reform package -- including Gutierrez' bill in the House and Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) forthcoming measure in the Senate -- clear both chambers by May. For that to happen, Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill must step up and display some political courage. On that note, local activists are calling on Illinois' own Sen. Dick Durbin -- a longtime advocate for reform -- to flex his muscles as majority whip. And of course, they're continue to urge President Obama to make immigration reform a priority as well.
With the general election nine months away, Illinois' Latino community is making sure to remind the players in Washington of their political power. After all, as America's Voice recently reported (PDF), this growing portion of the electorate could be key in deciding some tight elections this fall. "Latino voters will be voting just like they continued to vote," Juan Salgado of Instituto Progreso Latino said yesterday, "in high numbers." And those votes will help determine whether their overall agenda moves forward or stalls.
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Hi All,
I applaud support lately by Governor Schwarzneggar and Shakira to legalize the well contributing immigrants and thus continue to keep our country strong and prosperous. I hope other well known people follow them in the said support.
America is a country of immigrants. People who came here have always been very hard working and determined to make a great name for this country and for themselves and surely thenceforth this country has become the greatest on earth. All people who came here sacrificed their family and friends whom they left behind to achieve their dream in this land of opportunity. No wonder this country has thence become the best in the world. To discourage immigrants, who are competing in a global economy is not only detrimental to the continued greatness and prosperity of this country, but also harmful to all Americans and to our country by allowing us to rest on the laurels of our predecessors.
It is just plain commonsense that such an attitude is neither dignified nor patriotic and will only not only make us weaker as people and as a country but would also well result in losng our global leadership position and our prosperity. The only fair reason for anyone complaining should be if someone is not working as hard or as good but getting paid better and if that were to be happening here this country will begin in a downward spiral toward losing its prosperity and its global leadersip position.
Henceforth recent studies conducted by experts and universities continue to show that legalizing the immigrants, who are not criminals or drug traffickers is in the best interest of our country's economy and prosperity
I thus think that passing of the comprehensive immigration reform is in the best interest of Americans and our country. It will only continue to make our country prosperous and great. The only people who are harmful to our country are criminals/drug traffickers and they are the ones we should get rid of.
By the way I may also add that despite the current down economy, analysts point out that previous legislation in the 1980s was also passed in the midst of hard times. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 led to the legalization of 2.7 million “illegal” workers, but did not lead to greater unemployment. Wages also rose 15-20% in the following two decades, the study found. Data also suggests that a policy of mass deportation of migrants in the 1930s worsened the economic crisis.
May thus God give us the courage and strength to continue to compete openly in this gobal village without fearing people who are better contributors than us and thus continue to keep this country the most prosperous and the most blessed nation on earth. Amen
Illegal aliens are not immigrants, they are foreign intruders.
Amnesty for illegal aliens actually decreases legal immigration, as the amnestied illegal aliens and the relatives they sponsor crowd legal immigrants out.
Legalization of illegal aliens would discriminate based on origin it would benefit 30 Latin Americans for every Asian, African, or European beneficiary.
In other words, those that support amnesty for illegal aliens are anti-immigrant racists.
Jean Baptiste Truong
Executive Director
Immigrant Rights Foundation
www.immigrantrightsfoundation.org
Illegal aliens aren't immigrants. Immigrants come to this country through legal immigration channels. Illegal aliens are lawbreakers and criminals. America is a country of LEGAL immigrants. Legal immigrants are welcome to come and live here and pursue the American Dream. Illegal aliens are not welcome to come and live here because they have no respect for our laws.
Amnesties don't solve the problem of illegal immigration. In fact, amnesties simply perpetuate the problem of illegal immigration. Our government gave an amnesty to about 3 million illegal aliens in 1986. The illegal immigration problem is 10 times worse today. We need to learn from our past mistakes and not repeat them.
Every illegal alien who has worked in the United States has committed one or more of the following crimes (most are felonies). These crimes include ID theft, document fraud, Social Security fraud, "I-9 Form" employment fraud, conspiracy to violate immigration laws, and income tax evasion.
Illegal aliens shouldn't be allowed to cut in line!
WATCH THIS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h-uhoCmyH8
It's not "the nation's immigration laws" that are broken, it is the nation's political system that is broken, since it keeps putting politicians into office who refuse to enforce our generally fair and protective immigration laws on the books, instead they hand out amnesty.
Past amnesties have created most of today's immigration problems, another amnesty will only make things worse, not better.
I would like to know something: As a 'pocho' with two grandparents from Mexico - who became naturalized US citizens, what gives non-US citizen Mexicans the right to 'squat' in MY country and cost the US taxpayers for health care, education and social services (welfare)?
Why don't you focus your efforts on trying to change the economic climate in Mexico, which truely oppresses their people? If Mexico cared at all about their own citizens, wouldn't things be a whole lot better?
But then Mexico wouldn't have the hard currency that flows their direction, while the US taxpayer pays to take care of Mexican citizens! ENOUGH, already!!!
I guess it is right for all these immigrants to protest against the government . Us government has always been motivating immigrants to enter the country but have never provided them with proper facilities such as housing , insurance and not even a Temporary Medical Insurance . I guess this must be blamed all over Past amnesties .
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Why is our government STILL bringing in 1.5 MILLION foreign workers a year? http://www.americanworker.org/