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On March 21, some 200,000 people, overwhelmingly Latino
immigrants, gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to
demand immigration reform. Thousands of people rode in on buses,
traveling across the country so they could participate in the march in
the nation’s capital, making it the largest demonstration to have taken
place since Obama became president. They came with their friends, their
families, their unions, their churches, and their local community
groups, holding colorful banners, chanting, and demanding an
alternative to the increasingly harsh climate that many immigrants face
in the U.S. today.
Lively crowds of youth, workers, and families chanted, “¡Sí se
puede!” while waving American flags or holding homemade signs
that declared, “No human being is illegal!” or “Legalization for all!”
Others carried signs that asked Obama to live up to the promises he had
made to the immigrant community.
The rally in Washington, D.C., wasn’t organized by community
groups and churches but by Reform Immigration for America (RIFA), a
group with strong ties to the Democratic Party and millions of dollars
to spend on promoting the Obama administration’s version of immigration
reform. RIFA backs immigration reform proposals like Rep. Luis
Gutierrez’s (D-Ill.) bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for
America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP 2009). The
Gutierrez proposal, while offering an earned path to citizenship for
most undocumented immigrants, counterposes this offer of “legalization”
with increased enforcement provisions like E-verify and border
militarization, and the first steps towards an expanded guest-worker
program. The Obama administration, on the other hand, has announced
that it will back the forthcoming Schumer-Graham immigration reform
proposal, an even more draconian version of the Gutierrez bill.
Many people at the march expressed frustration with Obama’s
lack of action on immigration reform during his first year in office.
“We’ve been waiting for so long,” Rudy Romero, 19, told The New York
Times. “I know it takes time, but a promise is a promise. We are
demanding it today.” A young woman, Andrea Rentaria, added, “We want to
step up and say, ‘Hey, wake up. We’re here. We’re still waiting. We’ve
given you time to settle in. When is this going happen?’”
President Obama himself did not attend the immigration rally on
March 21, but he did address the crowd via a pre-taped video speech. At
first, the crowd cheered loudly for the president, but as he continued
to speak, many faces began to fall.
“Real change doesn’t start in the White House or the halls of
Congress. It starts with people like you, in communities across this
country standing up and making your voices heard,” Obama began. But
then he went on to congratulate Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on their soon-to-be-released legislative proposal
for immigration reform. “They developed a framework that includes
common sense, effective strategies to protect our borders and enforce
the law while offering a path to citizenship for hardworking people who
register, pay taxes, pay a fine, and agree to play by the rules,” said
Obama. “You know as well as I do that this won’t happen overnight but
if we work together across ethnic, state and party lines, we can build
a future worthy of our history as a nation of immigrants and a nation
of laws.”
The Schumer-Graham proposal on immigration reform, announced to
the press several days before the march, is a far cry from the
legalization for all demanded by the crowds that filled the National
Mall on Sunday. “Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social
Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs;
fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and
interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary
workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for
those already here,” wrote Schumer and Graham in the Washington Post
on March 19.
According to the article, that “tough but fair path to
legalization” would require undocumented immigrants to admit they broke
the law, perform community service, pay back taxes and fines, learn
English, and pass background checks, all before going to the “back of
the line” to apply for a Green Card. Many immigrants are still waiting
in line after the amnesty of 1986, caught up in endless bureaucratic
backlogs. The Schumer-Graham proposal would only force families to wait
even longer to be reunited.
Even worse, the Schumer-Graham proposal fails to end the raids
and deportations that have terrorized immigrant communities. Rather, it
increases interior enforcement and border militarization programs that
have lead to the deaths and maltreatment of thousands of immigrants.
And the guest-worker programs it proposes to control future flows of
low-skilled immigrant workers would only open the door for low wages and
increased exploitation of immigrant and U.S.-born workers alike.
Expanded use of employer sanctions tactics like E-verify and I-9
audits, or “silent raids,” have already been used to fire thousands of
workers and break unions in places like Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
The article in the Washington Post also states that the
Schumer-Graham immigration reform proposal would require all U.S.
citizens and legal immigrants to carry biometric ID cards. These
high-tech Social Security cards would hold DNA information on all U.S.
citizens and residents. Increased security measures like these erode
the basic freedoms of everyone living in the U.S. and increase the
general climate of fear in a post-9/11 world.
Speakers at the March 21 rally included Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez
(D-N.Y.), the leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Luis
Gutierrez, Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney of Los Angeles, and
the Rev. Jesse Jackson. While most speakers urged the need for a
comprehensive immigration reform, they said little of substance,
pumping up the crowd but avoiding any real discussion of the issues
that many Latino and other immigrant communities face daily. Leaders of
grassroots community groups have commented that many Latinos don’t
actually know what the Gutierrez immigration proposal contains or how
it would really affect them in their daily lives.
One group that was at the rally, the Grassroots Immigrant
Justice Network (GIJN), is attempting to address that very problem. At
a press conference last week, the GIJN asked for a broader community
dialogue on immigration reform. “Our principal goal is to generate a
national dialogue based on an alternative framework which views
immigration as an issue of labor mobility and human rights in an era of
economic globalization,” stated Isabel Garcia of the GIJN in a recent
press release. “If you want to deal with the issues surrounding the
mass migration of people anywhere in the world, you must address the
root causes, it’s that simple.”
In a press conference on March 17, Nativo Lopez, a member of
the GIJN and the National Director of the Hermandad Mexicana
Latinoamericana, laid out a new set of principles for the immigrant
rights movement. Among other issues, Lopez stressed the need to address
the root causes of migration, including trade agreements like NAFTA
that have displaced thousands of workers and caused mass waves of
migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. “If we don’t address the
immigration issue honestly, 20 years in the future we will be in the
same place we are now,” said Lopez.
Other speakers at the GIJN press conference included David
Silva Villalobos, president of the Executive Board of the Peoples Legal
Defense Committee of California, INC.; Isabel Garcia, co-chair of the
Coalición de Derechos Humanos in Arizona; Carlos Arango, executive
director of Casa Aztlan in Chicago; noted labor and immigration
journalist David Bacon; student activist Daniela Ortiz-Bahamonde of
Stop the Raids, Students of Trinity College; and Juan Jose Bocanegra,
an immigrant rights activist in Seattle. Members of the GIJN called for
a clear and easy path to legalization that addresses the huge backlogs
of applicants, demanded an end to raids and deportations, border
militarization and the criminalization of workers, and denounced the use
of guest worker programs. To find out more about the Grassroots
Immigrant Justice Network, to listen to their press conference, or to
sign their Open Letter on immigration reform, visit
wwwgrassrootsimmigrantjusticenetworkblogspot.com.
In 2006, we witnessed one of the largest mass demonstrations in
U.S. history, led by immigrants. Immigrant communities across the
country protested against the reactionary Sensenbrenner legislation and
demanded a new approach to immigration—one based on human rights and labor
mobility. They demanded an end to the raids and deportations that were
terrorizing their communities. The U.S. sat up and listened to what
they had to say, and the Sensenbrenner bill was defeated.
On March 21, we once again saw a historic mass gathering of the
immigrant community. The immigrants and their allies who filled the
National Mall made it very clear that they will no longer stand for the
use of programs like E-verify and 287(g) to threaten their communities
and put their jobs and their families in jeopardy. They came out in
force to hold President Obama accountable for his promises, surpassing
even the expectations of the organizers of the rally. Once again,
immigrants have stood up for their livelihoods and their rights.
Now more than ever is the time for all workers to join forces
and take up the banner for immigrant rights. This time around, it will
take another massive concerted effort for immigrants to open a new
dialogue on immigration reform, pushing forward legislation that will
truly relieve the suffering of immigrant families and that will grant
an unconditional amnesty for all while addressing the underlying causes
of migration. Only by joining hands and joining our struggles can we
overcome the fear and hatred that has plagued our nation for too long.
All out for May 1, International Workers’ Day, when
immigrant-rights rallies are planned nationwide!
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