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TUCSON, Ariz.—About 60 defenders of immigrant rights rallied
here on July 11 to protest recent attacks on workers by Arizona Gov.
Janet Napolitano. This "liberal Democrat" governor has taken
one more step to line up with racist, anti-immigrant forces. In fact, she
is stepping to the front of the anti-immigrant line.
Napolitano had announced a few days earlier that,
beginning in January 2008, Arizona would start enforcing the toughest
"employer sanctions" in the country. The new law that
Napolitano supports, HB 2779, will punish businesses that hire undocumented
workers by suspending or revoking their business licenses.
Napolitano underlined her message by sending a letter
to the leaders of her Democratic Party in Congress, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and
Sen. Harry Reid. She blamed the Democrat-controlled Congress for not
enacting tougher anti-immigrant laws on the federal level. This forced
her to act on the state level, she claimed.
The rally protesting Napolitano’s actions was called
by the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, a leading immigrant rights
organization in southern Arizona. A flyer passed out by Derechos Humanos
at the rally stated that "HB 2779 will create a hostile environment
for both employers and workers alike … fear of persecution will push more
immigrant workers into the shadows. … HB 2779 will lead to wholesale
abuse, racial profiling, and hostility in Arizona workplaces, ultimately
affecting entire Arizona communities."
Among the groups supporting the rally, besides the May
1st Coalition, were No More Deaths, Tierra y Libertad, Citizens for
Border Solutions, and Fundación México.
At the rally Isabel Garcia, the leading spokesperson
for Derechos Humanos, denounced the brutal emphasis on enforcement, which
denies the humanity of undocumented workers and disregards the economic
conditions that compel them to seek jobs in the United States. She spoke
out against those groups in the immigrant rights movement who have caved
in to the right-wing agenda.
"We have to stand firm," she said. "We
have to say ‘no’ to enforcement. End the militarization of the border!
Abolish the Border Patrol!" Leilani Clarke, speaking for the May 1st
Coalition, also decried the practice of scapegoating and criminalizing
immigrants without looking at the causes of immigration. She reviewed the
history showing that the U.S. authorities have always imported cheap
labor. The most glaring example was slavery, but after centuries of
struggle the injustice of slavery was defeated. In the fight for
immigrant rights also, "Freedom will be won!"
Eduardo Quintana, a trade-union member of the May 1st
Coalition, declared, "We’re not going to stand still while working
families are raided." Napolitano, he said, has joined the campaign
blaming immigrant workers for all social ills.
All workers have to stick together, Quintana said,
whether they are "documented" or not. He cited the recent
months-long strike by his union, the Machinists, against a company that
was making 42 percent profits, the highest in years, and yet was
attacking the workers’ standard of living. With support from the
community and from workers in other unions, the Machinists were able to
win their strike.
[Other speakers included Kelly Gato of Fundación
México, César López of Tierra y Libertad, Corinne Bancroft of No More
Deaths, and a representative of Citizens for Border Solutions in Bisbee,
Ariz.]
In closing the rally, Isabel Garcia, questioned the
Arizona state authorities for wasting the taxpayers’ money by bringing
out a totally disproportionate police presence of a hundred or more at
this rally. She ended by repeating: "We will continue the fight to
abolish the Border Patrol and all border enforcement. No more agents! No
more cameras!"
This article is excerpted from the July 15
edition of the on-line journal, www.laborstandard.org.
Some Background on Napolitano
Janet Napolitano was elected governor of Arizona a few
years ago as a supposed "friend of labor." Among those who came
to Arizona and campaigned for her was Linda Chavez-Thompson, one of the
top three leaders of the AFL-CIO.
A couple of years ago Janet Napolitano, the liberal
Democrat who was elected in such an unlikely victory in this long-time
conservative Republican state, showed her true colors.
Lining up with the so-called Minutemen opponents of
human rights for immigrants, Janet sent the National Guard to back up and
assist the Border Patrol along the frontier with Mexico.
Now Napolitano has gone a step further as she joins in
with the policies of militarization and police enforcement that have
become the preferred choice for the politicians and pooh-bahs of the U.S.
ruling elite in regard to the Mexican border.
The record of these Democrat Party "friends of
labor" is clear enough by now, isn’t it? As Malcolm X said, the
Democrats are like the crafty, guileful racist fox compared to the openly
racist Republican wolf. Malcolm advised African Americans to register
Independent, not to sign up with either of the "boss man"
parties.
Malcolm was killed before he was able to organize an
Independent Black Political Party, as he probably would have. But his
idea of organizing Independent of the bosses’ political parties lives on
after him. — G.S.
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