| IMMIGRANTS IN DEFENSE OF THEIR RIGHTS |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Tuesday, April 04 2006 |
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| The sleeping giant has awakened. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants have finally come out of the woodwork to show their faces and make it clear that they are not criminals, and simply want a chance to be accepted as productive members of American society. During the past couple of weeks, there have been massive protests and marches across the country by those who think the immigration debate has gotten out of hand.
Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, immigrants have had to sit back and listen to the rhetoric of those who demonize them as a threat to our society. They've had to listen to legislators propose extreme measures and media personalities blame undocumented workers for all the ills of our country.
It took a radical bill like HR 4437 -- which, among other things, would turn undocumented immigrants and anyone who helps them into criminals -- approved in late December by the House of Representatives, to get people to say enough is enough. How ludicrous would it be to file criminal charges against 11 million undocumented immigrants? Who in their right mind would propose tracking down and deporting 11 million people, not only from Mexico, but from all over the world? The bill was so blatantly intolerant and bigoted that immigrant groups were immediately galvanized into action.
Not since the civil-rights movement of the 1960s has there been such a mobilization of the masses. But in contrast with those days, there is no single leader drawing them out to the streets. Unfortunately, Latinos do not have a Martin Luther King Jr. What they do have are a lot of concerned U.S. citizens and legal residents across the country who also feel affected by the tone of the debate and are willing to defend them and stand up to the xenophobes.
The organizers of the march in Los Angeles on March 25 never imagined they would be able to gather half a million people. It wasn't until Spanish-language radio personalities put rivalries aside to join civic groups, immigration activists and members of the Catholic Church that it turned into a show of force.
Grass-roots movements in major U.S. cities independently drew crowds out to protest what they consider inhumane treatment of immigrants. Who would have thought that in Denver, home of one of the strongest anti-immigrant advocates, Congressman Tom Tancredo, more than 50,000 people would come out to protest immigrant bashing?
Within the same week, a rally in Dallas drew some 1,500 people. In Phoenix, as many as 20,000 gathered for one of the biggest demonstrations that city has ever seen. In Milwaukee -- not necessarily known for its large immigrant community -- more than 10,000 marched on Thursday, March 23, declaring it "A Day Without Latinos." Latino communities in the Atlanta area joined in the civic strike after the Georgia House of Representatives approved a bill that would, among other things, impose a 5 percent surcharge on wire transfers.
This is only the beginning. The spontaneous show of force is turning into a national movement intent on demanding a civilized debate of the immigration issue. "It is no longer about legislation," one activist told me. "It's about respect, about recognizing that we are not the problem, we are the solution."
There is a national boycott by Latinos in the works to prove just how much immigrants, legal or not, contribute to the U.S. economy. To show that there are whole industries, such as the agricultural, restart construction and tourism industries, that simply could not function without an immigrant labor force.
It is argued that undocumented immigrants take jobs away from American citizens. While there might be some truth to that, I seriously doubt that American families are raising their children to become lettuce pickers and janitors. We want more than that for our children. We want them to get an education and become professionals.
There is, however, a labor force out there that's willing and able to do the tough jobs that keep our economy going and growing, out of a tremendous need to put food on their own family's table. Those people deserve our support, our respect and a path to becoming an integral part of our society if they so desire.
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