Immigrant actors tell their story

....The two men are normally part of the vast corps of immigrant day laborers who gather by the thousands on street corners and curbs across Los Angeles every morning.....

As members of Teatro Jornaleros Sin Fronteras – Day Laborer Theater Without Borders – they are part of a Spanish-language theater troupe of day laborers who perform for their fellow workers .....

"In our culture, some guys have never seen a play," said Juan José Mangandi, a Salvadoran laborer who serves as the troupe's director.

In the final skit, a group of day laborers were shown hanging around a job site not unlike the Home Depot parking lot where the performance took place. A pair of immigration officers emerged, screaming at everyone to put their hands up. Members of the audience jumped......

There was a discussion of options before Paredes "pressed play" to let the skit resume. One actor ran from the immigration officers but was caught and wrestled to the ground. A pregnant woman burst into tears, readily admitting that she did not have a visa. Another woman stood in front of the officers and offered her name but remained silent when they asked her where she lived, where she was from, or if she had any identification. "Am I detained or am I free to go?" she asked stoically.

..... There is something called the Fifth Amendment in the United States, he explained, which says you have the right to remain silent and you have the right to a lawyer........

He "hit play", and a rousing cumbia song came on. The immigration officers wrapped their arms around the day laborers, and everyone danced together.

"Day Laborer Theater Without Borders"....yeah, that's hiding in the shadows! Article is worth reading all of it.

The following article was also sent out by NAFBPO.

(excerpt)

The deep US recession has had one effect that polls say would please most Americans: Illegal immigration is falling.

More illegal immigrants are leaving. Fewer people are sneaking in – perhaps 200,000 a year instead of 500,000 in recent years.....

.....It also weakens the argument of pro-immigration forces that there are some jobs Americans won’t do. Mr. Camarota finds that claim “absurd on its face.”

He points to a newly available sampling of 4.7 million workers in 465 occupations, a massive survey that asks respondents whether they were born in the US. The US-born already hold a clear majority of jobs people often regard as being left to immigrants, such as housekeeping and grounds-maintenance workers. Only in picking fresh produce do immigrants hold a small majority.

Politics plays a huge role.....some 1 million immigrants become US citizens every year. About 300,000 more of them become Democrats than Republicans.

That advantage could be one reason that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, has blocked several immigration-control bills from coming to the floor.....

Similarly, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada has been “aggressively pushing amnesty” for illegal immigrants......

Critics sometimes call various forms of amnesty “a Democratic registration program.”

The third component of the debate – the demographics – is vital in the long run. In the 1990s, the US had its biggest 10-year jump in population in its history – 32.7 million – and the fastest growth rate since the 1960s.

That’s the elephant in the room, Mr. Beck says. If President Obama really wants to reach his goals of energy independence and lower carbon emissions, he will have to restrain immigration, he argues.....Otherwise, the projected population rise from 307 million today to 439 million in 2050 will swamp his intentions – and heighten other challenges, such as congestion and education.

Meanwhile, a multimillion-dollar fundraising battle has broken out between pro-amnesty and antiamnesty groups.

It will, warns Stein, be “vitriolic, vicious.”

http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/06/25/economic-scene-how-recession-has-changed-the-immigration-debate/

Also forwarded by NAFBPO today:

http://newmexicoindependent.com/30418/berry-gop-blame-dennys-murder-on-police-immigration-rules

Berry, GOP blame Denny’s murder on immigration rules
By Marjorie Childress 6/26/09 3:10 AM

“When police officers run across a situation where they think public safety is well served by inquiring, they should have the authority to do so,” Berry told the Independent after the press conference. “As mayor, I’ll return to common sense policy.”

Berry raised the issue in the context of the Denny’s robbery and murder, the suspects of which are undocumented immigrants who have had previous encounters with police. One suspect, Pablo Ortiz, had been arrested for DWI in May 2008; the arresting officer didn’t ask him about his immigration status. Ortiz spent 46 days in jail, was released and then agreed to “voluntary deportation.” He was sent back to El Salvador last August, but then returned to New Mexico, although authorities don’t know how or when.

The executive director of the state Republican Party, Ryan Cangiolosi, also weighed in on the issue, saying in a statement yesterday that the Denny’s incident was the “inadvertent fruit” of a policy change a few years ago that serves to “preclude police officers from inquiring about or seeking proof of an individual’s immigration status.”

APD changed its standard operating procedure in 2007 as part of a settlement of a 2005 lawsuit brought by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. [snip]

In the final skit, a group of day laborers were shown hanging around a job site not unlike the Home Depot parking lot where the performance took place. A pair of immigration officers emerged, screaming at everyone to put their hands up. Members of the audience jumped......
There was a discussion of options before Paredes "pressed play" to let the skit resume. One actor ran from the immigration officers but was caught and wrestled to the ground. A pregnant woman burst into tears, readily admitting that she did not have a visa. Another woman stood in front of the officers and offered her name but remained silent when they asked her where she lived, where she was from, or if she had any identification. "Am I detained or am I free to go?" she asked stoically.

All it takes is one injury (by fellow actors or collision/confrontation with a customer/employee) and Home Depot will rethink the policy of letting these loiterers play in their parking lot.

From their website and employment ads: Cornerstone is both a theater ensemble and a bridge building community organizing force.

Cornerstone has been carefully managed and has grown into a company with an operating budget of over $1.1 million, of which over 83% is derived from contributed income. The company is consistently supported by national funding sources that recognize its long history of innovation and national impact. Cornerstone also has a modest endowment and cash reserve, upon which it seeks to build.

They get money from the NEA (Surprise!)

The William & Eva Fox Foundation has awarded nearly $2.9 million in fellowships to over 300 actors since 1994. It is the largest U.S. grant-maker dedicated to the artistic and professional development of theater actors, and one of very few that provides direct financial support to individual actors.

One of their directors:CELESTE ALLEYNE is currently the Community Affairs and Relationship Marketing Director for Microsoft, Southern California and Hawaii

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