Protest Styles Presented A Clash of Cultures, And One Decisively Won

Washington Post ^ | November 4, 2007 | Nick Miroff and Kristen Mack

[3AngelaD]

Opponents of Prince William County's plan to target illegal immigrants tried marches, a boycott and a one-day strike. They organized protest caravans with hundreds of cars and turned out ever-larger crowds for county board meetings. When the plan went before supervisors for a vote Oct. 16, scores of Hispanic residents lined up to deliver tearful, urgent testimony...All the supervisors...voted to push ahead with the measures anyway.

The clash over illegal immigration in Prince William has placed several cultural differences on display...But perhaps none was as stark as the two competing political strategies...one rooted in a tradition of street protests, the other largely invisible and electronic.

The strategies were deployed by the two organizations that channeled the fears and frustrations of divided county residents...Help Save Manassas, which helped draft the county's anti-illegal immigrant policy and applied steady pressure for its adoption, and Mexicans Without Borders, an immigrant advocacy group that deemed the measures racist and took to the streets to say so.

...in the end, the quiet, coordinated, Internet-savvy lobbying efforts of the pro-crackdown camp won over the chants of "Si, se puede!" and the mass mobilization techniques of their opponents...

Though outnumbered at the Oct. 16 meeting, Letiecq's members had fired off 10,000 e-mails and 1,000 faxes in the lead-up to the vote...County officials reported that 85 to 90 percent of the correspondence they received endorsed the crackdown....

Following the defeat, Mexicans Without Borders coordinator Ricardo Juarez stood by his group's tactics...

Although Mexicans Without Borders was built mostly through word-of-mouth networks and old-fashioned handbill advertising, Letiecq said he built Help Save Manassas on the model developed by the gun rights group Virginia Citizens Defense League...

Since the Oct. 16 meeting, Latino leaders in the region have redoubled their efforts to increase turnout on Election Day...

[3AngelaD]

Using a 1960s model, using tactics from Latin America, advocates of illegal immigration lose, so the Wash Post thoughtfully coaches them on how to win the next time. And they neglected to report that Mexicans Without Border is really the Socialist Prince William Workers Committee, an affiliate of the Socialist Virginia Workers Committee, and that Ricardo Juarez is connected to ANSWER and MoveOn.org.

[oldbill]

Your attribution in the headline is wrong. The article is from the Washington POST, not TIMES.

[kittymyrib]

“Latino leaders in the region have redoubled their efforts to increase turnout on Election Day...”

What has VA done to check voter IDs so that elections can’t be stolen by Mexicans voting in US elections? It’s high time every state institute valid SS# checks before voting is allowed.

[3AngelaD]

My bad. You’re right. Admin mod please change.

[kevkrom]

It helps if you ping the AM.

[muawiyah]

The fact that the Washington Post reports favorably on somebody or an organization necessarily means several things ~

1) They have foreign connections

(2) They may be Commies

(3) They may be Fascists

(4) They all hate Americans

(5) They'd kill Jews if they thought they could get away with it

And the "posties" still wonder why their circulation is declining. They can't use the old "Free Republic stole our stories" BS anymore and they are at a loss.

[Thrownatbirth]

in the end, the quiet, coordinated, Internet-savvy lobbying efforts of the pro-crackdown camp won

And we will win statewide tomorrow! The WaPo pundits will be in shock.

[gridlock]

the PEOPLE!!! UNITED!!! will NEVER BE DEFEATED!!!

[oldbill]

There is a lesson here for the Republican elites who still run the party.

Illegal immigration will be the defining issue in 2008. Not Iraq, not Social Security, not taxes, not SCHIP.

In Virginia, a red state now purple and turning blue for a variety of reasons, a key one being the demographic changes in northern Virginia where immigration, and most importantly ILLEGAL immigration, is an 800 pound gorilla.

One year ago, you could not even get a state, local, or federal politician to talk about illegal immigration, Republican or Democrat. They would brush you off or call you a racist bigot. The people by a vast majority were irate about illegal immigration that had flooded the northern Virgina area, and all the problems it brought with it - more crime, overcrowded homes, DUI fatalities, displaced American tradesmen, schools in decline, day labor sites, and now foreclosed homes from corrupt dealings by realtors and landlords.

Now, in this years election for local races and the statewide legislative races, it has quietly but dramatically become THE issue, so much so that even DEMOCRATS are running on “let’s crack down on illegal immigration” platforms. Remember that Webb and RINO Warner voted against the summer amnesty bill because of landslide opposition and a deluge of emails and pnone calls.

The Republicans will lose BIG next year, President and Congress, unless they take a strong stand against illegal immigration and forget about the Bush amnesty platform. McCain is now an also-ran because of immigration. Hillary is now in trouble because of immigration.

Candidates - you have been warned!

[3AngelaD]

I spent a considerable amount of time looking into Mexicans without Borders and its connections, which the Post declined to do, and what I discovered is not pretty. In addition to its clear connections to the “Workers of the World” crowd, among the many interesting things I discovered is that its spokesperson, Nancy Lisle, works out of the Prince William School District. I actually forwarded all that information, which I documented, to Nick Miroff, one of the authors of this article, but he continues to ignore it.

[thulldud]

The tactic of street protesting was effective in the days when the old media ruled the channels of information. Not many people actually see the signs and hear the chants on the street where they happen. But that stuff is not directed at the people in the street; it is meant for the cameras, which it needs to amplify it. However, the cameras in their turn are only as effective as their lock on all the eyeballs at the receiving end.

They don't have that anymore.

I find it amusing to think that if the WaPo is seriously trying to advise los illegales on how to do effective protesting, that advice is only as good as the extent to which it causes them to bypass the WaPo itself, along with all the other old media.

[Bainbridge]

You are Exactly right. I also live in NoVa and the change here is something that most Americans have not seen yet and WILL if things do not change.
Look out, America, it will soon be “ Marque numero dos por Ingles”.

[Bainbridge]

Send it to that goof ball, Chris Core on WMAL.
He has her on all the time and allows himself to play the dupe.

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[WOSG]

“Illegal immigration will be the defining issue in 2008. Not Iraq, not Social Security, not taxes, not SCHIP.”

This is how the Republican party can win big in 2008.
By being right on that issue and showing how out of step the Democrats are ...

Especially their standard bearer. Hillary.

Just like Pete Wilson came from behind in 1994.

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[lonewacko_dot_com]

Actually, the WaPo was critical of MWB:

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082601188.html

That would be a good thing to throw back at them. I haven’t read the link, but if they gloss over MWB point out the previous article.

As for your research, let me suggest posting it somewhere.

[Doctor Raoul]

I’m an undocumented Virginian. I’ll have to come down and vote on this one.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

"No one changed our opinion with their testimony," said Supervisor John D. Jenkins (D-Neabsco). "I can be persuaded to have sympathy for people. I can't have sympathy for anyone who breaks the law."

A Democrat said this????

I have to get to a window.

[Mugwump]

“Look out, America, it will soon be “ Marque numero dos por Ingles”.”

_____________________________________

Respectfully disagree. The above option will not be offered. Instead, you’ll likely hear “Apprendes el espanol, o va, invasor!” (or words to that effect.)