Posted on 03/25/2006 4:34:12 PM PST by calcowgirl
Joining what some are calling the nation's largest mobilization of immigrants ever, hundreds of thousands of people boisterously marched in downtown Los Angeles Saturday to protest federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall on the U.S. southern border. Spirited crowds representing labor, religious groups, civil-rights advocates and ordinary immigrants stretched over 26 blocks of downtown Los Angeles from Adams Blvd. along Spring Street and Broadway to City Hall, tooting kazoos, waving American flags and chanting "Si se puede!" (Yes we can!). The crowd, estimated by police at more than 500.000, represented one of the largest protest marches in Los Angeles history, surpassing Vietnam War demonstrations and the 70,000 who rallied downtown against Proposition 187, a 1994 state initiative that denied public benefits to undocumented migrants.
(snip)
Many of the marchers were immigrants themselves — both legal and illegal -- from Mexico and Central America. Some had just crossed the border, while others had been here for decades. There were construction workers and business owners; families with young children and people in wheelchairs. Throughout the afternoon, protesters heard speakers demand a path toward legalization and denounce HR 4437, which would tighten border enforcement and crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers.
The rally was organized by numerous unions, religious organizations and immigrant rights groups and publicized through Spanish-language media, which encouraged participants to wear white to symbolize peace and bring American flags. The mostly peaceful march stretched over 26 blocks, shutting down streets and tying up traffic around downtown for hours. Police estimated the crowd at 500,000... Participants said the massive mobilization shows that immigrants' voices must be heard and that they are contributing to the country's economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
LA is not just a part of the USA! LA is the largest urban area in America! LA is the largest city in the West, on the West Coast and in our largest state. LA is a major port that serves the entire country.
It would be less of a concern if this was happening in somewhere small or isolated, but it's not.
I see that I only have two choices: 1) tote the party line and hope that the Republicans do what I want w/r illegal immigration eventually 2) vote my conscious (which will not be to vote for Hillary, but for a 3rd party that might actually do something with illegal immigration).
How about this optionL 3. Support candidates for the Republican party that are on the right side of the issues. Especially immigration. Imagine a Presidential Nomination where the main challenger to the pre-ordained McCain / Guilliani coronation was not another Washington insider with an unknown or bad record on immigration. Instead imagine a real conservative fighting this issue. Ross Perot changed politics with his single issue run (but he was a billionaire being propped up by the CFR and MSM to help Clinton). Someone like Trancredo could move the Republican party far into the black on this issue, even if he doesn't win. I think that course is more likely to have an effect than dropping out and voting 3rd party. Plus, you could take option three and if the majors nominate someone unacceptable you still have the option of the 3rd party in the general.
Mexico's official name (the one you see crossing the border) is 'Estados Unidos Mexicanos': there are 31 states and one federal district (like DC). We would probably treat that as a state as well, so 32 would be coming in.
At the very beginning of the invasion in Calif, back in the late 80s, I, like many other residents thought we could fight back via Prop 187. However, as many other citizens are becoming aware, this is a battle that cannot be one on the domestic front.
We are never going to be able to stop the flow of people - now it seems even the middle class wants in on the action. Rather, as you mention, we may end just expanding the US borders all the way to C. America. Forget Aztlan, it's Mexico that's going to be lost.
There are protests in Mexico, just not enough of them. The people up here are the ones who are (IMO) too cowardly to fight for their own country. It's easier for them to cut and run.
If it was just jobs they were protesting over then they could do it in Mexico. Or would the Mexican police just shoot them?
I doubt if Mexico would start shooting them as they have in the past. There are now many human rights organizations with their eyes on Mexico and Mexico's government doesn't need the aggravation.
Your posts are awesome, and so is your Freeper page. You go, girl!
Thank you very much.
Judging by all the xxxlarges in the photos, maybe cut and stroll would be a better description.
I hope there is a special place in Hell awaiting each and every one of them.
Yes, and it also tells us that and La Raza that. Which will lead to a breakdown in the social order well beyond what we've seen in these pictures.
A very discomforting book was written 10 years ago on the coming breakup of America. It has a list of 'warning signs' as an appendix. Here are a few:
Item 29. Watch for growing geographic segregation (by group) and its mention in the establishment press.
Item 30. Watch for signs that the global military equation and American military dominance are being challenged.
Item 33. Watch for political and legal organizations formed along ethnic lines that will parallel and ultimately displace their official rivals. For instance watch for organizations with names like "The Association of Hispanic States".
Item 36.Watch for a certain picture - a burnt out tank, perhaps the charred corpse of a crewman protruding through a hatch and jubulant rebels posing atop the tank waving assault rifles and a flag.
AND I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHAT FLAG THAT WILL BE, NOW, DON'T WE !!!
When I was in my late teens and early 20s, my friends and I got starter jobs and we all had our own little one-bedroom apartments and we all had reliable cars. We did this on our own, and we even had a bit of spending money. It was easy to do then. Shoot, you couldn't wait to break free from Mom and Dad and be on your own.
Now I know people in their 30s and even their 40s who still live with Mom and Dad, or Mom and Dad are helping to pay their rent. With basic, one-bedroom apartments going for $1300-$1600 a month, and wages not going up, it is extremely difficult for a young person to be on his or her own now, at least around here.
I don't mean to get picky about this, but this invasion as been going on since at least the late 1960s. Here is a trip down memory lane from 1977. Please note how much of it is the same old rhetoric we are hearing today, almost 30 years later.
Undocumented Aliens
Message To The Congress
By Jimmy Carter
August 4, 1977
To the Congress of the United States:
I am proposing to Congress today a set of actions to help markedly reduce the increasing flow of undocumented aliens in this country and to regulate the presence of the millions of undocumented aliens already here.
These proposed actions are based on the results of a thorough Cabinet-level study and on the groundwork which has been laid, since the beginning of the decade, by Congressmen Rodino and Eilberg and Senators Eastland and Kennedy. These actions will:
· Make unlawful the hiring of undocumented aliens, with enforcement by the Justice Department against those employers who engage in a "pattern or practice" of such hiring. Penalties would be civil--injunctions and fines of $1000 per undocumented alien hired. Criminal penalties could be imposed by the courts against employers violating injunctions. Moreover, employers, and others, receiving compensation for knowingly assisting an undocumented alien obtain or retain a job would also be subject to criminal penalties.
· Increase significantly the enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Federal Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act, targeted to areas where heavy undocumented alien hiring occur.
· Adjust the immigration status of undocumented aliens who have resided in the U.S. continuously from before January 1, 1970 to the present and who apply with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for permanent resident alien status; create a new immigration category of temporary resident alien for undocumented aliens who have resided in the U.S. continuously prior to January 1, 1977; make no status change and enforce the immigration law against those undocumented aliens entering the U.S. after January 1, 1977.
· Substantially increase resources available to control the Southern border, and other entry points, in order to prevent illegal immigration.
· Promote continued cooperation with the governments which are major sources of undocumented aliens, in an effort to improve their economies and their controls over alien smuggling rings.
Each of these actions will play a distinct, but closely related, role in helping to solve one of our most complex domestic problems: In the last several years, millions of undocumented aliens have illegally immigrated to the United States. They have breached our nation's immigration laws, displaced many American citizens from jobs, and placed an increased financial burden on many states and local governments.
The set of actions I am proposing cannot solve this enormous problem overnight, but they will signal the beginning of an effective Federal response. My Administration is strongly committed to aggressive and comprehensive steps toward resolving this problem, and I am therefore proposing the following actions:
EMPLOYER SANCTIONS
The principal attraction of the United States for undocumented aliens is economic--the opportunity to obtain a job paying considerably more than any available in their own countries. If that opportunity is severely restricted, I am convinced that far fewer aliens will attempt illegal entry.
I am therefore proposing that Congress make unlawful the hiring by any employer of any undocumented alien. This employment bar would be implemented in the following way:
· Enforcement would be sought against those employers who engage in a "pattern or practice" of hiring undocumented aliens, with the Justice Department setting priorities for enforcement.
· Penalties for violation of the employment bar would be both injunctive relief and stiff civil fines--a maximum of $1,000 for each undocumented alien hired by an employer. A violation of a court injunction would subject an employer to a potential criminal contempt citation and imprisonment.
· An employer would be entitled to defend any charge of hiring an undocumented alien by proving that a prospective employee's documentation of legal residence, as designated by the Attorney General in regulations, was seen prior to employment.
· The Social Security card would be designated as one of the authorized identification documents; and we will accelerate the steps already being taken to make certain that such cards are issued, as the law now mandates, only to legal residents. Those steps include requiring personal interviews of card applicants and making the cards more difficult to forge. But no steps would be taken to make the Social Security card, or any other card, a national identification document.
· To further restrict job opportunities, criminal sanctions would be imposed on those persons who receive compensation for knowingly assisting an undocumented alien obtain or retain employment, or who knowingly contract with such persons for the employment of undocumented aliens. These sanctions are directed at the substantial number of individuals who broker jobs for undocumented aliens or act as agents for alien smugglers. It is not directed at those who inadvertently refer an undocumented alien to a job, such as an employment agency or a union hiring hall.
To make certain that all of these new sanctions are uniformly applied, they would pre-empt any existing state sanctions.
In addition to the creation of these new sanctions, efforts to increase enforcement of existing sanctions will be significantly increased. The Fair Labor Standards Act, which mandates payment of the minimum wage and provides other employee protections, would not only be strictly enforced, but its existing civil and criminal penalties would be sought much more frequently by the government. To date, the inability of the government to enforce fully this Act, due in part to a lack of resources, has resulted in the hiring of undocumented aliens at sub-minimum wages, thereby often displacing American workers. Two hundred sixty new inspectors will be hired and targeted to areas of heavy undocumented alien employment. Similarly, the Federal Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act, which prohibits the recruiting and hiring of undocumented aliens for farm work, would be tightly enforced. The Departments of Justice and Labor will work closely in exchanging information developed in their separate enforcement activities.
While I believe that both the new and existing employer sanctions, and their strict enforcement, are required to control the employment of undocumented aliens, the possibility that these sanctions might lead employers to discriminate against Mexican-American citizens and legal residents, as well as other ethnic Americans, would be intolerable. The proposed employer sanctions have been designed, with their general reliance on civil penalties and "pattern or practice" enforcement, to minimize any cause for discrimination. However, to prevent any discriminatory hiring, the federal civil rights agencies will be charged with making much greater efforts to ensure that existing anti-discrimination laws are fully enforced.
BORDER ENFORCEMENT
The proposed employer sanctions will not, by themselves be enough to stop the entry of undocumented aliens. Measures must also be taken to significantly increase existing border enforcement efforts. While our borders cannot realistically be made impenetrable to illegal entry, greater enforcement efforts clearly are possible, consistent with preserving both the longest "open" borders in the world and our humanitarian traditions.
I am proposing to take the following increased enforcement measures, most of which will require Congressional approval for the necessary additional resources:
· Enforcement resources at the border will be increased substantially and will be reorganized to ensure greater effectiveness. The exact nature of the reorganization, as well as the amount of additional enforcement personnel, will be determined after the completion in September of our ongoing border enforcement studies. It is very likely, though, that a minimum of 2000 additional enforcement personnel will be placed on the Mexican border.
· INS will shift a significant number of enforcement personnel to border areas having the highest reported rates of undocumented alien entry.
· An anti-smuggling Task Force will be established in order to seek ways to reduce the number and effectiveness of the smuggling rings which, by obtaining forged documents and providing transportation, systematically smuggle a substantial percentage of the undocumented aliens entering the country. The U.S. Attorneys will be instructed to give high priority to prosecuting individuals involved in alien smuggling.
· The State Department will increase its visa issuance resources abroad to ensure that foreign citizens attempting to enter this country will be doing so within the requirements of the immigration laws.
· Passage will be sought of pending legislation to impose criminal sanctions on those who knowingly use false information to obtain identifiers issued by our Government, or who knowingly use fraudulent Government documents to obtain legitimate Government documents.
· The State Department will consult with countries which are the sources of significant numbers of undocumented aliens about cooperative border enforcement and anti-smuggling efforts.
COOPERATION WITH SOURCE COUNTRIES
The proposed employer sanctions and border enforcement will clearly discourage a significant percentage of those who would otherwise attempt to enter or remain in the U.S. illegally. However, as long as jobs are available here but not easily available in countries which have been the source of most undocumented aliens, many citizens of those countries will ignore whatever barriers to entry and employment we erect. An effective policy to control illegal immigration must include the development of a strong economy in each source country.
Unfortunately, this objective may be difficult to achieve within the near future. The economies of most of the source countries are still not sufficiently developed to produce, even with significant U.S. aid, enough jobs over the short-term to match their rapidly growing workforce. Over the longer-term, however, I believe that marked improvements in source countries' economies are achievable by their own efforts with support from the United States. I welcome the economic development efforts now being made by the dynamic and competent leaders of Mexico. To further efforts such as those, the United States is committed to helping source countries obtain assistance appropriate to their own economic needs. I will explore with source countries means of providing such assistance. In some cases this will mean bilateral or multilateral economic assistance. In others, it will involve technical assistance, encouragement of private financing and enhanced trade, or population programs.
ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS
The fact that there are millions of undocumented aliens already residing in this country presents one of the most difficult questions surrounding the aliens phenomenon. These aliens entered the U.S. illegally and have willfully remained here in violation of the immigration laws. On the other hand, many of them have been law-abiding residents who are looking for a new life and are productive members of their communities.
I have concluded that an adjustment of status is necessary to avoid having a permanent "underclass" of millions of persons who have not been and cannot practicably be deported, and who would continue living here in perpetual fear of immigration authorities, the local police, employers and neighbors. Their entire existence would continue to be predicated on staying outside the reach of government authorities and the law's protections.
I therefore recommend the following adjustments of status:
First, I propose that permanent resident alien status be granted to all undocumented aliens who have resided continuously in the U.S. from before January 1, 1970 to the present. These aliens would have to apply for this status and provide normal documentary proof of continuous residency. If residency is maintained, U.S. citizenship could be sought five years after the granting of permanent status, as provided in existing immigration laws.
The permanent resident alien status would be granted through an update of the registry provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The registry statute has been updated three times since 1929, with the last update in 1965, when permanent resident alien status was granted to those who had resided here prior to 1948.
Second, all undocumented aliens, including those (other than exchange and student visitors) with expired visas, who were residing in the United States on or before January 1, 1977 will be eligible for a temporary resident alien status for five years.
Those eligible would be granted the temporary status only after registering with INS; registration would be permitted solely during a one-year period. Aliens granted temporary status would be entitled to reside legally in the United States for a five-year period.
The purpose of granting a temporary status is to preserve a decision on the final status of these undocumented aliens, until much more precise information about their number, location, family size and economic situation can be collected and reviewed. That information would be obtained through the registration process. A decision on their final status would be made sometime after the completion of the registration process and before the expiration of the five-year period.
Temporary resident aliens would not have the right to vote, to run for public office or to serve on juries; nor would they be entitled to bring members of their families into the U.S. But they could leave and re-enter this country, and they could seek employment, under the same rules as permanent resident aliens.
Unlike permanent resident aliens, temporary resident aliens would be ineligible to receive such Federal social services as Medicaid, Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and Supplemental Security Income. However, the allocation formulas for Revenue Sharing, which are based on population, would be adjusted to reflect the presence of temporary resident aliens. The adjustment would compensate states and local communities for the fact that some of these residents--undocumented aliens-are currently not included in the Census Bureau's population counts. That undercount deprives certain states and communities of Revenue Sharing funds which, if Census figures were completely accurate, would be received and used to defray certain expenses caused by the presence of undocumented aliens. Those receiving adjustments of status through the actions I am proposing would be included in the 1980 Census, so that the allocation charges would have to be made only through 1980.
Third, for those undocumented aliens who entered the United States after January 1, 1977, there would be no adjustment of status. The immigration laws would still be enforced against these undocumented aliens. Similarly, those undocumented aliens, who are eligible for adjustment of status, but do not apply, would continue to have the immigration laws enforced against them.
In addition, the INS would expedite its handling of the substantial backlog of adjustment of status applications from those aliens entitled to an adjustment under existing law.
Finally, those persons who would be eligible for an adjustment of status under these proposals must not be ineligible under other provisions of the immigration laws.
TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS
As part of these efforts to control the problem of undocumented aliens, I am asking the Secretary of Labor to conduct, in consultation with the Congress and other interested parties, a comprehensive review of the current temporary foreign worker (H-2) certification program. I believe it is possible to structure this program so that it responds to the legitimate needs of both employees, by protecting domestic employment opportunities, and of employers, by providing a needed workforce. However, I am not considering the reintroduction of a bracero-type program for the importation of temporary workers.
IMMIGRATION POLICY
Our present immigration statutes are in need of a comprehensive review. I am therefore directing the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Labor to begin a comprehensive interagency study of our existing immigration laws and policies.
In the interim, I am supporting pending legislation to increase the annual limitation on legal Mexican and Canadian immigration to a total of 50,000, allocated between them according to demand. This legislation will help provide an incentive to legal immigration.
I urge the Congress to consider promptly, and to pass, the legislation I will submit containing the proposals described in this Message.
JIMMY CARTER
The White House,
August 4, 1977.
This is part of the presidential paper historical series featuring past presidential public papers related to immigration law. The papers of our past Presidents show the impact of immigration law in American history. We thank the efforts of the American Presidency Project who have gathered these important archival documents.
Seeing as 'race' is much more of a social construct than a scientific one your statement that "Latinos/Hispanics ARE Caucasian" is, while perhaps litterally true using some older view of race that you adhere to, incorrect vis-a-vis the facts on the ground. The "race" category on every government form, employment application, snooping telemarketing guide includes "Hispanic" or "Latino" as one of the choices. One of the largest Latino grievance organizations is called "La Raza". Uh, you can do the translation.
Thus, it may not be a scientific fact that Hispanics are a different race (but the whole idea racial categorization as based on science is fraught with problems) but as a practical observed fact of humans categorizing (and self categorizing)each other they are. Many "Hispanics" can't even speak Spanish! So it's certainly not about language at this point.
Name me another Presidential candidate in recent memory that advocated protecting our borders and our Western Civilization based culture and I will be glad to bring him up. Hint: it ain't Baby Bush. If you consider protecting our borders and our culture a "silly idea" then I suggest you visit Lagos or Mexico City for some time and get a view of our future as Baby Bush would have it.
If "'race' is a social construct rather than a scientific one" then why does sickle cell anemia infect mostly blacks and to a lesser degree hispanics of South American origin. If it is simply a "social construct" then why do IQ averages vary so greatly between the races (e.g. North Asia average 104; Europe average 98; Sub-Saharan Africa average 70). There is a reason that great civilizations have not flourished in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is an abundance of natural resources there, but something is missing....hum what could it be.
Ok, so justify deporting nice people who come here to work and are otherwise not criminals. Justify opposition to a guest worker program that would make these nice workers into taxpayers too.
I will be in favor of legalizing these 25 million (don't believe the low ball lies about them being 10 million!) illegal aliens when the IRS lets me off the hook for the next ten years worth of taxes
Pat is carrying around the baggage of a really bad presidential campaign, and desertion of the republicans (the only real hope) for the wacko reform party.
You can make your arguments without citing anyone, they can stand on their own merits.
Living here in the Soviet Republic of Ca., you are right. It is a shame that Americans have waited so long to complain. There are many fine Hispanics legally here and note that many of the protestors were youth, kids that are easily persuaded about ideas without any foundational understanding. Religious liberals love this type of protest because they can look superior to any other spiritual person who doesn't like law breaking. The Church should stand for fair and LEGAL immigration. Socialists and leftists in Mexico see this as the slow invasion of our economy and allows it to take back mucho bucks from the illegals. Instate tuition being free , health crises, public safety crises, educational crises, and lack of tax inputs by the illegals seems not to bother the pushers of this lawbreaking all in the name of some specious civil rights mantra.
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