Sorry, but the big immigration rallies taking place in several cities for immigration reform will not work.
They have been tried before and only succeeded in galvanizing opposition to the notion of immigration reform from the right wingers who relish the chance to paint the demonstrators as lawbreakers and somehow a danger to America.
Even Martin Luther King understood there was a time to stop marching and get President Lyndon Johnston to work on civil rights legislation.
There have been huge marches for several years all over America yet we are not a step closer to immigration reform.
Marches in the past have adequately made the point that a groundswell for action is clearly apparent across the country.
The much harder part is to get the legislators to listen.
That can only be done by creating effective political lobbying and on the ground activism.
The Irish Lobby for Immigration reform showed how that could be done a few years back. The leadership was equally drawn from Republican and Democratic activists .
When Kennedy/McCain was being debated they showed up in Washington and visited every congressional office and made their case. They held fundraisers for candidates, Republicans and Democrats alike that favored reform.
John McCain later stated they changed the minds of at least two Republican senators. Four Republican senators showed up at their rallies .
It is that kind of targeted lobbying, including building political action committees that can make a difference.
The time for marching is over, the time for concerted and effective political action has arrived if immigration reform is ever to be achieved.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.plasticpaddy | Sep 30, 2010, 04:07 PM EDT
BullLee if they weren't economically exploited by the US then maybe your point would be valid!
liliying | Jun 11, 2010, 09:28 PM EDT
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BullLee | Jun 10, 2010, 02:00 PM EDT
It is also wrong for Mexico and other South and Central American countries to force their poorest citizens to migrate in order to survive. Why is there no debate about the need for these emigrant countries to police their own borders?
DennisQ | May 15, 2010, 06:59 PM EDT
The actual purpose of absurdly restrictive immigration laws isn't to keep foreigners out, it's to keep them from forming a union. Self-styled "conservatives" who claim that undocumented workers are overwhelming our cities can't back up that assertion with any data at all, except bogus post hoc analyses designed from the outset to scapegoat immigrant workers. There's a moral dimension to this - it is wrong to oppress the poor. Viva Cardenal Mahoney!
AmericanLassie | May 12, 2010, 08:46 PM EDT
The problem with amnesty is that we tried it in 1986 with around 3 million illegal immigrants. It didn't work, because the enforcement side of the plan was not consistently implemented. Now, we have over 12 million (2000 census), but I believe we have more like 20-30 million. Our cities were overwhelmed by the onslaught and were in the red prior to this "great recession." We just can't afford this huge population from all over the world. Our illegal population is larger than most nations of the world! The first thing we must do is to enforce workplace laws--heavy fines and imprisonment of employers, before we offer amnesty. I'd like a job myself and I was born here!
Madeleine | May 12, 2010, 10:22 AM EDT
"the right wingers who relish the chance to paint the demonstrators as lawbreakers and somehow a danger to America". They are law brekers arent they, if they came to your country this way they would be throw out the door and you know it. This is not about imigration alone, it is about the North American Union, we are not a communist country, the NAU is not welcome here the way the European Union was welcomed in Europe by the politicians there , not the people. You are just upset because of 50,000 Irish illegals. you do know what illegal means right? Not within the law. Immigrants will reach 100 milion within 10 years, we can't absorb that, we can't absorb the 20 million that are coming now. There are no jobs and we will have to pay for their welfare. The Irish are good workers, they work hard here they say, whose jobs are they working?
DennisQ | May 04, 2010, 01:08 PM EDT
What's different now is that fear-mongering Republicans are no longer in power. America was confident enough to elect a Black man as president - but political awareness hasn't caught up to that fact. This is a young nation willing to take on challenges and do the right thing. America's immigration policies are fearful and counterproductive. Large rallies inspire politicians to take risks.