The giant awakens! 10,00,000 march in Los Angeles!
A million marched in Los Angeles today for immigrant rights.
Los Angeles has a growing majority Latino (primarily from Mexico and Central America) population, and, today they, along with other immigrants, made history with a humongously huge march in defense of all immigrants!
The usual corporate media image of Southern California, and especially Los Angeles is that of blonde blue eyed dudes surfing the ocean (Whites constitute only about 25-28% of Los Angeles) - almost completely ignored (unless it is a negative potrayal) are the majority population of this area that has brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes. Espanol, in large swats of this city, is *not* a "second language," it is the first and primary spoken language.
This, and other immigrant solidarity marches around the US was to protest HR 4437 - this possible new "law" would criminalize undocumented working people in the US. It would make any visa violation a felony, potentially resulting in immediate arrests of 8-12 million individuals. For Social Workers, such as myself, this potential "new law" could lead to me being punished with heavy fines and jail time. (And here I was thinking being a Muslim would land me in jail, these guys have bigger plans than just going after Muslims and Arabs.)
CasadeMaryland writes:
HR 4437 dramatically expands the definition of “alien smuggling” to include simple acts performed by people who come into contact with the undocumented. Under this new definition, a nurse who is providing services to a patient, a teacher who gives a ride to her student, or a social worker that provides emergency shelter to a domestic violence victim would be criminally liable for providing basic social services, to an undocumented immigrant, punishable by heavy fines, or jail time for the individual, as well as penalties for the agency.
The "law" would even further increase the powers of local police who would be made responsible for turning over undocumented workers to the immigration authorities (i.e. Homeland Security). Since White skin is given a free pass, as the only kind who are regarded as "American" without having to prove their status, this would mean the cops would have an even greater authority to do all kinds of racial profiling.
Today's stand against these kinds of darconian measures are important not only as a pro-immigrant statement, but these huge demonstrations are also reflective of the tidal wave of demographic change that the United States is going through. No doubt, it will cause the reactionary elements to become even more militaristic, with even more authoritarian "laws" so as to protect an image of America that is rapidly fading. Check out some of the images below of what is emerging...
posted by redwood at
3/25/2006 06:41:00 PM
6 comment(s):
With the name like Yakoub, I suppose its sensible to presume there is a risk of me being a Bosnian polyglot.
Wasalaam
TMA
By
Julaybib, at
3/26/2006 08:11:00 AM
On another note, what are your thoughts about the case of the convert in Afghanistan?
I wrote something about it a few days back you might find interesting
By
Unknown, at
3/27/2006 03:18:00 PM
I know there is some country called Spain in Europe somewhere, do they speak Spanish there? I hear they speak some kinda real obscure dialect over there...
By
Anonymous, at
3/27/2006 03:35:00 PM
Will there be random checks(Your ID please??) or will the id process require probable cause?
By
Jafar, at
3/28/2006 02:25:00 PM
Q. Why do so many Spaniards sport a moustache
A. Because they wanna look like their mama!
:-)
By
Jafar, at
3/28/2006 02:30:00 PM
Altaf - Aliens Of The World Unite!
By
Anonymous, at
3/30/2006 09:51:00 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home