As The Day Without A Mexican gets closer..

Lets take a minute to REALLY see whats going on...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20060428/bs_ib...2006428issues01

Immigration: As the "Day Without An Immigrant" shutdown of the U.S. gets under way, it's sad to see so many undocumented aliens about to get so politically used.


The protests set for Monday aren't designed to win American hearts and minds or to help forge a political consensus. They are led by leftists who seek to exert class warfare against a supposedly illegitimate ruling class -- namely, the rest of us.

And no one should be more worried about this cabal's capacity for mischief than immigrants themselves.

Leaders of the boycott demand that every immigrant play hooky from work so that, in their childish logic, Americans will at long last appreciate them and give them voting rights.

What's lost on them is that they're already in trouble with mainstream America. The recent rallies in Los Angeles and other big cities -- with all the Mexican flags and Che T-shirts -- cost them significant support. And no one was exactly fooled when they retreated on that gaffe with American flags later.

Now a new immigration ruckus is planned that will probably draw enough participation to be felt. Spanish-language radio in Los Angeles is calling for it, along with a slew of far-left illegal-immigration activists.

Coercion as a means of winning Americans over generally has the opposite of its intended effect.

Will disrupting L.A. traffic at rush hour, "to shut the city down," make illegal aliens popular with nonimmigrants?

Will skipping work make illegals a more desirable pool of labor for employers who hire and underpay them?

Will outing themselves as illegals -- thereby providing information of where they are the thickest -- bring a big thank you from law enforcement now under pressure to enforce immigration laws?

Will immigrants who lose their jobs for going AWOL be better candidates for legalization?

What's amazing is how little regard the groups that organized this movement, such as the Stalinist coalition Answer, and the politicos who support it have for immigrants.

UCLA activist Alfonso Gonzalez, for example, casually dismissed other people's livelihoods as he sought immigrants' support. "If there are people who lose their jobs (as a result of joining the boycott)," he has been quoted as saying, "they are sacrifices we have to make." We?

Gonzalez is just one of the opportunists showing up to "lend support" to the "Shut America Down" scheme in a bid to reap political power. Even more opportunistic are the political pros.

Lawmakers from Mexico -- that's right, Mexico -- have flown up to L.A. to also "lend support" to the very people who fled their economically wretched districts. This transborder legislative activism from the very people who should be creating jobs at home is obviously a sign of trouble. square_ohno

Not to be outdone, or left out, California's Senate also endorsed the coercion. Its endorsement of the (presumably) nonvoting illegal immigrants' efforts to disrupt the lives of law-abiding citizens is a spectacular betrayal of the very voters to whom they supposedly answer.

Teachers unions are also participating, with many of their members planning to join student walkouts. Never mind that the kids can't read, think coherently or speak English. They're not about to miss this piece of the political action.

Those who aren't expected to participate are also worth noting -- serious people like Dolores Huerta, the union farm organizer, and Los Angeles' Cardinal Roger Mahoney. They care enough about illegal immigrants as human beings, not as a bloc, to reject the idea of helping themselves to the potential political hay.

They advocate peaceful legitimate rallies during nondisruptive evening hours so that immigrants' case can be represented. Huerta and Mahoney don't seek to carve a slice of political power on the backs of the immigrants they purport to represent .

These leaders, however, seem to be in the minority. They are shouted down by radicals, rabble-rousers and charlatans who refuse to appreciate the fact that Americans are sincerely trying to come up with a fair solution to a very difficult issue.

NOW....mind you, Im all for immigration. But do it LEGALLY. Learn our language, learn our history, learn our culture. Dont come over here and demand that we cater to you.

Its royally pissing me off...and its the ones that do it illegally that fuck it up for the ones who are busting their asses to do it the right way.

And dont even get me started on the National Anthem of AMERICA being rewritten in SPANISH for the immigrants who don speak English.

[Midas]

Originally Posted by PaperGirl

...And dont even get me started on the National Anthem of AMERICA being rewritten in SPANISH for the immigrants who don speak English.

Who you tryin' to get crazy with, es??

Actually, I agree with you. No matter what country you come from, if you want to live in the U.S., go about it legally. Pay taxes and crap like the rest of us. Learn English.

[Rice_Cube]

Whatever. I'm still going to go to Best Buy and eat my fast food. But not at the same time, because I don't think Best Buy sells fast food. Wal-Mart does though if they have a McDonald's inside. And you know people will still go to Wal-Mart

[Jessica]

Wow, I must be in the minority here (no pun intended).

The article is a load of bullshit to me.

Leaders of the boycott demand that every immigrant play hooky from work so that, in their childish logic, Americans will at long last appreciate them and give them voting rights.

I haven't heard anyone demanding anything. Mexicans are pretty stubborn in their own right, and the leaders know this. So demanding will not work. And no, immigrants aren't asking for voting rights. They are asking for basic human necessities, like decent pay.

What's lost on them is that they're already in trouble with mainstream America. The recent rallies in Los Angeles and other big cities -- with all the Mexican flags and Che T-shirts -- cost them significant support. And no one was exactly fooled when they retreated on that gaffe with American flags later.

Oh God no, not CHE tshirts and MEXICAN flags.

Will disrupting L.A. traffic at rush hour, "to shut the city down," make illegal aliens popular with nonimmigrants?

Our satellite feed is from L.A. From the looks of things, it's business as usual. No traffic jams, nothing. And it's not just illegal aliens participating in this thing. And the term "rush hour" is a joke. Even at the height of 5 o' clock traffic, nobody is rushing anywhere.

Will skipping work make illegals a more desirable pool of labor for employers who hire and underpay them?

I don't think that will matter as long as the company can get them for slave wages. Desirability has nothing to do with it.

Will outing themselves as illegals -- thereby providing information of where they are the thickest -- bring a big thank you from law enforcement now under pressure to enforce immigration laws?

Once again, it's not just illegals, so I doubt the law enforcement will even give a damn.

Will immigrants who lose their jobs for going AWOL be better candidates for legalization?

Nobody is going to lose their jobs over this. Hell, half the companies that have Mexican immigrant workers are shutting down for the day anyways due to this boycott.

Lawmakers from Mexico -- that's right, Mexico -- have flown up to L.A. to also "lend support" to the very people who fled their economically wretched districts. This transborder legislative activism from the very people who should be creating jobs at home is obviously a sign of trouble.

This I can't answer for. Mexico is a slum thanks to these people.

Yes, I think people should come here legally, but how the hell are you going to track down the 12 million people that already live and work here? Are you going to deport the oldtimers who have built their lives and raised their families here? How are you going to tell them apart from the actual legal immigrants? And don't give me any crap about how if you hear them speaking Spanish, they MUST be ILLEGAL. I see no problem with speaking your native tongue as long as you learn passable English to do daily business. Of course, some people don't. Is that such a big deal? I'm going to give you a perfect example of this: Rice Cube's granparents. They are here legally, but Grandpa barely speaks English and Grandma still speaks the home language. Can I call them illegal and make a bunch of false accusations? Can I call them names and tell them to go back to their own country? No.

There is a lot more to factor into this immigration business than just "You're illegal, go home". That shit doesn't fly with me. Besides, I think this was all started to distract us from the real issues, like an unjust war, a crappy president, and rising gas prices.

Jess, I will agree with you on most parts. I found that editorial, and though it interesting to debate with.

Here, there are loads of each side of the spectrum. Mr. just interviewed a farmer here that has a wonderful Mexican working on the farm with him. He has a wife, and kids, and now grandkids..and the farmer has taken very good care of the worker and his family for years. He told my husband that he thought of those kids as his own because he and his wife were never able to have kids.

The problem is in the fact that the US Government is now propsing that IF a farmer/employer is employing an illegal, (EVEN if they DONT know it...) then they will be fined $2000 a DAY untill the worker is deported, or becomes legal.

Now this farmer that I am referring to, his worker gave him papers a LONG long time ago, and honestly, the farmer really doesnt know if they are fake or not. If he DOES try to check, he runs the risk of ruining this mans life if they are false, and becoming a criminal himself for employing the Mexican for so long. Even though they are good decent people. Taught their kids English, while still speaking Spanish, and immersed them in American culture, while retaining their own heritage.

The OTHER side of the spectrum, at least here, is the fact that my daughter used to go to a shitty school where more than 80% of the students were non english speaking students, and the school itself wasnt financially able to accomodate to hire Spanish speaking teachers...so it was a mess to try to teach...taking longer than necessary for basic classes due to the work of trying to help the kids who had no idea how to communicate.


Like I said, Im all for immigration...but when I go to McDonalds for a Big Mac, I want to be able to understand the person taking my order. My great grandparents came over from France and Ireland, and learned everything they needed to know to live here. They didnt expect people to learn their lifestyle to accomodate them...they came here and adjusted.

My grandmother in law is from Czechoslovakia...and through her I am learning about my "new" family cultures, but she also worked her ass off to become American and learn English to become who she is today. She is a proud immigrant who is a American.


Its the people that take advantage of everything that America has to offer immigrants that piss me off. The ones that have a kid every 15 months so they can stay on welfare, and WIC and get their homes for free...ect PISS me the f*ck off. The ones that sneak over here to have their kids on American soil so they will be citizens, then because they gave birth to them here, they cant be shipped off, and they KNOW it...they KNOW that America will take care of them, while making decent law abiding people work EVEN harder to make their own ends meet because their taxes have to be raised to pay for them and their 12 kids...

The Mexicans that do honest work for honest wages and bust their asses TRYING to adapt, while keeping their culture alive, and learning the American way are the ones that this immigration bill is gonna hurt.



I also agree with you on the fact that this is supposed to distract us from whats really going on....

[Rice_Cube]

Originally Posted by Jessica

Oh God no, not CHE tshirts and MEXICAN flags.

I don't have a problem with the Mexican flag...I think the Mexican flag is very colorful and indicative of the culture it represents. However, I do have an issue with Che, he being a dictator and mass murderer.

I'm going to give you a perfect example of this: Rice Cube's granparents. They are here legally, but Grandpa barely speaks English and Grandma still speaks the home language. Can I call them illegal and make a bunch of false accusations? Can I call them names and tell them to go back to their own country? No.

They actually built their homes and family in Hong Kong for the bulk of their time on this earth. Grandma actually came over to the USA because she wanted to be closer to her grandkids (i.e., myself, my brother and my two cousins), but it took her several years to get the resident alien card even after my aunt and uncle sponsored her appointment. After that, she tried extremely hard to learn English, as English proficiency is one of the basic requirements for citizenship. She could never get it right, unfortunately, but at age 70, I guess you can't expect someone to learn a new language that well. Took another round of sparring with INS to get her an exemption. When she finally got settled, that's when Grandpa was able to come over as her spouse.

I guess you can make the argument that my grandparents, both pushing 80 and then some, probably won't make much of a difference in the domestic economy or won't be that productive anymore, but does that make it okay for people to cut in front of them in line and demand citizenship when they had to earn it through so many hoops? My quick response is no, but it's a heck of a lot more complicated than it seems.

[Jessica]

Originally Posted by Rice_Cube

I guess you can make the argument that my grandparents, both pushing 80 and then some, probably won't make much of a difference in the domestic economy or won't be that productive anymore, but does that make it okay for people to cut in front of them in line and demand citizenship when they had to earn it through so many hoops? My quick response is no, but it's a heck of a lot more complicated than it seems.

I only brought up your grandparents because I know how you like to beat the drum about everyone speaking English. Hey, I could be a real bitch and ignore them because they don't speak it. Or I could even tell them to learn English because this is America.

Nobody is demanding citizenship except for the extreme politicians. Most of the people that come from Mexico just want a decent paying job so they can support their extended family back at home. And they're still getting crapped on, pay-wise. They're still getting exploited, used, screwed over, whatever you want to call it. It is a very rare thing (like Traci's example of the farmer that was interviewed) that Mexicans get treated fairly. Shit, I bet you anything most of these immigrants didn't even know what the hell was going on Monday nor did they care.

As for milking the US Government, my sister brought up a good point. It usually isn't the fresh from the border immigrants. It is the second and third generation lazy asses who figure they can get a free ride because their parents/grandparents busted their asses in the fields/canneries/factories so they're owed "something". They piss me the hell off. Their parents didn't sacrifice their lives for them to be a bunch of shiftless dickheads. BUT....it isn't always Mexicans milking the system either. I know a great deal of Whites and Blacks (and Asians! ) who like to play with the government's funds. It sickens me.

And I still maintain that this is all a distraction tactic.

[Rice_Cube]

Yikes!