LeftyLulu
31st August 2011, 05:04
In the US right now we are seeing a repulsive spite of anti-immigrant laws which go so far as to turn elementary school teachers into ICE (the immigration police, la migra) agents. However, with hardship comes struggle and therefore dignity through struggle.
The immigrant movement has really taken off here in the US over the past few months and over that past decade or two starting in the 90s with a huge wave of immigration from Mexico back when we wanted ourselves some good cheap labor for the olympics.
I'd like to mention a change, though, in the immigrant movement which is only a few years old. Up until now the general feeling in the movement was that we have to protect the undocumented and keep them safe and keep them hidden in order to make them feel comfortable and safe coming to these rallies. However since that big wave of immigration started up in the early to mid 1990s and many of those immigrants came to the US partly because of a new krid ton support all of the immigrant undocumented youth are now in the 13-25 range and the maxim which we must move from in the immigrant movement is no longer "protect the undocumented," but instead (from the undocumented point of view), "speak with us do not speak for us!"
The new thing now is coming out as undocumentd as a political statement. This was started by a handful of queer undocumented activists who took part of their experience as being queer, as well as an actual liberation strategy for queer people developed largely by Harvey Milk and appalled it to their immigration situation. It is now the big thing, to come out as undocumented that is the call from the immigrant movement: "Step out of the shadows and demand your rights!"
Another thing is well worth mentioning: in the 2008 campaign the Hispanic community got behind Obama and many different immigrant rights groups cooperated with and organized with Organizing For America. They did this because Obama promised that he would get out immigration reform in the first 100 days.
Well, the man is no FDR and he didn't get it done in the first 100 days. In fact, I'd be surprised if the issue is even on his desk right now at the bottom of the stack let alone close to the top.
Not only has Obama not made things better for the immigrant and Hispanic commuity... He's made things worse. Under his administration the hispaenic community has been subject to a new kind of despotism then before with a record 1,000,000 deportations through his program, Secure Communities (an opt-into program that Obama recently said you are no longer allowed to opt-out of).
So, the immigrant community, the hispanic community, and the immigrant and Hispanic rights movement are actively calling out Obama and telling him that we will no longer be used as tools by the Democratic Party and until they recognize that they will not have our votes!
Obama won't have the Latino vote in 2012, and with that being one of the fastest growing voting blocs... I'm curious to see how he fares especially now that he might be alienating himself from environmentalists with this pipeline busines.. I swear it's like he's on a God-sent mission to betray and alienate anyone who voted for him in the last election... But that is another post for another thread ;)
Anyways, so that is a quick report back from the immigrant movement here in the US. Thought I'd post one since I didn't see one like it when I looked under the ongoing struggles threads.
I'll leave you with some names to look out for....
The Dreamers (any organization with the word dreamers in their title look at and check out to see if they are about immigration.. There is a good chance that they are)
Thedreamiscoming.org
and then since I'm out of GA I know the GA scene best and here are the organizations here....
GLAHR Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rigts
GUYA Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance (this is the organization that I am affiliated with)
And then for more GA organizations look to GIRRC GA Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
In Solidarity,
LeftyLulu
The immigrant movement has really taken off here in the US over the past few months and over that past decade or two starting in the 90s with a huge wave of immigration from Mexico back when we wanted ourselves some good cheap labor for the olympics.
I'd like to mention a change, though, in the immigrant movement which is only a few years old. Up until now the general feeling in the movement was that we have to protect the undocumented and keep them safe and keep them hidden in order to make them feel comfortable and safe coming to these rallies. However since that big wave of immigration started up in the early to mid 1990s and many of those immigrants came to the US partly because of a new krid ton support all of the immigrant undocumented youth are now in the 13-25 range and the maxim which we must move from in the immigrant movement is no longer "protect the undocumented," but instead (from the undocumented point of view), "speak with us do not speak for us!"
The new thing now is coming out as undocumentd as a political statement. This was started by a handful of queer undocumented activists who took part of their experience as being queer, as well as an actual liberation strategy for queer people developed largely by Harvey Milk and appalled it to their immigration situation. It is now the big thing, to come out as undocumented that is the call from the immigrant movement: "Step out of the shadows and demand your rights!"
Another thing is well worth mentioning: in the 2008 campaign the Hispanic community got behind Obama and many different immigrant rights groups cooperated with and organized with Organizing For America. They did this because Obama promised that he would get out immigration reform in the first 100 days.
Well, the man is no FDR and he didn't get it done in the first 100 days. In fact, I'd be surprised if the issue is even on his desk right now at the bottom of the stack let alone close to the top.
Not only has Obama not made things better for the immigrant and Hispanic commuity... He's made things worse. Under his administration the hispaenic community has been subject to a new kind of despotism then before with a record 1,000,000 deportations through his program, Secure Communities (an opt-into program that Obama recently said you are no longer allowed to opt-out of).
So, the immigrant community, the hispanic community, and the immigrant and Hispanic rights movement are actively calling out Obama and telling him that we will no longer be used as tools by the Democratic Party and until they recognize that they will not have our votes!
Obama won't have the Latino vote in 2012, and with that being one of the fastest growing voting blocs... I'm curious to see how he fares especially now that he might be alienating himself from environmentalists with this pipeline busines.. I swear it's like he's on a God-sent mission to betray and alienate anyone who voted for him in the last election... But that is another post for another thread ;)
Anyways, so that is a quick report back from the immigrant movement here in the US. Thought I'd post one since I didn't see one like it when I looked under the ongoing struggles threads.
I'll leave you with some names to look out for....
The Dreamers (any organization with the word dreamers in their title look at and check out to see if they are about immigration.. There is a good chance that they are)
Thedreamiscoming.org
and then since I'm out of GA I know the GA scene best and here are the organizations here....
GLAHR Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rigts
GUYA Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance (this is the organization that I am affiliated with)
And then for more GA organizations look to GIRRC GA Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
In Solidarity,
LeftyLulu