Archive for May, 2006

DC’s dismal disability services

Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Washington, DC has a dismal record when it comes to serving people with disabilities who live here. I have lived here for almost two years, and haven’t heard anything good about any of the agencies that serve folks with disabilities. The main problems appear to be lack of program oversight, budget and funding cuts, caregivers who are violent, or who have criminal backgrounds, and what appears to be general ineptitude. As a person with multiple disabilities living in the District, I find this frightening! Its a good thing that I’m independent, and don’t ned help or services, or I’d be up the creek.

Here’s how bad it is: The director of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, which helps folks with disabilities find jobs and other services quit last year in protest because she knew that the agency was underserving clients, and had just undergone budget cuts.

The District has no mental health services to speak of. The program was so bad that it went into receivership, and had to be taken over by the courts. It has finally come out of receivership, but it’s director quit last year. The program is in shambles. 

The Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration, the D.C. government agency in charge of caring for nearly 2,000 mentally and physically disabled residents is an agency in deep trouble, so much so that there has been a 30-year-old lawsuit over quality of care. A movement is afoot to get the courts to take over this agency, which oversees group homes for folks with mental retardation. The stories coming out of these group homes are appalling! Residents are neglected, starved to death, beaten, sexually assaulted, and robbed. The Washington Post has done several huge stories on this, and they are heartbreaking to say the least. Investigations are going on as we speak, and according to the investigators, the recurrent theme was a lack of case management. They said the residents weren’t visited, monitored or checked according to schedules. Only 47 out of about 1,800 patients got the requisite monthly visits each year. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), heads the council’s Committee on Human Services and has been working on the issue. During a council hearing last week on financial mismanagement within the agency, Fenty called the police after two clients with mental retardation took the witness stand and described their incidents of physical abuse. He felt that these incidents were so serious that they warranted a police report.

If that isn’t bad enough, check this out: D.C. health officials said they are terminating a contract of nearly $1 million a year with a nonprofit agency today because D.C. Council member David A. Catania found its services to elderly and disabled city residents to be inadequate and questioned its relationship with a subcontractor.

Chesapeake Consulting Inc., based in Annandale, had a contract to enroll residents in a program that would allow them to receive personal assistance in their homes through Medicaid instead of having to live in nursing homes.

The agency operated the D.C. Resource Center for Aging and Persons With Disabilities out of a storefront on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast, just blocks from the Anacostia Metro station.

Chesapeake was supposed to enroll 300 people the first year, according to the contract, but enrolled 123. Its staff of social workers would talk to elderly or disabled clients on the phone or in person to assess whether they could get the home health care that other agencies provided.

Each low-income resident enrolled in the elderly and physical disabilities waiver program saves the city thousands of dollars annually because care in a nursing home costs $60,000 to $75,000 per person whereas in-home care costs $25,000 to $30,000, said Catania (I-At Large), who heads the council’s Health Committee.

“Their failure to do their job cost the city,” he said of Chesapeake.

Now if that stuff doesn’t scare and anger advocates and activist, I don’t know what will. I am aghast at the fact that our nation’s capitol has failed those most in need. It makes me appreciate and miss Colorado all the more because due to the work of activists (including myself), Colorado is a model state, and is a magnet for people with disabilities from all over the country who cannot get the services that thet need in their home states. Though activist here in the District have done a lot, there is much, much more work to be done.

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Protests at Gallaudet are over; protesters won’t be punished

Monday, May 22nd, 2006

Protesters at Gallaudet University won’t be punished for staging rallies, faculty no-confidence votes and a tent city after the announcement of a new president at the school for the deaf, the board of trustees told the community yesterday.

A coalition of students, faculty, staff and alumni said the search process was badly flawed and demanded that it be reopened without reprisals for those who spoke out. When this did not happen, the protests began.

A faculty member had this to say about his view of the protests, and the students’ feelings about the new president: “In an attempt to divert observers and the Gallaudet University community from serious, underlying issues about her selection as the university’s next president, Jane K. Fernandes has endlessly spouted the official line that the protest is about identity politics, signing fluency and her being the wrong “kind” of deaf person. Nonsense. In 28 years as a faculty member at Gallaudet I have seen which faculty members have earned the students’ respect. Many of them are, of course, deaf or hard of hearing. However, a great number of these respected faculty members are hearing, and many of them are not fluent signers, but it doesn’t matter to the students. What students want most from their teachers is competence, a respectful rapport, and the ability to listen and respond sympathetically to their concerns. Without these qualities no teacher or administrator can ever earn the students’ trust or respect”. 

After listening to scores of people on campus last week and considering hundreds of messages from people off campus, the board met in closed session and decided that stepping down as provost would allow Fernandes time to work on resolving some of the issues raised by protesters. She will lead a national search for the next provost.  

Lots of things happened during the protests, including the resignations of two of its Board of Trustee leaders. Though the students didn’t get what they wanted, they agreed that the protests unified them, brought the issue before the Board of Trustees, and will ensure that Ms. Fernandes will be vigilant, and do a better job.

They also vowed that this is not over, and the protests will begin again when school reopens for the fall semester.

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Unprecedented bipartisan approval of DC Voting Rights Act

Monday, May 22nd, 2006

So far, so good for the DC voting rights bill. The mark-up went very well! 

From DC Vote:

Washington, DC – In a momentous vote cast this afternoon by the House Committee on Government Reform, the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act (H.R. 5388) passed by a vote of 29-4. The bill would give Washington, DC, residents a voting member in the House of Representatives for the first time ever.

“This mark-up is the crown jewel of the decade for the DC voting rights movement,” said DC Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka. “Today we celebrate an astounding victory on a historical vote. We have been inching toward our goal of congressional voting representation for years, and the mark-up of this bill moves us miles closer to the finish line.”

Republicans and Democrats have come together on a consensus bill, H.R. 5388, the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006. Representative Tom Davis (R-VA), sponsor of the bill and the chair of the committee, marked-up the DC Voting Rights Act with the support of Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) as well as the committee’s vice chair and ranking minority member.

“The mark-up is a bright green light, empowering us to move full-speed ahead on the DC Voting Rights Act,” said Zherka. “We have our work cut out for us in the coming weeks, and we are eager to begin our work with the House Judiciary Committee.”

A high point in the committee hearing occurred when Representative Dan Burton (R-IN) expressed a change of heart after speaking with former vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp and a young African-American woman who pressed him to finish the work of the civil rights movement. Burton had voiced his opposition to the DC Voting Rights Act earlier in the committee meeting.

I’ll keep you posted… 

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ADAPT has victories with HUD meeting

Monday, May 22nd, 2006

I got this from ADAPT on the 17th. Congratulations, and keep up the good wotk!

ADAPT has victories with HUD meeting
After our month long campaign to get HUD Secretary Jackson to live up to his previous commitment to meet with ADAPT regarding the ACCESS ACROSS 
AMERICA proposal, 15 ADAPT representatives met with HUD Secretary Jackson 
Monday May 15, 2006. The feel was positive after the meeting, with 
Jackson, three of his Assistant Secretaries, and several other key HUD 
staff. The following are the commitments Jackson made:

 The three areas Secretary Jackson agreed to are important steps in moving 
forward on implementing ACCESS ACROSS AMERICA. Jackson agreed to:

1.  Send a Secretary Directive encouraging Housing Authorities to make 
people living in institutions including shelters, regardless of age, a 
preference at the local levels. Mike Oxford agreed to write something 
that to use as a starting point.

2.  Host a meeting with CMS and ADAPT at the table so we can assure we 
are all on the same page in this goal and moving forward on areas that are 
in our power to help create this pool of vouchers.

3.  Meet with ADAPT three times a year to discuss progress on ACCESS 
ACROSS AMERICA and other issues such as the modification program that 
could help modify existing units for people with disabilities.

 ******************

The Demands ADAPT took into the meeting were:

1.  Introduce Access Across America Campaign

Vouchers dedicated to people with all kinds of disabilities of all ages 
who are leaving institutions including shelters.

These vouchers will go to local community agencies that provide 
transition/ integration services or to the PHA that is working closely 
with community agencies that assist people with transition/ integration.

When the vouchers are released by the individual, they must go back into 
the Access Campaign pool.

All vouchers must be set at the fair market rate or higher to work for 
local conditions.

2.  HUD needs to coordinate the release of the vouchers with CMS’ Money 
Follows.Projects and continue to work with ADAPT.

3.  The number of vouchers needs to be coordinated with the number of 
individual identified as wanting to leave the facility in the minimum Data 
Set (MDS) information collected by CMS.

The number of vouchers should also take into account the numbers of people
wanting to leave any other kind of institution.

HUD needs to provide the number of people with disabilities in shelters

4.  Disabled people of all ages residing in institutions including shelter 
must be a “preference” nationally for receipt of vouchers and other 
housing services.

Secretary Jackson sends a “Secretary’s Directive” to all PHAs strongly 
suggesting the need for creating this preference at the state and local 
levels

5.  ADAPT, HUD and CMS need to meet within the next 30 days.

6.  ADAPT and HUD should meet at least quarterly.

 **************

ADAPT Power!   If we continue the pressure with congress, HUD, and CMS we 
can make this happen! 

 

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Voting rights for people with disabilities-Part 4

Monday, May 22nd, 2006

I received this article from a disability rights activist in New York City. It seems that they have their work cut out for them, as the powers that be don’t appear to be listening… :(

Voting Machines for Disabled in New York City

This is a huge disappointment. Advocates have not been heard.
Despite efforts from Jan – May to meet with Ravitz & the NYC-BOE (3
meetings have been cancelled by BOE at the last minute), at which I
thought we were going to stress that we want to see new voting
systems that enfranchise all affected classes of voters, and that
we do not want separate and unequal treatment, this ridiculous interim
plan is being rolled out. Outrageous! READ ON!

May 17, 2006
Voting Machines for Disabled in New York City
By MICHAEL COOPER

ALBANY, May 16 – New York City would provide voting machines that
are accessible to the disabled at five locations in the city this
fall as part of the state’s plan for settling a federal lawsuit for
failing to modernize its voting system.

The proposal falls far short of a goal of the federal Help America
Vote Act – to have a voting system accessible to the disabled at
each polling place in the state – but city and state officials say
it is the best they can do with fall elections approaching.

The state was sued in March by the Department of Justice, which said
that New York had fallen behind the rest of the nation in putting
the Help America Vote Act into effect. The measure called on the
states to overhaul their election systems.

But with the September primaries approaching fast, city and state
officials said that there was not enough time to replace all the
voting machines in the state without causing chaos in the elections.
So late last month the state offered – and the Justice Department
reluctantly agreed to support – a vastly scaled-back stopgap measure.

That measure allows the state and its counties to determine how many
handicapped-accessible voting systems to put in place. Most counties
asked to have only one machine put in place. New York City is
planning to have accessible machines put at one site in each
borough. The proposal is now being considered by a federal judge
here.

State Senator John J. Flanagan, a Long Island Republican, said on
Tuesday that the interim plan provided too few accessible polling
places, and questioned why voters who use wheelchairs should have to
travel long distances to use accessible machines. He proposed that
the state quickly provide $10 million to counties so they can buy
more accessible machines.

But the counties say that it is not just the money, but the lack of
time that they have to buy new machines, test them and train workers
in their use. And they note that delays at the state level were
mainly responsible for their predicament.

John Ravitz, the executive director of the city’s Board of
Elections, said the city would do the best it could in the short
amount of time it had. “This whole interim response is part of a
dysfunctional process that has been laid at our doorstep,” he said.

At the Board of Elections office in each of the five boroughs, the
city will have two to five ballot-marking devices, and experts will
be standing by to deal with any problems that arise, he said.
Disabled voters will continue to have the option of voting with
absentee ballots, or with assistance at polling places.

The handicapped-accessible machines would allow voters to bypass
traditional lever machines. The ballot-marking devices could include
machines that use audio, for blind voters, or machines that use a
technology that allows quadriplegic voters to sip and puff into a
machine that can read such signals to mark ballots.

The Justice Department said in court papers that it reluctantly
supported the interim plan – but added that the state could still be
liable to lose some or all of the $221 million of federal money it
has received to overhaul its election system.

I could go on and on about how idiotic this proposal is, but you have heard my veiws enough times already. Hopefully, disability activists in New York City will get out and fight this. I will, however, leave you with this thought:

One of the many things that I have learned through my disability voting rights activism is this: Politicians judge the political power of a sector of the population not only by how much money they contribute to their campaigns, but also by the percentage of it’s members who get out and vote. Too often, many segments of the American people decide that it is useless to vote. Especially after the 2000 and 2004 elections, many people feel, “why bother–the rich can always buy and steal elections”. Though it doesn’t seem so, this cannot be further form the truth! Elected officials and other politicians are watching and taking note of who votes for them. Do you ever notice how they refer to groups of people by the vote? You know–the Senior vote, the African American vote, the Hispanic vote, the Business Community vote, the Women’s vote. Politicians know that these groups not only get out and vote, but they bring in votes through organizing. Have you ever heard of any references to the Poor vote, the Homeless vote, the Disability vote? Of course not, because these groups of folks are often disenfranchised, and because they are busy attending to getting the basic necessities and civil rights, voting is a low priority for them. For their own sake, these groups will have to create a way to incorporate voting into their main objectives. The disability community is beginning to see this, and several groups, especially American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and to a lesser extent, ADAPT, are starting to see the importance of voting, and are fighting for physical access to polling places, and accessible voting machines. Indeed, AAPD has an entire project known as the Disabilty Vote Project that it operates in several states, and the District of Columbia. The Project has been in existence for several years now.

I have a fairly radical view when it comes to voting. I feel that it is not only my right, but my duty to vote. As an African American, I know that people have died so that I may have this right, and how dare I not honor their memory by doing so at every opportunity! As a person with a disability, I feel the same way–disability activists have put themselves out there, endured humiliation and ridicule, and in some cases, have gone to jail so that we can enjoy and benefit from the rights that we now have. However, the fight is not over. There is much more work to be done, and the voting rights issue is a prime example. I therefore say to the folks in New York, and elsewhere: Get up and fight! Don’t take the outrageous deal that’s been handed to you sitting down. Don’t just roll over and accept absentee ballots just because they’re there. Remember that in most cases, they are a ploy to keep you unseen, and to keep you from full access to the political process. Don’t just sit around moping, mourning, and complaining. Organize! The time for complacency is over. Employ every legal, peaceful, and non-violent means to get yourself heard, and to bring about change. Don’t know how to do this? Go sit at the feet of those activists that you’ve heard about, and learn from them. Believe me, they’ll be glad to teach you! Scared? Don’t want to make waves? Tough! Grow yourself some courage! Stop ridiculing, belittling, and bemoaning those “troublemaker activists” and join them. Stop sitting around waiting for your rights to be handed to you on a silver platter, because they never have been, nor will they ever be. Every right that you have, or will ever get was won by activists who got up, spoke out, wrote letters, protested, went to jail, and sometimes, died! Thats just the way it is, so get used to it. Decide what group you will be in–the ones who complain, and cry for change, or the ones who go out, and bring about change? Either way, the politicians are watching, and we can either continue to be dismissed and ignored by them, or we can become one of the groups whose vote they will actively seek. It’s up to us.

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Voting rights for DC?

Monday, May 15th, 2006

Who knows? Washington, DC just may get some voting rights in the not-too-distant future. On May 11th, a bill crafted by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) called the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006 was introduced into the House of Representatives. This bill would give the District a vote in the House, and would permanently increase the number of members in the House of Representatives from 435 to 437 and adding a temporary at-large seat in Utah.

Utah, which just missed getting an extra House seat after the 2000 census, currently has three House seats held by two Republicans and one Democrat. To avoid an immediate shift in this balance, the fourth seat under the Davis-Norton bill would be at-large, representing the entire state, until the 2012 election. Davis’ office said this was a common procedure in the 19th century, when the House expanded as the nation’s population grew.

Norton, who can cast votes in committees and participate in House floor debate but can’t vote on the floor, said her ultimate goal is to achieve voting rights in both the House and the Senate, but acknowledges she doesn’t have enough support for that now.

Here is a bit of history: Congress in 1801, shortly after moving to Washington, took away the voting rights of D.C. residents, who until then had voted for Virginia or Maryland lawmakers. The 23rd Amendment, ratified in 1961, gave D.C. residents the right to vote in presidential elections, and the city of 537,000 has been allowed to elect its own leaders since 1973.

The bill has to clear a number of hurdles on its way to becoming law. It would have to get through the Government Reform Committee, of which Rep. Davis is a member. There would have to be more bipartisan support than there is now. The majority of Republicans are against this bill, and some are conducting an underground effort to quash it. Some Democrats are scared of the fact that it would give an extra seat to Utah, a staunchly Republican state. Of course, President Bush will have to sign it, and that remains to be seen. I will keep you updated on how this goes.

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Secretary Jackson confirms meeting with ADAPT today

Monday, May 15th, 2006

Stephanie Thomas sent this to me. I know that she won’t mind my reprinting it! 

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson has finally confirmed with Cassie the meeting
with ADAPT today, May 15th. Thanks to one and all for the actions across the
USA. Here is the story of the action that led to the meeting confirmation:

On Friday April 28th, members of Chicago ADAPT, and Chicago DRACH met with
HUD Region 5 Director Joseph Galvan, Deputy Director Beverly Bishop, and
several staff from PIH and FHEO regarding the Access Across America proposal
and implementation of PIH notice 2006-5 which explicitly mentions use of
administrative funds to housing authorities to create home modification
programs for voucher holders with disabilities. We feel that these demands
must go hand in hand, for many people vouchers will be useless if
modification funds are not available.

We first sent our regional office the information on these 2 issues about
two weeks ago. We immediately got an agreement from the deputy director and
FHEO staff to meet with us. but were told that the director would not be
available. We decided to go ahead with the meeting.

Five activists met with the HUD staff, as scheduled, and about 8 others
stayed outside passing copies of the “wanted” poster to the public, many of
whom were entering the building, presumably on their way to work at HUD.

About 10 minutes into the meeting, Director Galvan came in and remained for
the duration of the meeting. It seems that the flyering outside had the
impact we wanted; Mr Galvan made time to meet with us.

This was the essence of our message to HUD staff:

Secretary Jackson committed in September to meet directly with national
ADAPT to discuss implementation of the Access Across America proposal, but
has failed to honor his commitment. We need your help to ensure that the
Secretary honors his commitment. We also need assurance from the Secretary
that the language in PIH notice 2006-5 is being implemented and PHAs are
creating accessibility modification programs for voucher holders with
disabilities.

We said that Jackson reiterated his commitment to meet when ADAPT saw him at
a recent event in Texas, again failed to follow through. Deputy Bishop
stated that she sent information on AAA and Mod Funds to Jackson before our
meeting and will do so again. She also said it is not necessary to meet
directly with Jackson to progress on the proposal. WE DISAGREE. We stated
that the same issues were raised as part of a meeting with National People’s
Action and Jackson’s Chief of Staff, Camilla Pierce, in March. Pierce made a
verbal commitment to begin a dialogue with HHS and HUD on AAA, and contact
ADAPT to participate in this. She promised to do this within two weeks of
the March meeting, again with no results.

Jackson’s failure to follow through on his commitments indicates that he
clearly does not understand that these issues are a matter of life and death
for people with disabilities, and the lack of response from HUD staff at all
levels clearly indicates that a direct working relationship with Jackson
MUST happen for progress to be made.

Bishop stated that implementation of AAA will encounter obstacles including
requiring new construction, allocation of new funding, and redirection of
funds already committed to other programs, even though these things are not
mentioned in AAA. We said that this is not necessarily so, and that this is
part of the discussion that needs to take place directly between Secretary
Jackson and national ADAPT.

Director Galvan said he understood our concerns. He said that there are
certain things he an his staff can do, and certain things he cant do, but he
committed to doing the following things that are within their authority:

1. Contact Jackson directly and urge him to contact Cassie James of ADAPT on
AAA and implementation of Mod Funds for voucher holders. When asked, he said
that he could not ask Jackson to respond within a certain time period.

2. Raise these issues at the next meeting of regional directors, and urge
them to contact Jackson directly regarding meeting with ADAPT.

3. Contact all 115 PHA’s in Illinois to see which ones have modification
programs pursuant to PIH 2006-5, and begin discussion with IL PHAs to
strongly suggest IL PHAs work with IL DHS to set aside vouchers for
deinstitutionalization; and to create modification funds for voucher holders
with disabilities. Results of this will be given to us in 3 months.

4. Direct all states in region 5 to do the same thing they committed to
doing in IL.

5. Urge all regional directors help PHAs in their region to target vouchers
to people with disabilities and create mod funds for voucher holders with
disabilities.

To sum up, we got everything we expected we could get from a regional
director AND MORE! Thanks to the small but powerful group that made this
action a success!

That’s how it happened. A few days later, we got the news that Jackson had confirmed a meeting for today. We shall see what Secretary Jackson says to ADAPT in the meeting, and what he’ll commit to. I will keep you updated. Stay tuned…

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Gallaudet students protest against new president

Thursday, May 4th, 2006

Today will mark the third day of protests and vigils by students at Gallaudet University, the world’s only college for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The protests are against their new school president, Jane Fernandes.

I remember another protest that took place at Gallaudet back in 1988. At that time, I was living in Chicago, and working for the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind. I was in DC on my first national ADAPT action, and my then supervisor, who is deaf-blind and uses a wheelchair, wanted to join the protests in support of the students. I eagerly went along.

That protest was also over their board’s selection of a new president. That president, as were all the previous presidents, was not deaf, but hearing. The students were fed up with that, and staged protests and vigils, as well as marches on the Capitol and the White House. These historic events, of which I am honored to have participated in, resulted in the selection of Gallaudet’s first deaf president, I. King Jordan.

Fast forward 18 years. Several months ago, I. King Jordan announced his upcoming retirement, and the board set about choosing his successor. A few days ago, the successor was announced–Jane Fernandes, the school provost. Almost immediately, protests and vigils were organized. Sudents said that they don’t like her because they feel that she is aloof, cold, and disrespectful to them.

They also said they do not like Fernandes’s leadership style, the way the search was performed and the feeling that they have been ignored.

One alumnus said the disagreement was between those who want Gallaudet to be an academic institution and those who want it to be the center of deaf culture. Some students said the fight was about means of communication, as technology and medicine change the experience of deafness. Others said the issue was racial diversity: A strong black candidate did not even make the top three, they said.

she would work to improve relations with students over the next eight months — the period before Jordan steps down — and that they would get to know a new Jane Fernandes. The role of provost is very different from the role of president, she said afterward.

She said it will be hard to follow Jordan. “I’m more of a quiet leader,” she said. “Quiet but effective — I have a different style.”

She said a priority will be forging unity. “Because we have so many different aspects of the deaf community,” different ways of communicating, different backgrounds and different priorities, “we need Gallaudet to pull all of these together. I think I can help to do that.”

And, she added, “it’s important for me to clearly say that I see ASL as the fabric that holds together Gallaudet’s diverse community. So Gallaudet will always be a signing university. We will always use visual communication. We will always use that.”

Well, it sounds like Ms. Fernandes realizes that she is in an uphill battle with her students, and that she shas some major work to do to heal the hurt and dissatisfaction that the students feel. I will keep abreast of these protests, and give updates. Hopefully, there will be a resolution that both parties can agree to.

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A Day Without Immigrants

Thursday, May 4th, 2006

Monday, May 1, was “A Day Without immigrants Day”, a continuation of events, marches, and rallys put on by immigration rights activists around the country in response to legislation passed by the House that would make illegal entry into the U.S. a felony, and anyone helping these folks subject to felony prosecution. Was there much participation in these events? Did it make any difference? Well, It depends on what part of the country you were in. Some places like Denver, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles had huge rallys, while other places like Topeka, Kansas, parts of Texas and Florida, and here in Washington, DC, things were pretty normal. In fact, here in DC, the immigrant community was divided. While some leaders wanted to have mass rallys, boycotts, school walk-outs, and job no-shows, many other leaders cautioned against these activities for various reasons, among them, a potential backlash resulting in anti-immigrant sentiments and actions. Therefore, participation was spotty, at best. In Northern Virginia, many construction sites were deserted because their Hispanic employees took the day off. A high percentage of Hispanic students did not attend school, and most businesses ownd by, or who employed large numbers of Hispanics were closed.

In the District, it all depended on the neighborhood. In areas with large Hispanic populations, many businesses were closed, but in more diverse areas, it was business as usual. Indeed, based on what I saw and heard, the response to Monday went solidly along ethnic and immigration status lines. For example, my neighborhood in Upper Northwest, and area called Chevy Chase, is a white collar, extremely diverse area with immigrants from all over the world, but mostly from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Literally no one who was not of Hispanic descent supported or participated in Monday’s events, and some were even resentful of illegal immigrants. Among Hispanics in my neighborhood, it all came down to status. Folks who were native born, or legal shared similar sentiments as the rest of the neighbors, but folks who were undocumented supported the events, but felt that it was impractical for them to participate. In my building, which also has a large immigrant population among its tenants, staff, and vendors, it was an ordinary day. We tenants had received a notice the previous Friday regarding the upcoming events, assuring us that all of the staff would be present for work, and arrangements had already been made with our vendors in case of absentee workers. As usual, our staff were on duty.
How did I feel about A Day Without Immigrants? As the daughter of an immigrant, I had mixed feelings. IWhile I feel that undocumented people who have been here for more than 5 years should have the right to become legal, and that the legalization process should be streamlined and equal for all, I did not agree with Monday’s events. I feel that boycotting businesses, and skipping school and work will do nothing but cause a backlash against the immigrant commuity, particularly undocumented immigrants. Indeed, it may have already begun. There were several anti-immigration rallys in various parts of the country, and some activists have even started a drive to send their congresspeople bricks in the mail, a symbol of their support of a security wall, or fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. I am afraid that this backlash will only get stronger and uglier. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.

 

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