The Roving Activist’s Blog

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.

For the past couple of days, there have been huge protest here in Washington, DC in opposition to the new piece of legislation that has passed in the House making it a felony to be in this country illegally, and making it a felony to offer any sort of aid to undocumented folks.

As the daughter of an immigrant who became an American citizen, I must stand up and speak out on my support of anyone who wishes to come to the greatest nation in the world to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Criminalizing an Undocumented Person is just plain wrong, and will do nothing but send them underground. Although I would prefer that an immigrant would come into this country legally, I have no control over the circumstances that brings a person here, or how they come here.

I believe that Undocumented People who are already in the United States should have the opportunity to achieve citizenship. Right now, the process is long and arduous, as well as expensive. I believe that the process alone is daunting, and should be streamlined and made affordable. Thats why most people feel that they can’t go through the process. I believe that since most likely, undocumented people will have to go to some agency for assistance, they should be given information on how to achieve citizenship, and helped in the process. Perhaps, if a child is registered for school, steps could be taken to prepare the child and his or her family to become legal. This may present something of a problem because school officials, churches, hospitals, and social service agencies don’t really want to act as a police of sorts, but there should be a way that people who are undocumented can get help, and become citizens without being seen as criminals. I feel that if given the chance and assistance, most Undocumented Persons will be happy to take the road to citizenship.

To me, there is nothing so pitiful as to see a person who has been here for more than ten years, but who still cannot speak one word of English. There is nothing so exasperating as to be unable to communicate with someone with whom you are trying to conduct business. On the other hand, there can be nothing so terrifying as to have your sick child in the emergency room, and not be able to talk to the doctors and nurses to explain what is happening. It has got to be pretty scary and lonely to be locked in the house while your parents are out trying to get day labor, and you can’t go to school because you and your parents are here illegally. I can only imagine the humiliation of being jacked around on yor job, and not having any rights or recourse because you are undocumented.

Some people think that this immigration snafu relates only to Mexicans and other Hispanics. I don’t think so. I believe that it relates to all immigrants, but I feel that ALL immigrants should be given a equal path to citizenship, whether they are from Mexico, Africa, Central Asia, or Eastern Europe. There is something inherently rascist about an immigration policy that focuses negatively only on immigrants of color, or that will work miracles and wonders to process the citizenship of a Canadian figure skater so that she can participate with the U.S. team in the Olympics, but denies the application of an African mother to bring her adopted child from her war-torn country to be reunited with her here in the U.S.

Finally, I think that the idea of building a wall, or fence along the U.S.-Mexico border is just plain stupid! It won’t do any good–just look at the so-called security wall in Israel/Palestine. People are resourceful and inventive, and will quite easily get around such a barrier. It’s just another way that this country is wasting money, instead of using it to help those in need. Instead of spending all that money on a  barrier, spend the money to create programs to help undocumented folks become citizens! Besides, no one is talking about building a fence along the U.S.-Canada border, now, are they? Talk about subtle rascism! Finally, why should our country have a fence? Do we, the most open nation on the planet want to present this kind of image to the world? We are a nation of immigrants, and we ought to be proud of that. Look at all of the great and positive things that immigrants have done for the U.S.? Although I don’t agree with everything that my government postulates and comes up with, I LOVE my country, and I don’t know what my life would be like if a certain Mr. Cameron had not decided to come here to better his life.