Immigrant freedom riders will be boarding buses September 23rd to take part in a nine city advance on the capitol. Freedom riders will meet with members of congress in Washington D. C. and take part in a rally in New York on October 4th 2003. Read LA Alternative Press article http://www.laalternativepress.com/v02n12/feature/feature.php

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L. A. http://www.chirla.org/

-Legalization and a “road to citizenship”---
-Family reunification and ending the backlog of application ---
-Protecting the rights of immigrants in the workplace ---
-Protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of all

Singer XIMENA (left) accompanied by Banda Music

City council voted 15 – 0 in support for the freedom ride. The programs and dialogue abandoned since 911 need to be addressed. Councilman Antonio Villarigosa has compared Los Angeles to a modern day Ellis Island. Councilman Alex Padilla wants to see the issue of immigration revived, “Too many immigrants live in poverty and fear” said Padilla.

Immigrant workers provided many services while contributing to the economy. The status of illegal for an estimated 6.8 to 11 million residents promotes abuse and exploitation.

This is great. How can I get involved?

I looked at the sites. They, and this thread are mislabeled.
This is not about immigrant rights.

It is about big business rights.

It is about mega-farming rights.

It is about entrenched local (racial) political leader's rights

It is about the rights of giant food corporations.

It is about the rights of the Fox government and big mexican banking.

This is about illegal immigrant rights.

Not about immigrant rights all.

This has nothing to do with immigrantion rights.

It has everything to do with the rights of big business

It has everything to do with the rights of mega-farmining

it has everything to do with the rights of big mexican banking and the Fox government

It has everything to do with the rights of certain racially based political groups/gangs

This is not about immigrant rights

It is about the rights of illegals.

It is about maintaining the rights of exploitation.

It is about the rights of those who benefit from cheap, illegal labor.


Progressives should oppose all this nonesense.

Eliminate illegal immigration and legal immigration would HAVE to be adjusted. Fighting for the rights of illegals preserves the status quo.

If you support this you would logically support the right to cap or eliminate overtime...

of elimininating minimum waqe...

of removing medical benefits...

of busting up labor unions

Be

THIS IS 100% ABOUT IMMIGRATION.

The immigrant worker freedom rides are supported by a broad coalition of civil rights, human rights, labor rights, and community of faith organizations. Check the website to see the names of the organizations involved. and read their endorsements.

The Rides are demanding a road to citizenship for hardworking immigrants, both those who come with papers and those without. Citizenship confers legal protections and workplace rights that are crucial to protecting the digiity of labor and the basic rights of people to live without fear of constant exploitation and fear of arrest or worse.

The suggestion that we could further some progressive agenda by opposing 'illegal' immigration is misguided, racist, and destructive both to the lives of hardworking people and to the best ideals of this troubled country. Opposing illegal immigration only makes you an ally of hard right militias and nativists, and provides no incentive to the government to reform the system.

Please take a minute to investigate the website, see the historic links between the Freedom Rides of 1961 and today's version, read the stories about the hardworking immigrants willing to risk their status and security to push this country in the direction it needs to go.

Organized labor supports this ride accross the country and in washington dc because it is in the interests of the unions to protect those most exploited in our economy, and because it is the right thing to do. This is not a union busting move, but rather a strategy to strengthen one of the few organizational tactics that offer hope to migrants closed out of america's civil society.

don't let hard right hatred influence your better judgement. don't let misguided and dogmatic leftist politics tell you that you should oppose progress to stimulate a revolution. call your congresspeople, come to rallies, write letters to the editor pushing for progessive immigration reform now.

To end family separation.
To recognize the economic and cultural contributions immigrants make in the United States.
To redeem the degraded American Dream.
To protect against abuse at work.
To end the terror of othe border patrol.
To isolate the racist militias of Arizona.
To embrace a better future.
To support activists pushing the envelope.

Support the Immmigrant Worker Freedom Ride.
http://www.iwfr.org

"The suggestion that we could further some progressive agenda by opposing 'illegal' immigration is misguided, racist, and destructive both to the lives of hardworking people and to the best ideals of this troubled country. Opposing illegal immigration only makes you an ally of hard right militias and nativists, and provides no incentive to the government to reform the system. "

What a meanspirited, misguided and, well, ignorant attack on what is a valid argument. Why for instance do you insist on playing the cheap 'race' card? What about an argument on how passing our citizenship every few years to people who are growing too savvy to be exploited any longer will help in the long run?

You statement following this rant is fatally flawed.

The government/business is happy with status quo. Only by choking their source of cheap exploitable labor will they change. Then they will allow proper quotas.

What happens if the tens of millions of illegals in this country are suddenly granted citizenship? Will that improve their lot while the door for replacement immigrants is kept ajar? Of course not.

These people as citizens would have rights and a place to complain to strike, etc. This may sound good but as long as unlimited cheap and exploitable labor is available big business will just replace the new citizens with the new illegals.

Local latino politiicians will be happy, the new citizens may be happy if they can find a job and most of all, big business will be happy. The misery in the fields and slaughter houses won't change.

Handing out amnesty every decade is not something big business will oppose. Illegals who have been in this country for that long have become too smart and knowledgeable and become trouble to the sweat shop owners.

And, by they, don't try to kid us. This is NOT about legal immigrants. Its about the cheap labor you unwittingly support.

You should think about how your encouragement of a culture of illegals promotes this same militias you so glibby point to. Its this promotion of band aid solutions (does anyone really think regular amnesties help? Pleezzzeee!!) that encourages illegals. Its ONLY when illegals stop crossing that the millitas will stop and illegals will ONLY stop when their is a sane immigration law.

Supporting these melodramatic bus trips across american will not reform our immigration laws, will not stop illegals. Only through forcing the hand of business will real reform happen. Until then playing for quick and easy solutions is merely playing the dupe.

This whole thing sounds like classic, old-fashioned liberalism to me and wont’ do a damn thing to solve the problem.

Read this stuff – the plan is to all get on buses and ride to Washington, DC, just look those folks in 1961. Sadly the trip will be too early for fall break from college but I’m sure there will be plenty of singing and soul searching on those buses. Then they’ll get to Washington, wander around the mall with signs shouting a few slogans in Spanish, maybe meet a couple of congressmen.

To make all this even more retro-liberal the net result if all goes will be right out of the Great Society – some entitlement programs and some Federal money to filter through neighborhood, sorry, barrio in this case, NGO – churches, action groups and cultural centers with radical ministers, local city council wanna-bes, and the like, all of whom manager to live quite well thank you on what filters out of these grants before reaching a few kids at some don’t-need-English-we’ll-keep-you-obligated-to-us-through-Spanish-only-programs.

Perhaps the powers in DC will add up the votes – if Democrats run things they’ll figure new immigrants traditionally vote democratic, if Republicans are running the committee they may figure their Latino program is working – and yet another amnesty will happen and a few million illegals will be granted citizenship so they can vote for their city council wanna-bes. Meanwhile, the few farm workers covered by this will tell the agri-business leaders “Hey, I’m a citizen, I want minimum wage plus medical.” The fat cat farmers will smirk, fire them and pick up a dozen new illegals to exploit. Since those workers eligible for citizenship would have had say five or six years in the US, they were getting uppity anyway so who cares if they go.

A true progressive looks to the future. They understand history and even know about Lenin and the ‘useful idiots’. They won’t play the game of big business. They’ll see that the useful idiots in this case are the right-wingers. A progressive looks for true progress, not new entitlement programs.

You see the illegal game is a money game.

Big business needs cheap labor. Government knows this, which is why they play big public games at the border. After all, it is absolutely impossible to close these borders. The government just has to look like it is trying. What they don’t do is close down the slaughterhouses or garlic fields. What they don’t do is arrest the factory manager or owner when they raid a sweatshop. That’s because government doesn’t want to close this trade down. They don’t mind the cost of a border patrol, they like the entitlement programs these bus riders call for and they certainly don’t mind pumping immigrants for votes – they’ve been doing it for centuries.

However, were the factories and fields to be raided. Were the foremen, the managers, the accountants and the owners held accountable, then things would change. There would be pressure for reforming immigration laws. Once all workers are legal then controls can be put in place and a humane work place set up.