by Jack Vergara
Thursday, May. 18, 2006 at 1:19 PM
jfav_causa@yahoo.com 213-241-0906 337 Glendale Bld. Los Angeles, CA 90026
The Coalition in Defense of immigrant Rights (CDIR) express deep concern on the direction that the US Congress and President Bush is pushing the immigration issue that affects the more than 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The Bush Temporarty Guest Workers Program and the Democrat Compromise on The Immigration Reform Bill Is a Bad Deal for All Immigrants. Persevere in the Struggle for Full Rights For All Immigrants!
Los Angeles – The Coalition in Defense of immigrant Rights (CDIR) express deep concern on the direction that the US Congress and President Bush is pushing the immigration issue that affects the more than 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The President has ordered the deployment of 6,000 National Guards of US Border States with Mexico. This step, although symbolical, virtually militarized the borders with the US southern neighbors. The step virtually gave tacit support to the paramilitary Minutemen and boosted the moral of racist and fundamentalist anti-immigrant organizations to heighten their anti-immigrant mass actions along this states.
Bush, by declaring his support for the Temporary Guest Workers program virtually opened the compromise with the Democrats led by Senator Kennedy who have compromised on the following measures: 1) stricter border enforcement 2) work site inspections and 3) 11 years long wait for the guest workers program that divided the workers in 3 tier and for the immigrants to accept harsh terms such as fines, back taxes and security checks.
All immigrants did not and will not receive any fair deal with his kind of “ immigration reform overhaul” now in Congress. But despite the dirty compromise, the Republicans will not settle for less until they get their enforcement only dictate in the US Congress. This is more outrageous then the HR 4437 that people hated and mobilized against in their millions.
The Temporary Guest Workers Program is not a path to citizenship. It is an obstacle course to citizenship. It is immoral in the sense that that the technological ways of checking is but a modified way of branding concentration camps victims with numbers or giving internal passports aka “biometric cards” to an Orwellian nation that the US will become. It breeds “second class citizens “ or a “class of temporary guest workers” who will be unwanted to become permanent residents and will open to attacks for scapegoating and discrimination.
The CDIR express its unequivocal support for the May 17 mass action in Washington DC that will ask for not only a humane and fair immigration law for all immigrants but for full rights for all immigrants. We should not settle for less.
The CDIR also express support for the unity attained by immigrants advocate during the May 13 “Social Justice Conference” by Filipino American organizations in Oakland. The tentative agreement reached by all immigrant advocates for five cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Seattle to support the majority Latino immigrant demands for Amnesty and Full Rights for All Immigrants and the demand of the Filipino American community for Family Reunification, Not Separation is both fruitful and a good start for a full blown immigrant rights campaign in the community.
NO to the Modified Bracero or Guest Worker Program!
FULL RIGHTS FOR ALL IMMIGRANTS, AMNESTY, NOW!