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Behind the illegals

By Dateline D.C.
Sunday, July 2, 2006


WASHINGTON
As we approach Independence Day, we must think about the millions of Latino immigrants living and working here illegally and those who are organizing them. Is it their goal to build a stronger, more profitable United States or is it more sinister?

Our southern neighbor never has been shy in talking about how the United States, by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, stole their land -- "Aztlan." Says the founder of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund: "California is going to be a Hispanic state. Anyone who doesn't like it should leave."

And listen to the comments of President Vicente Fox. Every time he visits our country he makes new demands for his citizens living here -- health care, education, and guest-worker programs for both the legal and the illegal.

The leader of the New York immigrant rights movement, Miguel Ramirez, who has organized more than a hundred mass marches, spells out his view of the future "movimiento" succinctly: "In the end, it's an issue of power, one that can only be addressed by constant organizing."

Ramirez was not born in Mexico. He left his Salvadoran homeland during the civil war in 1979 and regards immigration issues in the United States as the northernmost expression of the newly resurgent Latin American left. Using the same issues as the Mexican president, Ramirez has created and joined with Indian, Pakistani, Korean, Indonesian and Filipino groups -- together with millions from Mexico, Central and South America -- to create huge and diverse marches.

During the past four months, marches of literally millions, from California through the Midwest and South to the East coast, have demanded changes in the immigration law and an amnesty for illegal aliens now living in the United States.

The changes in the law would create an open-borders situation; an amnesty would permit both criminal and economic migrants near-immediate citizenship in America.

As citizens, they can sponsor their next of kin to enter the United States legally; in turn they would enjoy the same privileges. The numbers of "new" Americans would be enormous -- an estimated 20 million. Within a short time that could mean adding this horde to the electoral roles.

"Aztlan" in the Southwest begins to take on a new meaning as new Americans plan to organize demographic warfare.

While we watch on television or are tied up in traffic by thousands of marchers chanting "Amnesty Now!," too little thought is given to the logistics. Who organized and paid for the buses? Who selected the speakers? Who paid for the sound system? Who decided where to march?

The basis of the migrant movement organizing has been carried out by about 700 organizers from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). Its organizers' claim to their success is following advice given by Martin Luther King Jr.: "When you impact the rich man's ability to make money, anything is negotiable."

So now we must ask, where did FLOC come from? Many came from the Center for Autonomous Social Action (CASA), a Chicano organization in Los Angeles, one of whose goals was organizing undocumented workers. The leadership of CASA was legendary; the 1968 figures in the Mexican community, Bert Corona and Soledad "Chole" Alatorre, were among them.

Knowing Bert and Chole, if they were not paying dues to the Communist Party USA, they had membership under false pretenses.

The migrant movement has grown with the help of the Democratic Party -- who see massive electoral victories -- and by organizations such as La Raza, whose support helped Jimmy Carter win the presidency. They were rewarded with $3.75 million in federal grants that, together with assistance from the Ford Foundation, the Aspen Institute and CBS, gave them an annual budget in 1984 of more than $8 million.

With that kind of money 20 years ago, La Raza never had to look back; many groups such as FLOC were created and CASA expanded throughout the country.

Illegal or undocumented migrants are encouraged by many employers. They pay them sub minimum wages because they lack workplace skills and are near-vital to our agricultural economy. These employers are breaking the law and are assisted by labor unions, equally ignoring the law.

Many of the immigrants do not pay taxes and many have dependents in the U.S. health, welfare and educational systems; they constitute a lawless element which makes a total mockery of our legal system.

Since the 1980s, organizations such as La Raza and FLOC have exercised continuing and increasing power in the U.S. Congress with the AFL-CIO and the media. It is obvious that our politicians fear both the voting power of migrants and the accountability that their office brings.

Hard decisions to be made on Independence Day.

Dateline D.C. is written by a Washington-based British political observer.