Thread: The Clash of Mobilizations

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_art ... 3b3075fc09

The Clash of Mobilizations

New America Media, Commentary, Cecilia Munoz, Jun 12, 2006

WASHINGTON -- As an advocate, I’m one of many people around the country who have worked for years to arrive at the day when the U.S. Senate would vote for a comprehensive immigration reform that legalizes millions of undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States. That day came on May 25, when 62 senators voted to approve an enormous, ambitious immigration reform bill that includes a legalization program.

It’s a historic achievement and a hugely important step in the process of remaking our immigration laws in a way that brings order and fairness to a long-broken system. But it’s not the only step and it didn’t come without a significant cost. If we’re going to cross the finish line, the communities that care about immigrants will have to work harder. We have much to do to ensure that the bill that gets signed into law treats our communities with the respect we deserve.

The bill that just passed the Senate was the subject of a vigorous, difficult debate between a bipartisan group of senators who support comprehensive reform, including legalization, and a smaller group of senators who believe that the only appropriate policy is to institute stronger enforcement and to make the lives of immigrants more difficult. The latter was the approach the House of Representatives took when it passed the Sensenbrenner bill last December, a proposal so harsh that millions of immigrants and their supporters have launched unprecedented mobilizations against it.

Even though the Senate ultimately chose a different path from the House, the Senate bill has a number of draconian enforcement measures that look a lot like the House bill. There are important erosions of immigrant rights in the Senate bill, as well as policies that make it harder for government agencies to communicate with people who don’t speak English. In short, there’s still much to be done to make sure this debate produces a final bill that will be both effective and fair.

The other side of the debate is aware of the challenge we face. They saw immigrant communities mobilize and they’ve begun to bolster their own anti-immigrant initiatives. The Minutemen vigilante group is organized in several states. Anti-immigrant advocates have sent thousands of bricks to their congressmen as a “first step” in building a wall between the United States and Mexico. Legislators report getting hundreds of phone calls from angry citizens who prefer the ugly House bill to the Senate version. We know that our voices can be louder than these voices. We proved it when we marched on April 10 and again on May 1. But we must keep up our involvement if we are to continue to make progress in the debate.

Some immigrants are taking action by applying for citizenship and encouraging their families and neighbors to do the same. Others are registering to vote. Still others are contacting their Congress representatives and urging them to do the right thing (You can do this too: the Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121. Give them the name of your representative or senator and they will connect you.)

I’ll never forget the pride on the faces of my friends and neighbors as we marched down 16th Street in Washington D.C. to the National Mall on a day of historic, peaceful demonstrations. We must find ways to continue the spirit of the march by pushing for justice in immigration reform. There’s no immigration law yet. There’s no legalization program yet. There won’t be unless we continue to make our voices heard.

Cecilia Munoz, executive director of the National Council of La Raza in Washington, DC.

I will never forget the look on your face either Senorita Munoz, the way you looked marching in my streets waving your country's flag from which you came, not proudly waving the flag of "This" country of which you are so loudly voicing your demands, your rights, and instant citizenship, after your coming to this country as an illegal alien, spitting on our laws, and our flag!
I want to thank you so much, senorita, for you and the rest like you, for getting out there and making a public specticle of yourself, it was a real wake up call for the rest of "us" legal citizens to turn on our tv's and see you illegal invaders of our country out there demanding your rights. If you had not done that Senorita, the rest of us legal citizens just might have slept right on through this invasion until it was to late for us to do anything about it.
Now, thanks to you, Americans are coming together like we have not done in a very long time, taking a stand against you and our President, and our Senate who are trying so dam hard to just give our country over to you.It is not going to work Senorita, hopefully soon you will be marching your arse, right back over that fence, and taking all the rest of your illegal people right along with you!

Cecilia Munoz, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OLD NITTY'S HEART FOR THE WAKE UP CALL , I NEEDED IT SO BADLY!