By Joe Bernick, People's World
October 14, 2013
TUCSON, Ariz. - Frustrated by lack of action on immigration reform in Congress, Tucson immigrant rights activists took matters into their own hands Oct. 11. A dozen protesters locked themselves to the wheels of two deportation buses full of detainees headed to Operation Streamline at a federal courthouse in downtown Tucson where six additional activists had chained themselves to the entrance to protest the proceeding they say is criminalizing immigrants and destroying core principles of the justice system.
By blocking a freeway exit with two vehicles the protesters slowed two Border Patrol prison buses to a stop as they came off the freeway. A dozen activists ran out and chained themselves to the front wheels of the buses full of detainees while supporters cautioned the drivers not to proceed. It took the police four hours to cut through the "dragon sleeve" cylinders and make arrests.[...]
Read the full article:
http://peoplesworld.org/immigrants-strap-themselves-to-wheels-of-deportation-buses/
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
The Return of the Nicaraguan Revolution
This was something that US commentators failed to understand about Nicaragua. There had been a real revolution. It wasn’t a seizure of power by a little band of Marxists; it was tens or hundreds of thousands of people like these women organizing themselves and their neighbors.
By David L. Wilson, Truthout
October 22, 2013
Nicaragua’s 1979 revolution is back in the news, at least in New York City.
On September 23 The New York Times ran a front-page article on the decades-old Nicaragua solidarity activism of Bill de Blasio, now the frontrunner in New York’s November 5 mayoral election. Some two dozen other articles quickly appeared in the local and national press, most of them recycling old perspectives on the thousands of us who, like de Blasio, traveled to Nicaragua in the 1980s to demonstrate our opposition to the Reagan and Bush administrations’ efforts to overthrow that country’s government.[...]
Read the full article:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19543-the-return-of-the-nicaraguan-revolution
By David L. Wilson, Truthout
October 22, 2013
Nicaragua’s 1979 revolution is back in the news, at least in New York City.
On September 23 The New York Times ran a front-page article on the decades-old Nicaragua solidarity activism of Bill de Blasio, now the frontrunner in New York’s November 5 mayoral election. Some two dozen other articles quickly appeared in the local and national press, most of them recycling old perspectives on the thousands of us who, like de Blasio, traveled to Nicaragua in the 1980s to demonstrate our opposition to the Reagan and Bush administrations’ efforts to overthrow that country’s government.[...]
Read the full article:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19543-the-return-of-the-nicaraguan-revolution
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Migrant Deaths Heighten Calls for Action
By Frontera NorteSur
October 5, 2013
The deaths of at least 133 African migrants off the coast of Italy last week spurred some international leaders to call for changes in global migrant policies. The tragedy occurred after a ship carrying Eritrean, Ghanaian and Somali migrants caught fire, capsized and sank October 2 near the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.
Possibly hundreds of passengers from the ill-fated ship are still unaccounted for in Mediterranean waters that have claimed the lives of migrants in previous maritime accidents.
Pope Francis condemned the calamity, calling the mass deaths a “shame” and linking it to an “inhuman” world economic crisis that is symptomatic of the “great lack of respect for man.” In calling for prayers for the victims, the pontiff urged united action to stave off similar tragedies. “Only a decisive collaboration of all can help to prevent them,” he said. [...]
Read the full article:
http://fnsnews.nmsu.edu/migrant-deaths-heighten-calls-for-action/
October 5, 2013
The deaths of at least 133 African migrants off the coast of Italy last week spurred some international leaders to call for changes in global migrant policies. The tragedy occurred after a ship carrying Eritrean, Ghanaian and Somali migrants caught fire, capsized and sank October 2 near the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.
Possibly hundreds of passengers from the ill-fated ship are still unaccounted for in Mediterranean waters that have claimed the lives of migrants in previous maritime accidents.
Pope Francis condemned the calamity, calling the mass deaths a “shame” and linking it to an “inhuman” world economic crisis that is symptomatic of the “great lack of respect for man.” In calling for prayers for the victims, the pontiff urged united action to stave off similar tragedies. “Only a decisive collaboration of all can help to prevent them,” he said. [...]
Read the full article:
http://fnsnews.nmsu.edu/migrant-deaths-heighten-calls-for-action/
Monday, October 21, 2013
Undocumented and Unprotected
By Elvira Arellano, La Familia Latina Unida/Sin Fronteras
October 8, 2013
We have long said that the U.S. immigration law – and President Obama’s administration – are punishing the least culpable and the most vulnerable for a system of undocumented labor which the entire nation participated in and benefitted from. Millions of people did not just suddenly decide to pick up a few of their belongings and cross the desert in search of the American Dream. In fact the “American Nightmare” of NAFTA and other policies cost millions of people their jobs in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It was a forced migration. The border was left open and the word went out from employers to “bring your people here”. The government collected our taxes without blinking an eye. Banks lent us money – at high interest rates. It was a system of undocumented labor! We took care of their children. We cooked and served their food. Yet only the undocumented are targeted for penalties.
We did not create the system. We just tried to survive in it. [...]
Read the full article:
http://caaaelli.blogspot.com/2013/10/undocumented-and-unprotected.html
Sin papeles y sin protección
Por Elvira Arellano, La Familia Latina Unida/Sin Fronteras
8 de octubre, 2013
Durante mucho tiempo hemos estado diciendo que las leyes migratorias de los Estados Unidos—y la política migratoria de la administración del presidente Obama—castigan a los que menos culpa tienen y quienes son los más vulnerables en un sistema de mano de obra indocumentada de la cual la nación entera sacó beneficios y en la cual la nación entera participó. No es cierto que, de repente, millones de personas decidieron hacer sus maletas con sus pocas pertenencias y luego cruzar el desierto en busca del sueño americano. De hecho la “pesadilla americana” del TLCAN y otras políticas estadounidenses les costaron sus puestos de trabajo a millones de personas en México, Centroamérica y la región caribeña. Fue una migración forzada. Se dejó abierta la frontera y los patrones norteamericanos hicieron correr la palabra “vengan acá con su gente”. El gobierno recolectó nuestros impuestos sin decir nada. Los bancos nos prestaron dinero con intereses elevados. ¡Todo esto ha sido un sistema de mano de obra indocumentada! Cuidamos a sus niños y preparamos sus comidas, pero solo los indocumentados son blanco de castigo.
Nosotros no inventamos este sistema. Lo único que hemos hecho es intentar sobrevivir dentro de él. [...]
Lea el artículo completo:
http://revoluciontrespuntocero.com/sin-papeles-y-sin-proteccion/
October 8, 2013
We have long said that the U.S. immigration law – and President Obama’s administration – are punishing the least culpable and the most vulnerable for a system of undocumented labor which the entire nation participated in and benefitted from. Millions of people did not just suddenly decide to pick up a few of their belongings and cross the desert in search of the American Dream. In fact the “American Nightmare” of NAFTA and other policies cost millions of people their jobs in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It was a forced migration. The border was left open and the word went out from employers to “bring your people here”. The government collected our taxes without blinking an eye. Banks lent us money – at high interest rates. It was a system of undocumented labor! We took care of their children. We cooked and served their food. Yet only the undocumented are targeted for penalties.
We did not create the system. We just tried to survive in it. [...]
Read the full article:
http://caaaelli.blogspot.com/2013/10/undocumented-and-unprotected.html
Sin papeles y sin protección
Por Elvira Arellano, La Familia Latina Unida/Sin Fronteras
8 de octubre, 2013
Durante mucho tiempo hemos estado diciendo que las leyes migratorias de los Estados Unidos—y la política migratoria de la administración del presidente Obama—castigan a los que menos culpa tienen y quienes son los más vulnerables en un sistema de mano de obra indocumentada de la cual la nación entera sacó beneficios y en la cual la nación entera participó. No es cierto que, de repente, millones de personas decidieron hacer sus maletas con sus pocas pertenencias y luego cruzar el desierto en busca del sueño americano. De hecho la “pesadilla americana” del TLCAN y otras políticas estadounidenses les costaron sus puestos de trabajo a millones de personas en México, Centroamérica y la región caribeña. Fue una migración forzada. Se dejó abierta la frontera y los patrones norteamericanos hicieron correr la palabra “vengan acá con su gente”. El gobierno recolectó nuestros impuestos sin decir nada. Los bancos nos prestaron dinero con intereses elevados. ¡Todo esto ha sido un sistema de mano de obra indocumentada! Cuidamos a sus niños y preparamos sus comidas, pero solo los indocumentados son blanco de castigo.
Nosotros no inventamos este sistema. Lo único que hemos hecho es intentar sobrevivir dentro de él. [...]
Lea el artículo completo:
http://revoluciontrespuntocero.com/sin-papeles-y-sin-proteccion/
Sunday, October 20, 2013
The "Implacable" War Against Migrants
Review of The Immigrant War, Vittorio Longhi, Policy Press, 2013
By David Bacon, Truthout
September 30, 2013
The immigration debate in the United States almost always treats the migration of people into this country as something unique. It is not. The World Bank estimates the total number of people worldwide living outside the countries where they were born at 213,316,418 in 2010. A decade earlier, it was 178,050,184, and a decade before that, 155,209,721
The number of people who have become cross-border migrants has increased by about 58 million people in 20 years. To be sure, the United States has become home to a large number - 42,813,281 in 2010, up from 23,251,026 two decades earlier. This increase coincided, by no accident, with the period in which the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, and neoliberal economic reforms were implemented in countries that have been the sources of migration to the United States.
Nevertheless, looking at the ways migration has affected other countries, and especially at the experiences of migrants themselves, it is clear that US exceptionalism - the idea that this country is somehow unique and different from the rest of the world - has no basis in fact.[...]
Read the full review:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19089-the-implacable-war-against-migrants
By David Bacon, Truthout
September 30, 2013
The immigration debate in the United States almost always treats the migration of people into this country as something unique. It is not. The World Bank estimates the total number of people worldwide living outside the countries where they were born at 213,316,418 in 2010. A decade earlier, it was 178,050,184, and a decade before that, 155,209,721
The number of people who have become cross-border migrants has increased by about 58 million people in 20 years. To be sure, the United States has become home to a large number - 42,813,281 in 2010, up from 23,251,026 two decades earlier. This increase coincided, by no accident, with the period in which the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, and neoliberal economic reforms were implemented in countries that have been the sources of migration to the United States.
Nevertheless, looking at the ways migration has affected other countries, and especially at the experiences of migrants themselves, it is clear that US exceptionalism - the idea that this country is somehow unique and different from the rest of the world - has no basis in fact.[...]
Read the full review:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19089-the-implacable-war-against-migrants
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Dominicans Protest Move to Revoke Haitians of Citizenship
By Zaira Cortes, El Diario La Prensa
October 2, 2013
Translated by Emily Leavitt, Voices of NY
Community leaders in Washington Heights condemned a decision by the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court, which would strip citizenship from thousands of children of Haitian immigrants born in the Dominican Republic.
Organizations in northern Manhattan said the ruling, which cannot be appealed, violates the most basic human rights. They described it as xenophobic and “civil genocide.” [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.voicesofny.org/2013/10/protesters-decry-dr-move-to-revoke-haitians-of-citizenship/
Read the original:
http://www.eldiariony.com/Repudian-decision-dominicana-contra-hijos-de-haitianos-NYC&timediff=0
October 2, 2013
Translated by Emily Leavitt, Voices of NY
Community leaders in Washington Heights condemned a decision by the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court, which would strip citizenship from thousands of children of Haitian immigrants born in the Dominican Republic.
Organizations in northern Manhattan said the ruling, which cannot be appealed, violates the most basic human rights. They described it as xenophobic and “civil genocide.” [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.voicesofny.org/2013/10/protesters-decry-dr-move-to-revoke-haitians-of-citizenship/
Read the original:
http://www.eldiariony.com/Repudian-decision-dominicana-contra-hijos-de-haitianos-NYC&timediff=0
Friday, October 18, 2013
Let’s be Honest: CHIP Political Commentary
By Gabriel Camacho, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) blog
September 25, 2013
Clarity and directness is the best way to communicate, so let’s give it a try.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform is dead. Many leftwing immigrant activists and analysts have been putting this view out for a while, but for political, ideological, and racists reasons these perspectives have been ignored in the mainstream immigrant advocacy movement.
This conclusion is justified when we take an overview of possible legislative scenarios. Each scenario has its proponents and detractors, but what is important for our work is their likelihood to materialize. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nnirr.org/~nnirrorg/drupal/node/574
September 25, 2013
Clarity and directness is the best way to communicate, so let’s give it a try.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform is dead. Many leftwing immigrant activists and analysts have been putting this view out for a while, but for political, ideological, and racists reasons these perspectives have been ignored in the mainstream immigrant advocacy movement.
This conclusion is justified when we take an overview of possible legislative scenarios. Each scenario has its proponents and detractors, but what is important for our work is their likelihood to materialize. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nnirr.org/~nnirrorg/drupal/node/574
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