Yesterday, nearly two dozen New Yorkers were arrested in front of 26 Federal Plaza in an act of civil disobedience calling on Obama and the the U.S. Federal Government to stop playing with people’s lives and move on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. From the Unity Statement signed by those arrested in NYC yesterday:
Being conscientiously of the opinion that our current immigration laws betray our core principles of democracy, inclusiveness and justice; that they allow for Arizona’s immoral and unconstitutional SB1070; and that their continued enforcement through detention and deportation separates families and destroys communities; we are compelled to escalate our call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the face of inaction from our nation’s elected representatives.
Now I am not an advocate for “reform”, especially in the way it is being used to continue pushing enforcement policies while ignoring critical human rights issues in our communities. I am not an advocate of the farce that is being performed when many know that CIR is dead. However, it made me a little happy to be at yesterday’s event, seeing people step it up. Yes, it was highly symbolic. Those arrested get released quickly compared to those left to wither in the prison industrial complex driven detention system in the U.S. Pero as mentor Richie Perez said before my own civil disobedience arrest back in the day, in certain struggles there comes a time when people need to choose. They need to be in the streets or behind bars because they took their own streets.
Where are you?
And President Obama says “We will begin work on this problem this year.” In other words “Adios Amigos! I’m not getting involved!”
I think Obama said adios amigos awhile ago
hmm hmmm practicing my “non-engagement” LOL it’s hard someitmes Mala.
Why isn’t Obama doing anything? Why are there not real changes?
Drig cartels, government, big farming industry and politicians… What they are doing to these people is just a new brand of slavery. They use the immigrants for cheap labor, take their profits and buy off politicians and the media to keep the immigrants coming with very little chance of ever getting out of the system of … We more undocumented people being used for profit. The drug cartels, the Mexican government, the big farm people, everyone who employs these people or rents garages or shacks to these people make profit on the backs of the new “Brown Slavery”. The differences between this and the African slave trade is that they don’t have to pay to ship these people here and less of them die on the way. More profit. And then they shout “Viva la Raza!” as if they are FOR the immigrants. It’s a farce.
I know Sabrina
*SABINA, no “r” in it.
Apologies.