Immigration Protests Continue

My thoughts:

I'm all for immigration, but we need controlled immigration, especially in this era of greater risks from terrorism. Control the borders, and know who is coming in. However, this idea of deporting hundreds of thousands, & perhaps millions of people is a fantasy. Racist Republicans have dug themselves a hole on this one, and I am enjoying watching them sqirm in pain, lol. They have drawn this line in the sand, now they have to deliver on tough legislation or else be viewed as failures for backing down...so they have really boxed themselves in. Also, Republicans are under pressure on one hand from their corporate backers who need the cheap labor, but they are also under pressure on the other hand from more traditional, race sensitive Republicans from their traditional base (the South and rural Midwest) to keep immigrants out. I'm enjoying seeing these Republicans implode on this one.

What Americans should understand is that the current Immigration debate is more about style than substance. Members of Congress want to appear as though they are doing something about this issue in an election year. They don't intend to actually deal with the problems and fix them.

The plans offered by the House of Representatives and by the U.S. Senate, both would leave hundreds of thousands of people who would need to be deported.
Fact is, the U.S. does not have the stomach to deport tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants. Even if they wanted to deport people in large numbers, they don't have the resources to do so . So this whole debate is phony in my opinion....possibly designed to distract the publics attention from other issues.

But if the Congress really wants to deal with this problem they must look at it from a security perspective...something that they really have not done. So far, motives have been racial and economic. Think about it... Most of the 19 hijackers who gave us 9/11 came into the country through the normal, legitimate process... they didn't run across a border. It was U.S. immigration entry policy that was exploited. Most of these problems still exist. The student visa program still exists... The same vulnerabilities are still there..this is why we have a high ranking member of a terror group- the Taliban...a stated enemy of the U.S., attending Yale University. What happened to that discussion? I don't see the issue of bad entry policy at the center of the debate. Why not? this is the real issue.

Conservatives are raising the immigration issue and using migrant workers as an excuse to pass legislation that will reflect their racist views. The migrant issue is a smoke screen. If they were really concerned about the immigration issue and really concerned about national security they would work to pass a real, comprehensive bill that would address the real issues (hire more immigration workers to support any legislation that they pass), protect the borders, and that would offer a REALISTIC approach to the undocumented immigrants who are already here.

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Thousands march in protest of immigration policy


By SAM SKOLNIK, JOHN IWASAKI AND ANGELO BRUSCAS

Thousands of protesters swamped downtown Seattle Monday afternoon to protest American immigration policy, which could be on the verge of being historically altered by Congress.
Seattle officials estimated that at least 15,000 people -- more than twice the number expected -- took part in the rally associated with the "National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice."
The group marched from St. Mary's Church in the Central District to the Federal Building downtown. The protesters, who filled a several-block-long playground behind the church, was loud and spirited but uniformly peaceful. As of 5:45 p.m., police reported no arrests.
"Si se puede!" the crowd yelled, which in English, that means "Yes, we can!"
The march was part of a series of protests in cities nationwide. The groups timed their rallies to try to impact bills moving through Congress.

Continue reading ....from the Seattle Post