The disorderly immigration protest rallies of 2006
This is a spinoff page that was a large subsection on
the Immigration page. In order to make
pages load faster — all over this web site — sometimes I split larger pages into
subsections that deal with specific issues.
This problem has several causes (in my opinion, be it ever so humble). First, the immigration issue
was allowed to take its own course for many years, and it got completely out of hand. Now that
there's talk of sealing the borders, the people who are here illegally already are raising a
fuss. Second, it's too easy to come to this country, give birth in a free public hospital,
and get on the welfare gravy train. And third, Spanish-language broadcasting makes
illegal immigrants from Mexico (and other countries to the south) far too comfortable.
Multi-language facilities make assimilation unnecessary and irrelevant.
The latest: Remember
Those Massive Illegal Immigrant Rallies? For years America has drifted away from assimilation,
which has become an unspeakable word among the cultural elite. Instead, we are told that we must
recognize and celebrate the diversity of various groups without demanding any compromise from them.
This has hurt immigrants more than anyone else because many have become isolated in cultural ghettos without a
proper command of English, the American political and legal systems or American history and culture.
Few at immigration
rally. The estimated 2,000 people who showed up fell significantly short of the 10,000 that
organizers had hoped for and came nowhere near the more than 100,000 who jammed downtown streets
April 10.
How The Broadcast Networks Promote
Illegal Immigration. Spurred by a passionate public outcry against the tide of illegal
immigration, on December 16, 2005, the House of Representatives passed a bill to curb the flow of illegal
aliens and give the federal government more responsibility for detaining and deporting them. On that
night, ABC, CBS, and NBC didn't cover the vote. But when left-wing advocacy groups for illegal aliens
organized large protests against the House bill in the spring, as the Senate considered its own immigration
bill, the networks suddenly, fervently discovered the issue and gave the advocacy groups not a mere soapbox
in the park, but a three-network rollout of free air time.
No Leniency for Illegal Aliens.
The protests in some cities by thousands of illegal aliens are a stunning reminder of how shameless the lawless
have become. It is bad enough that they came illegally and have no right to be here, but imagine their
audacity to demand rights! What is even more troubling is that there are politicians who will kowtow
to such brazen displays of impudence.
Racism gets a
whitewash. Few things make liberals more uncomfortable than being confronted with the racism
of politically correct minorities. … Well, this weekend, militant racism from another protected
minority group was on full display. But you wouldn't know it from press accounts that whitewashed
or buried the protesters' virulent anti-American hatred.
Only more chaos will
preserve order. The "debate" over illegal immigration has become a contest to see
who can hurl the most emotional taunts. This is the "civil" debate George W. Bush
asked for. The illegal-immigration lobby has cast the argument as between the friends
of the working poor, the sick, the halt, the lame and cherubic little children on one side,
with Tiny Tim lifting his little voice (in Spanish, of course) with the invocation that "God bless
us every one," and on the other side, Scrooge and his crabby malcontents, eager to consign the poor,
sick, halt, etc., back to the hell whence they came.
Assimilation is the real debate.
Hypocrisy and paradoxes abound when it comes to illegal immigration. … This past week, thousands of
Hispanic demonstrators, fearful of strict new immigration laws, chanted "Mexico" and for some reason waved
the flag of the country they fled from and most certainly do not want to return to.
Assimilation
is the key. Fear that the newest batch of immigrants from Latin America can't, or refuse
to, be absorbed into the cultural, social, and economic mainstream of American life drives much of the
anti-immigrant sentiment so prevalent today.
Whose country is
this? Why are many illegal aliens who broke our laws to get here and who continue to break
our laws to stay here, demanding that the United States not only allow them to remain, but support them
with the taxes of law-abiding citizens? Have we gone mad?
Illegal Immigration:
From late March to early April, hundreds of thousands of illegal Hispanic immigrants reminded Americans they
may yet suffer a wave of violence like that which left Paris burning and the authorities wondering why their
ill-conceived invitation for Muslims to immigrate to France exploded in their faces.
Marchers say gringos, not
illegals, have to go. While debates about guest-worker programs for illegal aliens take
place in the corridors of power, in the streets of America's big cities no amnesty is being offered by
activists calling for the expulsion of most U.S. citizens from their own country.
Students From More Than 20 Schools Continue
Protests. Despite school lockdowns and rainy weather, thousands of students
from nearly two dozen Los Angeles campuses rallied again Tuesday [3/28/2006] against proposed
immigration reforms, and some clashed with sheriff's deputies in Carson.
Thousands rally nationwide for
immigrants' rights: Congress is considering bills that would make it a felony to be
illegally in the United States, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and
erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border. The proposals have angered many
Hispanics.
Mexico North? As one of
those American rarities — a Los Angeles native — I looked at recent, mainly Mexican
protests against proposed restrictions on illegal immigration with more than just outrage over lost U.S.
sovereignty. I was also reflexively examining aerial photos to pinpoint where in L.A. those hundreds
of thousands of Mexican-flag-waving demonstrators were marching.
It Really Is an Invasion. Let's daydream a
little. Suppose that we were all shocked to learn early one Sunday morning that hostile foreign troops
had landed at, say, Virginia Beach.
Flag Waving
Banned at Colorado School. Dozens of high school students protested a temporary school policy
forbidding students from displaying the U.S. flag — as well as flags from other
countries — amid racial tensions following immigration rallies.
Civil
rights? How about lawlessness? Many claim that what lies beneath reform efforts is raw racism,
leading to the view that the recent protests signal a new civil rights movement. It's simply not
true. This nation's civil rights movement of the 1960s broke the back of white supremacy that prevented
black Americans (who were citizens) from enjoying the rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution.
Thousands Rally for Illegal Aliens
in NYC. Thousands of immigrants formed a line stretching more than a mile long
Saturday [4/1/2006] as they marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, waving flags from more than a
dozen countries as they demonstrated against possible immigration reform in Congress.
Are we French
yet? For a moment, I thought I was hearing student protesters in France. And that sound
alarmed me, and activated me on immigration in a way no economic arguments could do. I was hearing the
sound of governance by street protests and mobs.
Hundreds of thousands turn out for immigration
march in Dallas. Hundreds of thousands of protesters banged drums, waived U.S. flags and shouted
"Si se puede!", Spanish for "Yes, we can!", in a rally urging politicians to pass immigration reform that
would legalize an estimated 11 million undocumented workers.
Immigration
"solutions": Activists who are organizing mass marches and demonstrations in cities
across America may well be congratulating themselves on the huge numbers of people they can get to
turn out to protest efforts in Congress to reduce illegal immigration. … [However] The Mexican
flags and the strident assertions of a right to violate American laws are a danger signal to this
society, as they would be to any society.
Who's behind all this?
Are Adults Organizing Student
Walkouts? Police say their efforts to keep kids in class Friday [3/31/2006] were tougher
at some schools because of adult activists that seemed to be encouraging students to leave campus. Action
News caught up with some of those adults who were sporting white armbands, but many refused to identify
themselves or explain who they were representing.
How
DJs Put 500,000 Marchers in Motion: Rally supporters, including immigrant-rights activists,
churches, and labor and community groups, agreed that the active advocacy of the region's top
Spanish-language radio personalities was critical in drawing the enormous crowds.
Editor's Note:
Broadcasters are to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity as
a condition of their station licenses. Inciting people to riot would
be a violation of that requirement.
NYC Area
Rallies Have Distinct Democratic Flavor. The rally in New York, organized mostly by labor
unions, was one of dozens taking place across the country, marking what immigration reform supporters
dubbed a national day of action for immigrant justice. … It is estimated that of the more
than 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, nearly 500,000 live in New
York City, and another 400,000 live in New Jersey.
Rally organizer tied to Marxist
party. One of the key organizers of the immigration protests and rallies nationwide, including
yesterday's in Washington, is a group whose leaders are tied to the Workers World Party, a Marxist
organization that has expressed support for dictators Kim Jong-il of North Korea and Saddam Hussein
of Iraq.
Domestic
Terrorist Group is Behind Immigrant Rallies. ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), a
front for the communist/socialist Workers World Party, which was identified by former FBI Director Louis
Freeh as a "domestic terrorist group," is behind the immigrant rallies taking place around the nation.
Who Funds Pro-Amnesty ANSWER
Group? Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), one of the groups involved in
promoting the planned May Day protest and recent rallies of illegal aliens against the House
immigration reform proposal, has strong ties to the Marxist World Worker's Party but maintains
a low profile by operating through an unassuming 501(c)3 group whose funding sources are
difficult to trace.
The Pro-communist Makeup of a
Key Immigration Boycott Organizer, A.N.S.W.E.R.. On April 20th-23rd [2002] tens of thousands
of radical activists converged on Washington, D.C. … According to the Establishment media, [they] were
mostly determined idealists, opposed to globalization, the war on terrorism, and U.S. Middle East
policies. In truth, the motley mob of militants was led by a coalition spearheaded by the
Communist Party, USA and a coterie of veteran extremists hardwired into the global terror network
(as well as the Soviet KGB and Cuban DGI) for decades.
Unions Played Key Role in May Day
Rallies for Illegal Immigrants. Organized labor since the mid 80s has moved away from its
historic opposition to high levels of immigration. Whereas union leaders for decades had
believed — and with more than passing evidence — that a huge influx of unskilled workers
from abroad drives down wages, they have come to view immigrants as the salvation of the labor movement.
This
immigrant rights march is brought to you by Miller. Marchers had to duck into fast-food
restaurants for water when they first took to Chicago's streets in support of illegal immigrants five
months ago. … This time, as demonstrators march from Chinatown to House Speaker Dennis Hastert's
Batavia office this weekend, they will have Miller Brewing Co., as a sponsor.
Miller's
bitter beer face. Miller has been handing out tens of thousands of pesos, um, dollars to militant
organizations, such as the more than $30,000 for planning, materials and advertising for the Labor
Day "Immigrant Workers Justice Walk" in Chicago, reports the Chicago Tribune.
A confounding
alliance of unions and illegal immigrants. It was billed as the biggest act of civil disobedience
in Los Angeles history — rivaled only by Californians' defiant use of appliances during peak hours back
in the days of the energy crisis. In reality, it was street theater in three acts with a confusing
plotline. Thursday's march [9/28/2006] encouraged unionization of hotel workers at the Hilton near
Los Angeles International Airport, coupled with a call for amnesty for illegal immigrants. Or, to
put it plainly, unions demanded higher wages for workers, while throwing their weight behind an
immigration movement that drives wages down.
At Columbia, Students Attack Minuteman Founder.
Students stormed the stage at Columbia University's Roone auditorium yesterday [10/04/2006], knocking over
chairs and tables and attacking Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minutemen, a group that patrols the border
between America and Mexico.
"Mad as
Hell" Coalition Tells US, "Do What Mexico Does". A conservative advocacy group is speaking for
Americans who think illegal immigration is out of control and ought to be stopped. … Freedom Alliance
analyst John Dougherty said it's ironic that protesters are demanding rights for illegals in the United
States that illegals don't have in Mexico.
Immigration
and the law: If the Department of Homeland Security were doing its job, it would have
joined the Immigration and Naturalization Service, checking identification and employment records
for at least some of the millions demonstrating for citizenship in recent days. I thought
illegals were afraid to show themselves and preferred the shadows for fear of getting
caught. No more.
Illegals need
refresher course in law. The nationwide protests are usually described as a reaction to a
House of Representatives bill that would make it a felony to live here illegally or assist those who
do. … Yet to watch the majority of marchers and their advocates is to realize that the protests
are not aimed only at the House bill. They are aimed at the rule of law itself.
Why don't we
protest? While thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters converge in major
American cities waving Mexican flags and signs in Spanish, polls show the vast majority of Americans
opposed to their demands. So why don't we protest? Why not simply show our strength and
wave the American flag and signs in English?
Immigration
protesters need to articulate their goal. If you are appealing to Americans to give you the
rights and privileges of citizenship, it is not a very good idea to hail Mexico, and an even worse idea to
hold up signs such as "This is our continent, not yours!" and "Honkies are illegal aliens too."
Immigration
madness: There is only one group of people with less credibility on the immigration issue
than Washington politicians. It is the illegal immigrants protesting violations of their "rights"
while parading the Mexican flag and disrespecting the one symbolizing the great nation from which
they're demanding favors.
Just What About 'Illegal' Do They Not
Understand? Like many others, I watched television as the protesters waved their Mexican
flags, then changed those flags to American flags, then yelled "Si Se Puede," then yelled "Yes, We Can," then
demanded the same rights as American citizens, then said they were Americans. Well, no, they are
not. When someone breaks the laws of this country to enter it, for whatever reason, whether it is
to work, or obtain free medical care, free food, welfare, a driver's license, and reduced college
tuition, they are still not Americans.
Illegal Immigration Is Not a Civil
Right. Liberalism's delusions have reached their most ridiculous extreme in the protests by
illegal aliens. It was ridiculous enough that American liberals thought they were entitled to things
that other Americans had worked for and earned, but now America is being told that illegal
aliens — people who have no right to be here at all — should have the
rights of citizens.
Postmodern "Rights" en Los
Estados Unidos: With last month's mass demonstrations of illegal aliens, the United States
has entered the era of postmodern rights. The protesters looked like conventional rights demonstrators,
with their raised fists, chants, and banners. But unlike political protesters of the past, the
illegal-alien marchers invoked no legal basis for their claims.
Se habla
entitlement. The recent pro-immigration demonstrations around the country have been a
major turnoff. There is something not convincing about illegal immigrants demonstrating to claim
they have inalienable rights to come here, be here, work here, become citizens here … and make all
these claims in Spanish.
Illegal immigrants must
agree to close the borders and assimilate. In their hurt and anger, the initial televised
marchers carried Mexican flags and shouted about ethnic pride. This only turned off tens of millions
of American viewers, who scoffed in response, "If Mexico is so great, why come here in the first place?"
"The Great American Boycott" of May 1, 2006:
I didn't notice anything unusual that day, except that the freeways were a lot less
crowded. Maybe they should have a boycott every Monday.
May
1 protest aims to "close" cities. Pro-immigration activists say a national boycott and marches
planned for May 1 will flood U.S. streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty for illegal
immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as it debates reform.
The Editor says...
It is no great coincidence that the protests are scheduled for May 1st. International
Workers' Day or May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist,
communist, and anarchist groups.*
Why May Day?
May 1 is the date for the "Great American Boycott of 2006" calling for the legalization of millions
of illegal aliens. Couldn't a better date have been chosen — one not tainted with the image of
communist May Day celebrations from Moscow to Havana? "On May 1, the world working class
displays its strength in demonstrations and strikes," explains communist writer Andy McInerney in the
Spring 1996 issue of Liberation & Marxism.
It won't just be Latinos
marching. Muslims and Arabs feel that their civil rights are slowly eroding with legislation
such as the Patriot Act, but when they march on Monday, they are mostly doing it in support of their Muslims
and non-Muslim Latino friends. … There are about 250,000 Filipinos in the United States who have
"overstayed" their visit by not extending their visas. … There are 5,000 to 7,000 undocumented
immigrants from Ireland [in the Chicago area].
Raid
Rumors Spark Fear Among Immigrants. Rumors of immigration roundups have prompted thousands of
illegal immigrants to stay home this week and are making some afraid to participate in a national immigration
protest planned for Monday [5/1/2006].
[Good! Criminals should live in constant fear. I hope the rumors are true.]
The backlash has begun, even before May 1st.
May Day
March is Likely to Backfire on Protesters. If the folks who want to allow illegal immigrants
to become legal residents and eventually citizens are lucky, the planned May 1 general strike to
pressure Congress in their direction will be a bust. That's because even more than mass demonstrations,
the work, school and shopping boycott is likely to backfire — pushing public opinion toward stricter
border security without making it possible for such immigrants to remain in the United States legally.
A Day Without Illegal Aliens? It's a
Start! May 1 is going to be "A Day Without Illegal Aliens." This is supposed to
frighten you. Why? Because you are an American — weak, pampered, spoiled and allegedly
incapable of taking care of yourself. You need the illegal alien servant
class just to survive.
Heartland uprising: Homemakers
for America founder and president Kimberly Fletcher knows when she got passionate about illegal
immigration. It was when she turned on the television earlier this spring to see illegal
immigrants on the news marching with Mexican flags. "When you see people marching in the streets
encouraging others to be truant, disrupting traffic, vandalizing property, yelling out anti-American
comments, waving Mexican flags in aspirations of becoming citizens of this country — that
tends to get people upset."
Be sure to visit SOS Borders, a web site which offers
this sound advice: "We know Americans are frustrated and even angry at what has been going on the last
few weeks but please remember that the Nation is watching you as you rally and we must take the higher
ground if we want to be heard."
More backlash: The great American
turnoff. When supporters of illegal immigration threaten to boycott all stores, it makes me feel
like shopping. When I see TV reporters interview demonstrators, who announce that they are undocumented,
I can only surmise that illegal immigrants have nothing to fear from immigration authorities.
A Day
Without an Illegal Immigrant. What would a day without illegal aliens really be like?
Let's try to imagine it. On May 1, millions of illegal aliens working in meat-processing plants,
construction, restaurants, hotels, and other "jobs Americans won't do" are supposed to stay home from work
to show the importance of their labor to our nation's economy. Doubtless, there will be some
inconvenience if that happens, but there is another side to the story that is not being reported.
Does Multiculturalism
Really Ring True? It is an outrageous insult to the rule of law that something like
12 million people are illegally in our country, with every night bringing more. However,
illegals are just part — and perhaps not even the most important part — of the
immigration debate. Most public conversation centers on two things, security and economics. I
propose that non-assimilation is a greater threat to our culture and way of life than either. Further,
the implications of this subject go well beyond Americanizing new arrivals, whether legal or not.
The 'May Day' Immigration
Protests: On May 1 scores of illegal immigrants and their facilitators will stage economic
boycotts to complain about congressional efforts to enact meaningful immigration reform. Protest
organizers insist that they "will settle for nothing less than full amnesty" for the estimated 11 million
individuals that illegally reside and work in the United States.
Post-boycott news and analysis:
Few
restaurants closed during boycott. Many immigrant-owned taco stands and a few fast-food outlets
were closed on Monday, but most U.S. restaurants reported no shortage of busboys and cooks despite a national
boycott and major protests by pro-immigration activists.
Counter-protesters
make their voices heard. Counter-protesters at the immigration march in downtown Orlando stood
in the hot sun Monday to make their own voices heard. And the message, by in large, was illegal immigration
is hurting America.
Defining immigration: Protesters in Dallas
were fervently waving American flags (with a few Mexican flags peppered in) on May 1, but only 1,500 showed
up compared to the 350,000 to 500,000 who showed up for the April 9 demonstration. The downturn in
support disappointed rally organizers and surprised media pundits who predicted the boycott would cause serious
problems. In most cities, migrants simply went about their work.
Rallying immigrants look ahead.
Sign after sign carried through Chicago streets on Monday [5/1/2006] during a massive immigrant-rights rally
said: "Today we march, tomorrow we vote." ... [But] numbers of protesters don't equal numbers of
voters: Immigrants, legal or illegal, can't vote. Only immigrants who are naturalized US citizens
have that right, and among eligible Hispanic voters, turnout rates have traditionally been low.
The people
spoke; but what did they say? I knew these Hispanic marchers, all 6,500 of them by early estimates,
were making a strong statement about immigration reform. But I wasn't quite sure what their main beef
was. Did they want the United States to turn its back on the fact so many of them were here in this
country illegally? Did they just want to be left alone to collect their minimum wages and go on with
their modest but productive lives? Did they even want to learn the English language?
Primo de Mayo: In endorsing
the proposed May Day strike by all illegal immigrants and their political allies, the Democrats in the
California State Senate may have thought they were taking a principled stand "about the tremendous
contribution [illegal] immigrants make on a daily basis to our society and economy." Ironically,
however, by supporting the boycott, its proponents have called for an action that will succeed only in
producing a significant backlash against the cause they purport to advance.
Immigration and Assimilation. The
demonizing of immigrants by some in the name of either protecting our sovereignty or fighting the war on terror
is as unconscionable as the specter of illegal immigrants marching in the streets, waving foreign flags and
burning ours while demanding rights they supposedly deserve for having flouted our laws in coming here.
The Lesson of Uno de
Mayo: Uno De Mayo has come and gone with none of the predicted effects -- no drastic
plunge in retail sales, no nationwide economic earthquake, the only businesses shut down the ones
that agreed to do so beforehand. But still we're assured the marchers have "made their
point". We can probably be excused for thinking that the point would have been made
if only three marchers had bothered to show up.
Protest marches in 2007:
Hundreds rally for immigration reform in
Houston. As police officers blocked traffic along the route from Immaculate Conception Church
to Mason Park, the marchers blew whistles, banged on drums, and chanted through loudspeakers as they carried
U.S. and Mexican flags, and a variety of banners.
Immigration Spring.
Yesterday's May Day immigration demonstrations dominated cable TV, but they were more sound than substance.
Illegals
Marching Again?Issuing New Demand. After their 2006 Communist May Day march, illegals and their
handlers are at it again. They have resumed their "we want our rights" march. 1 May has
become the illegals in the US new protest-against-the-US-and-its-"European"-population-day. Last year,
the illegals carried Mexican flags, flew the US flag upside down at half-mast and demanded US citizenship.
… This year, the illegal aliens are not only demanding immediate US citizenship but that the US stop
arresting and deporting them.
Stupid
Protest Marches: A Mexican Cultural Thang? Millions of illegal aliens from Mexico marched
through American cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas etc. to demand citizenship and all benefits
accruing thereto. Many were even foolish enough to carry the Mexican flag and signs reading 'Yes we Can,"
in Spanish. Keep in mind we are talking about criminals who, by law, should have been rounded up and
kicked out of the country.
What Part of 'Illegal Immigration' is Confusing?
[On May 1, 2007] hundreds of thousands of immigrant-rights supporters marched the streets of major cities throughout
the country demanding rights such as citizenship for the more than 12 million illegal immigrants who are
currently in our country. The illegal immigration issue has always elicited strong emotions from many
people but there is something fundamentally wrong with the idea of rewarding those who have broken our laws
with something as precious as citizenship.
Shortage of Farm Workers? Why Not Use
Protesting Illegal Aliens? To begin with, growers should not hire illegal aliens. To do so
is a violation of U.S. laws, and is a major reason why America is saddled with upwards of 38 million
illegal aliens right now. Secondly, how can there be a "shortage of workers" in a nation that is
overwhelmed and overrun by illegal aliens? For example, just last spring, Americans were horrified at
the sight of huge crowds of illegal aliens marching through our streets to protest the rule of law.
Document location http://www.akdart.com/immig2.html
Updated May 15, 2008