\n| Image: Favianna Rodriguez<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n On March 21<\/span>st<\/sup>, 2010, I joined
\nover 200,000 others and marched on Washington
\nto pressure President Obama to make good on his promise to pass comprehensive
\nimmigration reform that would create an earned path to citizenship for
\nundocumented immigrants. I could detect a change in the air. The immigration reform
\nmovement had, up until then, been very hopeful of the new President and trusted
\nthat the machinery of democracy would lead to a positive outcome. But I could
\ntell that there was more anger, militancy and disillusionment with Obama. For
\ngood reason.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Deporter-in-Chief<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s early 2012, and not only has the
\nadministration failed to live up to its promise, but it has deported over one
\nmillion people in its first three years. In comparison, the Bush administration
\ndeported 1.57 million people in its two full terms. There is no denying it:
\nBarack Obama has been an utter disappointment on immigration reform. On this,
\nas well as many other issues, he has used the same playbook: kowtowing to right
\nwing pressure in the hopes that his political opponents would eventually
\nconcede to modest legislative change. As a result, he has alienated both his
\nbase and a Republican Party that stonewalls at every turn. <\/span><\/p>\nNowhere is
\nthis more apparent than in the immigration reform struggle. The right wing has
\ndone a masterful job of stirring up racial and class anxiety, and linking
\nimmigration to the already toxic debate of \u201cThe War on Terror.\u201d Thus, in the
\nmainstream media, the term \u201cillegal alien\u201d has morphed into \u201cpotential
\nterrorist.\u201d Additionally, conservatives have drummed up false fears about \u201clack
\nof security at the border\u201d despite the fact that, according to the nonpartisan
\nBureau of Justice Statistics, crime rates in the Mexican border states are actually lower than in the
\ninland states. Finally, \u201cillegal aliens\u201d have become the perfect scapegoats for
\nan economy that has been rigged for the 1 percent for at least 30 years of
\nvoodoo, \u201ctrickle down\u201d economics.<\/span><\/p>\nThe results
\non the ground have been devastating. Immigration raids have continued in
\nworkplaces and homes, expanding the war on civil liberties. We\u2019ve seen an
\nexponential increase in deportations, separating families without due process
\nor judicial review. Increased militarization of the border has included the
\nhiring of private military contractors and the use of unmanned drones.
\nMeanwhile, Republicans have pushed for more stringent laws, such as Arizona\u2019s
\nSB1070, which urges law enforcement to apprehend anyone who \u201clooks like an
\nillegal alien,\u201d Alabama\u2019s HB 56, which would deny public utility access to
\nundocumented people, and Georgia\u2019s HB 87, which would make it illegal for
\ncitizens to give undocumented people rides.<\/span><\/p>\nImmigrants for Sale<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThe immigration detention network is
\nessentially the newest face of the prison industrial complex. In the wake of Arizona\u2019s SB1070, NPR
\nreported on the collusion between legislators and corporate interests to write
\nthe law. The story detailed meetings between Arizona State Senator Russell
\nPearce (among others), the prime sponsor of SB1070, and a secretive industry
\ngroup called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) which includes
\nthe Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group, both large
\nprivate corrections industry players. The bill provides a steady flow of
\nundocumented immigrants to CCA and other detention corporations, leading to
\nhigh profits. This law and similar state laws are broadening the definition of
\n\u201ccriminal immigrant,\u201d leading to record numbers of detentions, to the corporate
\nglee of the corrections industry.<\/span><\/p>\nGlimmers of Hope<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThe administration\u2019s current failure on
\nimmigration is due to its unwillingness to separate the immigration issue from
\nthe national security issue and its inability to re-frame immigration in terms
\nof the humanitarian crisis created by repeatedly breaking up families and wasting
\nthe energy and potential of undocumented youth who want nothing more than to
\ncontribute to this country. However, immigration proposals being pushed by the
\nDemocrats (like the DREAM Act and an earned, arduous path to citizenship for
\nthe undocumented) are actually supported by the majority of US citizens. Thus,
\nthe legislative impasse is mostly due to political timidity, a lack of vision
\nfrom the Democratic Party and the recalcitrance of the Republican Party.<\/span><\/p>\nThankfully,
\nunrelenting pressure from grassroots activists like the young DREAMers and the
\nreality of growing Latino voting power has pushed the administration to move in
\nthe right direction. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security declared
\nthat it would engage in deportation case reviews with the goal of nullifying
\ndeportation orders of undocumented immigrants with family ties and no criminal
\nrecords. Young people who would be eligible for the DREAM Act would also
\nqualify for cancellation of removal. These moves give slight hope to the
\nimmigration reform movement that bolder steps might be forthcoming.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\nAly is a Senegalese immigrant activist and member of the <\/em>Peace Newsletter editorial
\ncommittee. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [img_assist|nid=200|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=151|height=202] Image: Favianna Rodriguez On March 21st, 2010, I joined over 200,000 others and marched on Washington to pressure President Obama to make good on his promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would create an earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. I could detect a change in the…<\/p>\n Learn More<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"template":"","class_list":["post-10208","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/10208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |