On 7/5/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I think that at this point, if people cared and weren't completely focusedYou make my point, Miriam. Why don't Americans care? Well, they do.
on their self interest, they could have an impact on what is happening in
our country. Yes, they're being manipulated and yes, the government is
powerful. But the fact is that people don't care. They don't care about
immigrants being turned away from our borders or being imprisoned. They
don't care about children being kept in cages, being separated from parents.
They don't care about what our country is doing to other countries. If they
cared, they'd be rioting in the streets. They'd be pounding on the doors of
their legislators. They'd be talking about it spontaneously in their day to
day conversations. Everyone who isn't talking about it, signing petitions,
making phone calls, protesting, is complicit. Handing over responsibility to
the ruling class and then sitting back and saying that we can't do anything
because they're running things is giving permission.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2018 6:51 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Amnesty for all immigrants in the US! No
deportations!
When I read the article, I was struck with the thought that the working
class has been neutralized to a point where it is like an old, toothless
dog. Maybe it can gum you into submission, but probably not. Anyway, at
the top of the heap we have little impact. Even if we are involved in all
the ways you mention, we still have no say in the course our nation takes.
Of course once a decision is made, like taking children away from their
parents, there are people desperate enough for work who would jump at the
chance.
But they don't have a say in much of anything at all. Like the house slaves
back in the days when America was Great, they lord it over the field slaves.
But they have no say in the running of the plantation.
But in order to keep their superior life, they would stand alongside Massah
and brutalize their fellow slave.
Anyhow, I'm tired today. I slept about two hours and finally got up about
2:30 and cleaned the kitchen. Wore myself out. Sat down at about a quarter
to five to listen to Democracy Now, at 5:00, and fell asleep and missed the
entire program.
Part of me feels that I'm spending far too much time slopping about in
Trump's Swamp, and part of me says that my problem is that there is no light
at the end of the tunnel.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/5/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I can't imagine what you mean. The working class was surely involved
and is involved in all sorts of ways. The working class in those
central American countries is profoundly involved. They're the ones
who were affected by what the US did and is doing. They're the
immigrants. They are the fighting people our military trained. Their
children became the child soldiers who turned into gang members. And
our working people are involved. They are the guards in the private
prisons and the ICE employees who are imprisoning immigrants and who
are stopping people at the border. They are the people who don't want
to lose their jobs and therefore, support the US immigration policy. 47%
of our population is supporting Trump right now.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2018 3:16 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Amnesty for all immigrants in the US!
No deportations!
Too bad the working class doesn't have a dog in this fight.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/5/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There's an excellent episode of Moderate Rebels today which gives
some good history of what is happening now: what the US did in
Guatemala and El Salvador in the 1980's, Clinton's immigration policy
in the 90's, the US backed coup in Honduras in 2010, how the US
government is responsible for the formation of the criminal gangs,
and finally, the Trump monstrosity.
There are details of what Obama did with unaccompanied minors, lest
we forget.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2018 1:51 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Amnesty for all immigrants in the US! No
deportations!
https://themilitant.com/2018/06/30/amnesty-for-all-immigrants-in-the-
u
s-no-deportations/
Amnesty for all immigrants in the US! No deportations!
As I See It
By Seth Galinsky
Vol. 82/No. 25
July 9, 2018
Demonstrators in Chicago, May 1, 2006, march demanding amnesty for
all undocumented workers in the U.S.
Militant/Rollande Girard
Demonstrators in Chicago, May 1, 2006, march demanding amnesty for
all undocumented workers in the U.S.
Debate over the U.S. rulers’ immigration policies jumped back on the
front burner since Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ May 7 announcement
that from now on there would be “zero tolerance” of “illegal”
immigration. Not only could those caught without papers be deported,
they could also first face prosecution and jail even for
misdemeanors, such as first time “illegal entry.” This led
immigration cops to take children to shelters, separating them from
their parents who were detained to face charges.
Previous administrations also separated parents who faced criminal
charges under immigration law from their children. But prosecutions
for misdemeanors — and thus the number of separations — were far fewer.
The Socialist Workers Party demands: Amnesty for all immigrants in
the U.S.!
No deportations! No raids!
By June 20, more than 2,000 children had been taken from their
parents and placed in facilities across the country. Photos and
recordings of crying children — including some that were
misidentified as being of children who were separated — were used to
focus on the issue.
Some liberals and the left used the attention to bolster their
“resistance”
campaign to oust Trump at all costs. Liberal California Congresswoman
Maxine Waters urged people to take action against representatives of
the administration, saying that everyone should “absolutely harass them”
wherever they go.
Some liberal media bosses ran pictures of children locked in
cage-like cells, claiming they were taken this year.
But some of the most appalling pictures they published were actually
taken under the Barack Obama administration’s detention of
unaccompanied minors in 2014. These pictures highlight the continuity
of the U.S.
rulers’ immigration policy.
11 million without ‘proper’ papers
On June 20 President Donald Trump — who claimed he opposed the
separations, but wanted Congress to vote for an overall immigration
policy, including funds for a wall on the Mexican border — ended the
policy.
But the single-minded liberal-led crusade targeting Trump as somehow
especially evil and focusing only on the children leaves the 11
million immigrants in the U.S. who don’t have “proper” work papers
and who live with the daily possibility of deportation out of the
debate.
They’re not mentioned in the so-called immigration reform bills
currently before Congress nor by those who claim to speak in the
interests of the immigrants.
Neither the current administration, nor previous ones, has any
intention of deporting all but a small minority of immigrants in the
U.S. without “proper” papers. Far from wanting to get rid of them,
U.S. capitalists depend on undocumented labor they press to work for
less to compete more successfully against their rivals.
Under the impact of the uptick in production, trade and hiring in the
U.S.
and Mexico, and the tightening up of the U.S.-Mexico border, many
bosses in the U.S. are facing a shortage of labor. To make up for the
decline — at least in part — more than 200,000 H2-A short term “guest
worker” visas were awarded in 2017, up from 77,000 in 2011, a 159
percent increase.
The so-called guest workers have fewer rights than U.S.-born workers.
If they are fired or quit, they can be deported. Capitalist bosses
are pushing the government to grant more of these visas.
But they still need millions of undocumented workers.
The goal of the rulers is to instill fear in these workers and to pit
foreign-born and U.S.-born workers against each other. They seek to
maintain a source of cheap labor, to use immigrant labor to keep down
the wages of U.S.-born workers, and to divide the working class and
undermine its ability to organize the unorganized and fight
capitalist exploitation.
That’s why demanding amnesty for all 11 million immigrants in the U.S.
and for an immediate end to deportations is a life and death question
for the working class and our labor unions.
Millions win amnesty in 1986, 1990
The fight for amnesty has been won before. In 1986 then President
Ronald Reagan pushed through Congress an immigration law that made
undocumented workers who entered the U.S. before 1982 eligible for
amnesty. Nearly 3 million people got amnesty.
But many spouses and children of immigrants who qualified for amnesty
were excluded, leading to protests over families being divided.
In 1990 President George H.W. Bush signed a law to cover those in
this position and granted amnesty to another 1.5 million.
In 2006 millions of immigrant workers took to the streets to protest
the Sensenbrenner bill in Congress that would have made it a felony
to be in the U.S. without a visa. They carried placards that said,
“We are workers, not criminals,” demanding amnesty. On May 1 more
than 1 million went on strike, shutting down hundreds of factories
and businesses across the country.
Not only did these actions force defeat of the federal legislation,
they won tremendous respect from fellow workers. Following May 1,
more and more immigration raids were met with protests. U.S.-born
workers often helped co-workers hide or escape. President George W.
Bush suspended the raids in mid-2008.
Today there is less prejudice against immigrant workers than ever.
Immigrant and native-born workers work and live side by side all
across the country.
The changing attitudes among U.S.-born workers can be seen in the
response to a government raid April 5 at Southeastern Provision
meat-processing plant in Bean Station, Tennessee, one of a handful of
new workplace raids the administration has undertaken.
In 2016 some 77 percent of the surrounding county voted for Trump.
After the raid, residents of nearby Morristown, where many of the
workers live, raised
$60,000 for those who were detained. A number of U.S.-born residents
joined an April 12 march through Morristown where participants
carried signs saying, “Families belong together,” “No more deportations”
and “Immigrants make America great.”
A sustained, labor-backed battle for amnesty would find a powerful
response.
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •Cop charged with murder in killing of Antwon
Rose •'Puerto Ricans will never give up struggle for independence'
•Amnesty for all immigrants in the US! No deportations!
•'Militant' fights new round of censorship in Florida prisons
•2018 Active Workers Conference: Build labor movement, build SWP
Feature Articles •Rising interest rates tighten debt squeeze on US
farmers
Also In This Issue •Auckland protest demands protection of Maori land
•London march marks 1 year since Grenfell Tower fire •Rail bosses
press for longer freight trains, less workers •Ivan Licho’s ‘Militant’
cartoons exposed capitalist rule •Books by Thomas Sankara spark
interest at Harlem festival •Crisis in Puerto Rico caused by colonial
control, capitalist rule
Editorials •Liberals' harassment crusade is threat to rights workers
need!
On the Picket Line •UK hospital workers wage second strike, call
further action •Ukraine rail workers fight for job safety
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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