In Seven Days You Can Help Defeat Anti-Immigrant Bigotry

I ran Across this great post by Eric Ward over at imagine 2050 . Eric provides six online actions that each of us can take to counter the Anti Immigrant hatred found in the media and online. I urge All of you to take a minute to click on the link below and read this great post.

In Seven Days You Can Help Defeat Anti-Immigrant Bigotry

"Time is of the essence and we should use it wisely. Instead of writing what I think of anti-immigrant bigotry I’ve decided to use this week to take action. Below I’ve outlined an action for each day of the week. You can take a bite out of bigotry in less than five minutes a day! Let’s all join together and redeem the soul of America!"

“I felt like such a foreigner”

The text message stayed in my mind all afternoon. I had received it earlier in the morning. It was sent by my sister Gina, who is currently in Washington DC, studying at American University as part of an exchange program.

A foreigner. Gina who has been in this country since she was 14 months old. Months. Gina, who graduated Valedictorian, ran cross country, Interned at a bank, and goes to Santa Clara University. A foreigner. Gina, who danced ballet, who is a major in American Politics, who as a child loved macaroni and cheese. A foreigner.

This thought just doesn’t check in my mind. It’s like I am trying to place a cube block into a circle slot. It does not make sense no matter how hard I try.

What can I tell her? That this feeling of being an outsider will pass? That the nagging feeling, the one that tells you don’t belong anywhere, is temporary?

Should I tell her that as you get older, and the more marginalized you become, the worse it gets? How it seems as if more and more you are becoming detached from the culture you grew up in, the culture you love, only to be left with a muddled identity crisis?

How do I tell my younger sister, that despite the fact that she feels 100% American, she will never be 100% American?

I can’t

“Thanks to this shit, we feel like outsiders everywhere. It’s not you”

Mind Numbing

About one year ago I moved back to San Jose. I had gotten a call about a job prospect the night before, and drove up that following morning. The “interview” went well. “Do you speak English” yes. Ok you’re hired.

It was a warehouse position, and there were a total of four of us hired. A guy my age Just in from Guadalajara, A man in his 40’s from Mexico City, a 30 year old drunkard from god knows what part of Mexico, and a 30 something Ex -Con USC from San Jose.

The job was to last two weeks. It consisted of packing 40 pound SAN servers into cardboard boxes and then loading the boxes into stacks (2 wide x 8 high) on pallets, wrapping and tying the pallets and loading them into trucks. One person, one pallet. This was the work, and it was done from 8am to 6pm. Non stop, except for the 30 minutes we got for lunch.

While we worked, the four of them chatted, the older gentleman from Mexico City talked about his days as a carpet cleaner in Sunnyvale, while the guy from Guadalajara told us how he was a taxi driver back “home” but gas prices were killing his work. They asked about me. I was vague and rude. “Where are you from?” I’m from San Jose. “Why is your English so good?” I’ve been here a long time. “What do you do?” I work and you should too.

At first I would try to keep my mind busy. I spent my time thinking about derivatives, physic problems from the past or trying to look at the manufacturing process on the floor and see what I could improve. I even attempted to read my old text books at lunch time.

Yet I grew angry. At them. For coming here. For making the choice to cross, while I had no choice. At the ex-con. For taking his birthright for granted. At me. For slowly letting go. Towards the end of the two weeks, I was resigned. If this was what I was going to do, be a warehouse day laborer, a mojado, a wetback. Then so be it. No more shaving. No more worrying about how I looked. No more thinking. Just work. Keep your head down. and take it.

But it’s hard.

It’s hard because I am not a mojado. Because I did not make that choice. Yet I don’t feel American. Because I am only partially recognized by the country I love. So what am I?

this brings us to my next post.

Couch

We Got a couch. Yes. life is good sometimes.

DREAM Act should become real as soon as possible

Reposting an Article By the Tricity Herald editorial staff

"Imagine you are a child and your parents tell you the family is moving.

You may not want to go, and you probably don't fully understand why your parents want to leave in the first place.

But what choice do you have? You're just a kid.

So you go with your family.

Years later, you discover your family entered the country illegally. You also realize you and your family could be deported at any time.

But you've grown up in this new country. You've made friends. You've gone to school. You may have joined the school band or sports teams or even been elected class president. This is your home.

So you continue on and find a way to go to college. It's expensive and you make sacrifices, like nearly all college kids do, but for you there is no guarantee it will be worth it.

Sure, you can get the degree. But will you be able to use it?

Probably not.

This is the predicament for hundreds of young people, who through no fault of their own have an "illegal" status.

Comprehensive immigration reform is a huge, controversial issue that is likely to stagnate for years.

But there is a piece of it that could be sliced away to help these young people.

It's called the DREAM Act and it needs to become a reality as quickly as possible.

Under the DREAM Act only certain people who meet the criteria would qualify for conditional permanent resident status, meaning they could stay in the country legally for six years.

During that time, they would be able to work, drive and go to school on the same terms as other Americans.

They would not be eligible for Pell Grants or certain other federal financial aid grants. But they could apply for student loans and federal work study programs.

After the six years, they would be granted unrestricted permanent residency status as long as they didn't commit any crimes and didn't take lengthy trips abroad. They also must have either served in the U.S. armed forces for two years or graduated from a two year-college or vocational school or spent two years studying for a higher degree.

This proposed legislation is narrow enough to apply only to those illegal immigrants who entered the country as children, attended school and are on their way to becoming model citizens.

To qualify, the children must have entered the U.S. before their 16th birthdays and have lived in the country for at least five years. They need to have a high school diploma or its equivalent, or been admitted to college or some other institution of higher education.

Critics will say the DREAM Act is an end run around immigration reform. But it really isn't. It applies only to certain individuals who were too young to know they were breaking the law when they entered the country.

Some critics also might say the DREAM Act will attract even more illegal families to the United States. But that's not a certainty.

There are a variety of reasons people try to sneak into the U.S. Primarily, it's to find work.

And they usually get it.

They work in the fields and the factories and in menial jobs for low pay that most other Americans aren't desperate enough to want.

The United States has created a net of problems by not enforcing its immigration laws, and innocent children end up getting tangled in an unfair and flawed system.

U.S. laws are ignored to keep a cheap labor force. The country then welcomes all children into its education system.

We use tax money to educate illegal immigrant children through high school, allow them to earn college degrees and then offer no way for them to stay in the country legally. Should we send them away so another country can reap the benefits of their knowledge, skills and talent?

Where's the sense in that?

For most of these illegal students, going "home" means going to a country where they feel like a foreigner. Many don't have a support system to help them, as their family has moved away.

And if they are deported or voluntarily return to their homeland, under the current law they must wait 10 years to apply to re-enter the United States. Then they are put on a waiting list.

For the most part, these students are exactly the kind of hard-working, determined young citizens the country needs. Their lives shouldn't be put on hold because they were too young to know they were breaking national laws.

The DREAM Act would help them achieve their goals, and it would help keep the U.S. from wasting its educational investment.

Washington's two senators support the bill. U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings told participants at a recent town hall meeting that the issue ought to be part of a comprehensive reform package.

Immigration laws are in desperate need of an overhaul, but these deserving young people easily could grow old waiting for that to happen.

This is a piece of immigration reform that is doable. Hastings and the rest of Congress should get behind it."

worst (or best?) person of the Month

Wow.
It seems that King Minuteman Mr Gilchrist is thinking its not worth being "patriotic" a racist any more

But Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist said he doesn't hold much hope for the movement, especially from what's left of his group after years of infighting.

"The Minuteman movement has lost its mojo because of all this delusional mentality that has gotten into the movement… In our side of the argument they are all attacking each other," Gilchrist said, alluding to his legal wrangling with Coe and other former allies -- some who have formed new groups.

The slow disintegration of the Minutemen, he says mirrors the movement in general.

"I think amnesty will pass," he said. OCregister.com

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Educators For DREAM Act