FEATURING the Netroots Nation 2010 Immigration Checkpoint mock ICE action.
A group of friends and myself staged a mock immigration checkpoint where we racially profiled European immigrants and their descendants, and required them to show papers that proved they had a right to trespass on native land. Some were puzzled, many laughed, and a couple were furious. What made the difference in these reactions?
IN WHICH NEZUA IS TURNED AWAY from the Canadian border after a long anticipatory bus ride to visit a friend in Vancouver.
OBAMA AND THE TIGHTROPE. Zeituni in the cold. Hypocrisy in the land of anthems. The power of youth…ignored. A shout out to Cuéntame, the soothing nature of certain samenesses, and the creeping chill of ICE.
IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS, President Obama speaks but “Thirty Eight Words” on Immigration Reform and judging from more than one source in the blogosphere, they weren’t extremely inspiring. Others were happy to hear immigration reform mentioned at all in the SOTU. But combined with the inaction so far on immigration reform, many activists and organizations are feeling daunted.
WHAT IS 287(g)? Unless you are familiar with immigration legislation or follow the dialogue, you may not be entirely sure. I wanted to comment on the issue, as well as provide a basic introduction and so for this week’s News With Nezua, I tackled the 287(g) provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
INADVERTENTLY OR PURPOSEFULLY, intention matters not: On the matter of immigration in this land of immigrants, the “Left” and the “Right” perversely both adopt (to differing degrees) a conservative scarcity-model frame punctuated with the barbs of xenophobia and/or racism.
LIKE A FAVORITE CHESS GAME, the White House plays with its constituency, with it’s Latin@ constituency, with its pro-migrant constituency. Their actions show not a preference for humanitarian or People-centric legislation, but one for prison profits.
FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE UNDOCUMENTED…. but anyone who studies history knows what comes next. If you and I allow Them to be abused, we lose. I write of the ballooning Constitution-ignoring para-police agency named ICE.
AS WE MOVE CLOSER AND CLOSER to enacting immigration reform, the situation on the ground is evolving as well. Nothing is static for an issue that touches so many people across so many communities. This week’s wire follows up on trends observed last week: holding mainstream media accountable, enforcement tactics, and immigration’s positive effect on the economy.
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION seems quite capable of centrist positioning on many issues, including immigration reform. While some argue centrist position allows Obama to effectively reach consensus, immigration reform is an issue that he cannot play sides with.
NO MATTER WHAT your position on immigration law happens to be; no matter how many generations your family has been rooted in this soil, these kinds of abuses are unacceptable. Treating our fellow humans in these ways simply is not, as they say, American.
A VLOG featuring various headlines on current Immigration News. Border Guards sentence commuted, violence in Mexico now even disturbing economic bloggers, Immigrants and allies march on ICE headquarters—with original footage of the march itself.
I’VE BEEN FOLLOWING NEWS FROM MEXICO for a few years now, and as I’m sure you know, most US media ignores Mexico, and to our detriment. This is baffling to me because our cultures, our land, our labor, and our peoples are so intertwined as to be two parts of one whole. It is easy to forget this in the midst of much rigid talk of maps, borders, and walls. But reality is knocking at our door.
IS THE USA a nation of cheating the system any way you can, getting paid to lie and be a hypocrite while taking advantage of those in need? Or is this a nation where a day’s work is worth a day’s pay, and a dream strapped with motivation is worth honest regard and reward?
IT IS OBVIOUS that an arm of the State or behavior of the State that the citizenry would normally recoil from—something like anti-constitutional raids, profit-driven prisons, cruel conditions of mass-detainment, or simply denial of rights sown by a machine made of corrupted legal processes—will first be enacted upon the Other. What’s next? Reality TV, of course!
House of Nezua
the XOLAGRAFIK theater!
