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.
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.
NEWS WITH NEZUA is a new feature, where I will wrap up the past week’s Latino-centric and Immigration-related news. I can’t promise it will be a consistent feature, though I will try my best. In this week’s news: Kennedy’s passing, White House stalling, 287(g) growing, MAPA marching, and Whirlpool Border-Hopping.
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.
THERE IS A LARGER PICTURE undeniably drawing itself in clotty bright blood across the imaginary maplines of this world. There is a cause and effect of which the US is ignorant, as is México, as is Canada. That is giving them the benefit of the doubt. One could assume far worse.
YOU KNOW what everyone is talking about! Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor! It is clearly a move intended to appease the aliens now hovering over the US, having breezed in from PuertoRico Planet—okay that’s not true but sometimes the lunacy in “political dialogue” makes me want to take a trip off-planet…
THE NATIVIST LOBBY HAS INSINUATED ITSELF into the media dialogue on immigration to all our detriment. They create a false boogeyman of danger and parasitism, and promote the impression that the only response is a harsh, punitive one doled out in cuffs or a cell. The results of the February Bellingham raids are in, and put the lie to this screech of extremist thought.
LABOR GIANTS SEIU AND A.F.L.C.I.O have come to an accord on the fight for immigration reform and today proudly told the press of the unified effort, one which will seek, “finally, a principled public dialogue” and one, according to SEIU, that “does justice to our heritage as a nation of immigrants.” Get the link to the Nezua-notated liveblog of the call in this post.
PRESIDENT OBAMA MAKES IT CLEAR that he will, indeed, tackle immigration. Even in the face of the opposition that stands today. Including a path to legalization for “millions” of undocumented workers already part of the system. What’s that sound? Sanity?
In the modern world, borders do not separate families, nor commerce, nor soldiers, nor bank accounts and their owners. And NAFTA has allowed Mexico’s corn crop to be so devalued that Mexico—the land where the plant was born roughly 5,000 years ago—now imports corn, forcing streams of campesinos to migrate north…where we lock them up.
THOUGH WORKING TO CLOSE Guantánamo, peppering his speech with talk of law and order, and restoring US image to the world abroad, Obama still risks muddying up his accomplishments with a blatant hypocrisy: we cannot lead the way on liberty or justice when investing in detention systems from Arizona to Iraq.
LAW OUGHT TO MATCH IDEAL. If Law means anything at all, it is because it is a symbol of Truth. On this week’s Immigration Wire, we examine approaches to immigration that do nothing to synchronize real-life America with the America in songs and storybooks.
IT WAS 1991. Grunge rock was blowing up the world, and I had just fallen in love with Trent Reznor and Layne Staley for real. I lived on South Queen St. and was rooming in a house in a city in a structured living environment type situation with cats from all over. We weren’t on television.
HERE IS THIS WEEK’S VIDEO complement to the TMC blog I wrote Thursday. Articles covered include the many actions being taken across the nation as people demand movement on this issue. Also, I speak on why we need immigration reform and now. There will be a YouTube version, but from now on there will be a window of time after I post videos on the XOLAGRAFIK site.
THE GENOCIDAL MOVEMENTS by imperialist colonialist powers against the indigenous all over the world—at least where they might be living in lands with rich resources or access to them—rolls on, and on, and on. A few words from Russell Means, Lakotah Indian.
House of Nezua
the XOLAGRAFIK theater!
