New Haven Independent

Posted by: bob | May 2, 2007 9:34 AM

Why dont papers report on this kind of thing before it happens so that people know whats going on in the city and can take part. Its a little late the day after.

Posted by: Lakshmi | May 2, 2007 12:51 PM

Disingenuous comparison by Zinn. The Israeli wall was built to keep exploding teenagers from reaching their human targets. The Berlin wall was built to keep people IN as prisoners of Communist tyranny.

Why would a worker be "undocumented," unless he was working in violation of US law? The human being may not be illegal, but the action is.

Posted by: Bill Saunders | May 2, 2007 7:37 PM

While I only caught the tail end of Zinn's speech, his final call for a resurgence of genuine activism and civil disobedience fell far short. Mr. Zinn tried to make a comparison between churches providing sanctuary for draft dodgers during the Vietnam era, and churches providing sanctuary for illegal immigrants facing deportation in the present day. I fail to see the similarity. The first case involved American citizens who had a legitimate grievance with their government, being put into a situation not of their own making. The second instance involves, citizens from another country, who knowingly and willingly violated our sovereign laws, being well aware of the possible repercussions. These two different realities should not be rewarded in the same way.

If people want to come to this country to work, good for them. There are procedures on the books to accomplish this end.

Last I knew, there was something called a green card, though I can't recall ever hearing about it in this ludricrous Illegal Immigration debate.

Posted by: nfjanette | May 3, 2007 4:23 PM

Note the continued attempt to redefine reality by the selected use of language on the part of the left-wing press. Instead of properly calling the people involved illegal immigrants, they become the less clearly illegal "undocumented workers".

Also note the continued attempt to merge both legal and illegal immigration issues under one banner, "immigrants rights". One group has rights; the other does not, and should be stopped from illegally entering this country at the borders.

Illegal immigrants will always face legal as well as illegal (bad landlords and employers) persecution; the only way to protect the rights of immigrant workers is for them to be here legally. There are, no doubt, many very hard working, honest people that deserve the chance to make it in this great country - but they must commit to full integration into American society including the use of English as the common language and the only language that the government should support.

Immigration reform must occur, but it must include a comprehensive study of the impact upon the city/state/country in terms of the cost of services (education, etc.) as well as the job market for native citizens. Subsidizing the lowest paid jobs given to illegal immigrants by instead paying for support services for legal residents that can't get those jobs is no bargain, except for the businesses that like the access to the cheapest labor.

Posted by: Molly Wheeler | May 4, 2007 11:31 AM

Bob and others that are interested,

We did our best to get the word out before the May Day rally- we hung flyers all over the city, contacted the press with press releases and even drove around with speakers on a car with multilingual messages regarding the rally. I'm sorry the word didn't reach you, it's certainly a constant struggle to get the word out on these activities. If you and others would like to get involved, you can contact Unidad Latina en Acción (Latinos United in Action) and get involved with us. We need to keep the momentum after the May Day rally and it's getting harder and harder. Last year there were thousands on the streets but the current illegal raids and deportations are effectively scaring/silencing people and the popular media is not reporting them. It's also important that we continue to inform people that it is the policies of the United States that make life in Mexico and so much of Latin America so difficult.

If you would like to be part of the struggle for immigration rights, please email ulaccion@yahoo.com. We will happily get in touch with you.

In peace,
Molly

Posted by: KAMB | May 8, 2007 11:29 PM

I like how these ILLEGAL immigrants are now called Undocumented workers. Undocumented, they're ILLEGALLY here. There should be a rally and ship building party to send them back where they came from. Unreal.