May Day Rallies

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Socialist Action may 2010 5 my administration to closely monitor the situation and examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation. But if we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country.”

In other words, act “responsibly” and adopt the Schumer proposal, or else expect more Arizona-type disasters. Nevertheless, with the standard capitalist politician’s double-talking, maneuvering, and backtracking, Obama told reporters late on April 28 that he was taking the issue of immigration reform “off the table.”

Apparently, Obama saw that on his left the grassroots opposition to any more repressive anti-immigrant laws, be they from Arizona or from Schumer, would make it hard for him to carry through his fake “immigration reform.” But on his right, the racist extremists oppose any law that would grant legalization to the estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the United States, drawn here by and being successfully exploited by the U.S. capitalist economy.

Certainly the Schumer “blueprint” is just as bad, if not worse, in terms of police-state measures than the new Arizona law. For example, it calls for a biometric identity card for all workers. Both Hitler and Orwell’s Big Brother would have loved something like that!

The New York City Immigrant Communities in Action statement nails the duplicity of Schumer and his supporters: “Proposals such as Schumer-Graham are tacitly in agreement with the xenophobic and racist sentiments that have led to hundreds of hate crimes against migrants and the passing of Arizona’s SB 1070. We do not accept the ‘pillars’ put (continued from page 4: “Debt crisis in Greece, Wall Street corruption rock capitalist markets”)

demia and the NGO world are calling for breaking up the banks, a middle-class fantasy).

Trumka, however, pleaded with the banks “to start paying back for the damage caused by their risky actions:

Stop fighting Wall Street reform. Stop acting like what happened to our economy was some kind of accident. … Take some responsibility for what you did.

Call off the lobbyists. … Stop speculating and start lending. Take responsibility for the clean-up of the mess you made. Pay your fair share of the cost of creating the jobs you destroyed.”

A fine lecture, but one whose moral will certainly be lost on the billionaires. Instead of trying to shame the bankers, labor needs to demand access to their books to see where the money has gone. Such a demand would be part of a program demanding—not pleading—that the banks’ assets be put to use creating jobs for evmarks before anyone in the country illegally can become a legal permanent U.S. resident. Obama praised the outline and said the next step is ironing out a bill. He said his administration will ‘play an active role’ trying to get bipartisan supporters.”

The general situation on the eve of May 1 was well described by the ICA’s April 27 statement: “Last week as Arizona became the focal point of the immigrant rights struggle, Senator Schumer clearly articulated the heart of his ‘blueprint’ for Comprehensive Immigration Reform—more of the very same dangerous, anti-immigrant criminalization that was passed as SB 1070 in Arizona.

“Across the nation, the last month has turned into one of the most historic moments for the immigrant rights movement in the U.S. As the worst anti-immigrant law was signed in Arizona, millions across the country are gearing up to pour out into the streets again on May 1, to call for real immigration reform.

The principles necessary for a genuine discussion were laid out earlier this year in the Open Letter of the Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network. The Open Letter states, “… [W]e are proposing a different approach to discussing Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We need to generate a national debate based on immigration as a labor mobility and human rights issue, not as an issue of national security and enforcement.

“Immigrants have made vast contributions to the United States, and they ery worker needing one, regardless of how much it costs. And the capstone of such a program would be the nationalization of the banks should they resist these demands.

At the height of the mortgage securities scandal, some liberal pundits called for nationalizing the banks— not for the benefit of workers, but as had previously been done in Western Europe, in order to save the system for its current rulers.

The only thing stopping labor from demanding nationalization on workers’ behalf is a leadership that, in contrast to the fighting spirit displayed in Greece, is too frightened of its “partners” on Wall Street and in Washington to do more than plead.

But we can be sure that the next phase of the crisis—coming sooner than the media would have us believe—will usher in a new round of questioning among workers, and an openness to discussing more radical actions and solutions. n At least 70 U.S. cities held events for immigrants’ rights on May 1. Los Angeles saw 100,000 march, and around 30,000 rallied in Dallas.

Dave Bernt reports from Chicago: “This city had its largest immigrants-rights march in several years—about 20,000 people. The march was led by immigrant youth with t-shirts that declared, “Undocumented! Unafraid!” A lot of banners and signs focused on Arizona. Labor was highly visible.”

About 20,000 marched in Tucson, Ariz., and over 4000 in Phoenix. Minneapolis saw two marches totaling 4000 people join together at the Convention Center, where the annual Republican Convention had just ended. San Francisco had a rally of 3000 people, with 4000 in Oakland. New York saw 5000 rally in Foley Square—with another, smaller rally in Union Square. n should be granted the right to live here legally and without fear. We should recognize migration as the global phenomenon it is and address the root economic causes of migration.”

The Open Letter outlines seven basic points to guide the national debate around immigration reform. These include ending all economic policies that leave people in underdeveloped countries with no choice but to emigrate; providing a clear and easy legalization program for undocumented immigrants; eliminating guest-worker programs and increasing labor protections for all workers in the U.S.; stopping the raids and militarization of the border; and ending E-verify and other programs that lead to mass firings. (Read more at www.grassrootsimmigrantjusticenetwork.blogspot.com). The historical background At Tucson’s May 1 Gran Marcha and rally, the Coalición de Derechos Humanos distributed a flyer that explains that SB 1070 is the direct and intended result of border enforcement strategies that began when NAFTA went into effect, in 1994, under the Clinton administration. “Building an unprecedented militarytype enforcement infrastructure, these strategies have intentionally funneled most migrants through Arizona’s southern border. By diverting more than half of all migrants, who had traditionally crossed through California and Texas, into a very conservative state, where the federal and local governments own most of the border land (thereby avoiding the community fightback that occurred along the border in Texas), the stage was set for the eventual passing of SB1070.”

Over the past 15 years, one byproduct of this deliberate funneling of undocumented immigrants into the dangerous and inhospitable Arizona desert, has been (Left) Demonstrator at immigrantrights rally in San Francisco, May 1.

death by exposure to heat and thirst for at least an estimated 5000 immigrants, including many children.

The Derechos Humanos flyer explains that the increased number of crossings through Arizona “caused division and chaos in the border towns, allowed for the influx of hate groups and other antiimmigrant groups, opened the political space to racist and intolerant voices, with mainstream media feeding the climate of fear … The Minutemen and other anti-immigrant groups proceeded to poison attitudes across the country, resulting in the spread of fear, racism, hate, ignorance, and anti-human policies that other states have replicated or are in the process of replicating.”

Of course, the corporate-owned media and the twin capitalist parties, the Democrats and Republicans, either promoted the hate message from the Minutemen types or did nothing effective to counter it. Certainly these instruments of capitalism did not try to explain how their own policies had created the difficulties.

It’s appropriate to conclude this article with the final paragraphs of the Derechos Humanos May 1 flyer: “SB 1070 is the most racist law in recent history, allowing for the legalization and institutionalization of racism, their version of ‘ethnic cleansing.’

“We know that migration is not a law enforcement or national security issue, that we [the U.S. government and the parties of Big Business in the past] have encouraged migrants to come to this country to build it, that [U.S. government and corporate policies] have helped to destroy jobs in Mexico and elsewhere only to blame the very victims/survivors who migrate to work and provide for their families, that [as a result, these policies] have created and enriched smuggling organizations, [which then become an excuse for] the unprecedented buildup of policing and military-type enforcement along the border and in the interior of our country.

“With this law, the stage is set again for even more drastic calls for more ‘security.’ Our laws and policies have brought only insecurity—deaths, division, intolerance and ignorance, environmental destruction, and abuse of indigenous communities.

“We call for the repeal of SB 1070, an end to the enforcement strategies on the border and in our communities, and an end to criminalization of the immigrant. We call for a real dialogue based on truth, addressing the root causes of migration, and promoting justice for all.

“We call for a commitment of noncompliance with SB 1070, and ask for the commitment from all allies and people of conscience to boycott Arizona in every possible way. ¡Todos somos Arizona!” n”