Tuesday, May 4, 2010

LatAm speaks out against Arizona immigration law

Last week we mentioned that the Mexican government expressed their disappointment with Arizona’s new law that requires immigrants to carry documents verifying their status. Mexican president Felipe Calderon described the measure as a gateway to “intolerance, hate, and discrimination” while a travel advisory was issued for Mexicans in Arizona.

Other governments and figures throughout Latin America have also criticized the Arizona decree. The Colombian government warned that "the mutual trust between citizens and authorities should not be damaged by exclusionary measures." The Brazilian Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming that the law violates the “rights of millions of foreigners who peacefully live and work in the United States.” In a declaration issued today by the UNASUR at their summit in Argentina, the bloc emphatically rejected the “criminalizing of immigrants” under the Arizonan law. Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza said that the law has caused a “terrifying affect among the Hispanic population and the rest of the U.S.”

Meanwhile, several Latino celebs have joined the backlash against the controversial measure. Comedian Carlos Mencia blasted the law as a potential “violation of civil rights” while Shakira called the law “unjust” and “inhuman”. Ricky Martin criticized the edict at last week’s Billboard Latin Music Awards and Gloria Estefan was one of the estimated 50,000 marchers at a Los Angeles May Day rally.

The debate over the law even led to a minor Twitter “spat” last week among Canadian rockers:
Montreal indie group Stars turned to Twitter to voice their alarm and threatened to boycott the state. Damian Abraham, the formidable lead singer for the Toronto punk outfit F---ed Up, responded by saying, "Don't get me wrong, I think the AZ immigration bill is horrible and must be repealed but I also think that indie bands boycotting the state is inane."
Image- CBS News (“Marchers for immigrants' and workers' rights pause in front of the Minneapolis Convention Center where the State Republican Party had their convention over the weekend, in Minneapolis Saturday, May 1, 2010.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Colombia Reports, Straits Times, Telam, ABC.es, examiner.com, Digital Spy, AP, LAHT, CBC

4 comments:

Benito said...

I will tell you what I have seen these last few days I saw our beloved Stars and Stripes flag, the flag from Mexico and some flags from other countries. I saw children, parents and grand parents together in solidarity, my people the working class, they may not be sophisticated but they got the message heard. From publish reports the demonstrations included both US citizens and undocumented workers. This brought me a smile because I always enjoy seeing brothers helping brothers.

This reminds me of a parable from the good book where a Levite and Priest come upon a man who fell among thieves and they both individually passed by and didn't stop to help him. Finally a man of another race came by, he got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy and got down with the injured man, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the "I" into the "thou," and to be concerned about his brother.

You see, the Levite and the Priest were afraid, they asked themselves, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"

But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

As I see it, we should stand-up against a law is passed in anger and is against our Constitution/ Bill of Rights/ Declaration of Independence and is targets a specific group.

God bless all my brothers and sister that stood side by side with our brothers and sisters in need. When our judgment comes I know God will not discriminate by country of origin as men do.

Defensores de Democracia said...

BOYCOTT ANHEUSER BUSCH (Cindy McCain's beer; number 1 business in AZ), especially Bud and Bud Light. If you must drink beer, drink Dos Equis or Miller - Boycott John McCain, Sarah Palin, etc ...


Immigration Talk with a Mexican American
BOYCOTT! Why it Works! Why it will work Fighting the White Nationalists who support SB1070!
By Dee from Texas
Tuesday, May 4, 2010


http://immigrationmexicanamerican.blogspot.com/2010/05/boycott-why-it-works-why-it-will-work.html



Boycott! A Powerful Term! A Powerful Action. Ghandi knew it. Martin Luther King knew it. Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerte knew it.
....................

All Humanitarians and lovers of Freedom, Justice and the American Way realize the inhumanitarian and racial profiling SB1070 is wrong. It was wrong when Eisenhower imposed Operation Wetback in the 1950s and it is wrong today.

When I was a little girl, when my mom listened to the news, she always said a prayer. I asked her, "Mom, why are you saying a prayer?" She prayed that the name of the perpetrator was not Latino. I asked her why. She said, "Because for us, when the criminal is a Latino, then they make all of us guilty." That was in the 1950s. As a small child, I was not aware that Operation Wetback was going on in the Southern States.

Now, with SB1070, what many are calling Operation Wetback 2010, the same Fear Mongering environment is occurring. I can feel it. I can see it. It is happening all around us. The ANTI Immigration Reformers are utilizing their scare tactics to inhibit distrust and fear against ALL Latinos. When I listen to the news now and a Latino happens to be the perp, I get a chill and hear my mother's words in my ear. I myself am starting to say a little prayer, "Please don't let it be a Latino."

Do you know what I find interesting is, the same thing doesn't happen with Northern European ethnicity. The news announcer says, "Scott Peterson was just arrested for murdering his pregnant wife..." (Insert BTK, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, on and on ad naseum) and no one says, "Oh no. We gotta get rid of the White Guy." But insert a Latino name, like Gomez, Lopez, Medina, etc., then suddenly, heads are turning, whispers start whispering "....oh those illeegals. We need to get rid of them." The same thing is happening with the Robert Krentz murder and the deputy shooting: "Oh those illeegals. We gotta get rid of them."
..........


During the Civil Rights boycotts, the bus boycotts lasted over a year. The boycotts were met with violence and harassment. Dr. King's home was bombed. But he responded with, "We must learn to meet HATE with LOVE." The bus boycotts lasted over a year. It eventually took the United States Supreme Court to support Civil Rights and end the boycotts.

Boycotts work! When Arizona refused to recognize the Martin Luther King holiday in the 1990s, it was a BOYCOTT of the state that convinced them to approve the holiday.

A Peaceful Boycott of Arizona WILL Work! All opposers to the racial profiling bill should BOYCOTT Arizona. Join the Facebook Groups Boycotting Arizona. "1 MILLION Strong AGAINST the Arizona Immigration Law SB1070" and other like groups. Stop visiting Arizona. Stop spending in Arizona. Do not spend your dollars with any Arizona company. Do this for the world to see. If we Boycott Arizona, the world will see the impact on their economy. Perhaps then they will realize that they cannot racially profile Latinos. They cannot treat us like 2nd class citizens. They cannot treat us with disrespect.

One more thing. Tomorrow, on Cinco de Mayo, BOYCOTT ANHEUSER BUSCH (Cindy McCain's beer; number 1 business in AZ), especially Bud and Bud Light. For tomorrow at least, if you must drink beer, drink Dos Equis or Miller or some other beer or wine.

Raciality.com

Vicente Duque

Anonymous said...

What are the immigration laws in the relevant Latin American states? Perhaps the blog's authors could do a little research on that, in order to make a legitimate comparison.

Anonymous said...

You pendejos always get it wrong. If you want latinos to make more money in the USA, get rid of the wetbacks and mojados just like CESAR CHAVEZ used to tell us, call the migra on those stupid SCRAPS who work for less than they are worth. Send them back to wherever they came from and force their governments to stop spending their money on drugs, drinking, and prostitution. End the corruption in their countries and they won't have to come here and make me work twice as hard for half the pay.

Chicano tired of all the BS!!!

Boycott BUD, are you insane, they stood up for the Chicano when Coors was being the racist company...learn your history pendejo!!!