I also heard that many SF restaurants will be closed on Monday!

Talk about 'A Day Without a Mexican'

Grace Davis
State of Grace
BlogHer Contributing Editor
Member, Blogher 06 Advisory Board

I'm so glad you're going, Liz. Give a cheer for me. I'll be there in spirit.

You can check http://nohr4437.org for rallies, marches, and coordinated strike info from all around the U.S., by the way!

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Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
Badgermama - personal & mommyblog
http://liz-henry.blogspot.com

Now if we could just get other law breaking elements to come out to the street and identify themselves, law enforcement would be a piece of cake. Identifying who is hiring illegals will be trivial on May 1st. A list of companies shut down by the absence of illegals will provide notification for where raids should be conducted by the INS. Thanks.

I'm thinking there should be a protest for drug dealer's rights, and may be a take a gang member to work day. Come on out. Show everyone who you are. We appreciate it.

Illegal residence in Mexico is a felony. When will this group be protesting there? I'd like to record that march on video. Let me know when a location and date is scheduled.

One point of such a strike, Debi, is for people to realize how much of the economy would come to a standstill if everyone "illegal" were arrested and deported. It is only one day, so you might not feel it. But many people will. According to the L.A. Times, at this point 1 in 20 jobs in the U.S. is done by someone without the papers to work.

An estimated 7 million of the 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States are employed, meaning about one in 20 U.S. workers is illegal.

About illegal immigration into Mexico, there are problems all the time on the Guatemalan border, and a lot of tension and bigotry (and oppression) from upper class Mexicans around that issue. I would bet that there will be marches and actions against the Mexican government. Maybe you have not noticed the political problems in southern Mexico and the anti-globalization movement there? Otherwise known as the EZLN? But the way you phrase your question makes it sound like you view "Mexicans" as a sort of monolithic block. So perhaps you have not thought that Mexico has its own class war. Just as we have one here - and just as here, that class war is deeply linked to racism.

I would like to point out that your thoughts seem to associate illegal immigrants, gangs, and drug dealers. I think you left out "terrorists". 8-P

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Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
Badgermama - personal & mommyblog
http://liz-henry.blogspot.com

Well, it will be an interesting day I'm sure. You're right though. It won't impact my life in any significant way. And of course there are always unintended consequences.

Of course, you're not trying to put words in my mouth. You wouldn't use such an irrational and lazy argument tactic, I'm sure. You might want to read the post again as it doesn't mention a people. It refers to a government and it's law. If you equate all illegals in the US with only Mexicans, then the question of race is one that you might ponder for yourself.

Well, yes, I was kind of steamed up, and then trying to be polite and brief and "not to go there"... It's a really hard discussion to have when people disagree so fundamentally!

Even just how to frame the discussion is daunting. Is it "about" race and class? About concepts of ethics and fairness? Or law - not what is the law and what is legal, but what should the law be? What are the negative effects of criminalization of things that might should not be criminal? What collective responsibility does this country have for the chaos in particular other countries? Is this about business and globalization... or about questioning the validity of nationalism? Is it about civil disobedience and people's right... and duty... to engage in it?

There's a lot to talk about in there, and I do get pretty worked up about it, hot tempered, etc. Both of us are outspoken and passionate so it's no wonder we get mad.

For me it is a combination of all those issues but boils down to: if your country... this country... were torn apart by war, exploitation, corruption, poverty... what would you do? Would you expect everyone to stay? What if it were a question of your and your family's survival? What would you expect from people in other countries, vs. from those in your own country? Would you have a duty to stay in "your own" country and maybe die trying to fix things? Why would the ethical thing to do start and stop at political borders?

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Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
Badgermama - personal & mommyblog
http://liz-henry.blogspot.com

My country is struggling with corruption, war and a disregard for the laws that have until recently allowed peoples to join in forming a union which respects the law. The country is headed by leadership that has done much damage. This issue is a tactic in societial and voter disharmony.

The Republicans benefit at the ballot box when the nation is divided. So they've carelessly set us opposed to one another with the use of moral, ethical and social issues. They've create conflict for the purpose of disunity in the opposition party and left those conflicts unresolved to simmer and stew. The potential for chaos is building. I'm worried about my country. There is so much attention placed upon those things which separate us that it's becoming more difficult to recall what unites us.

Issues used to divide us and prevent us from uniting on the more critical national issues like the shifting economy, the environment and war are easy enough to list.

1)Abortion
2)Religion
3)Gay Marriage
4)Illegal immigration

Our divison allowed Bush a second term. Playing the country like an instrument, Republican strategists have called to issue our beliefs, set them in conflict and walked away. Dangerous business if you ask me.

As to criminality, coming here is not where the illegal behavior ends for those who start illegally. Those coming for work must purchase forged documents, commit fraud and/or falisfy documents themselves to work illegally. So it's not a simple matter of merely crossing the border. Any of those acts would land you and I in jail. Further, 30% of the US prison population came to the US illegally. You want to break the law? Go ahead. Just be prepared for the consequences, such as, losing your job, being deported or maybe going to jail.

I'm terribly disappointed in US citizens who don't realize that rewarding illegal behavior is against the fundamentals of a nation state founded on the principle of law. How do you explain to the immigrants who have waited sometimes for 10 years to come to the US legally that some can break the law and come ahead of them? A friend of mine waited 7 years to enter the US legally from Lebanon.

As for responsibility, we have the responsibility to hold our law makers accountable for policy. The citizens of the US are not required to bribe or otherwise pay off the citizens of another country who have chosen to abdicate their own responsibilities and flee here.

You suggest that "we" in the US should be responsible and change our own country for those who have not been responsible and changed their own countries. Mexico is corrupt. That explains the plight of its citizens more than the policies of the US which have included forgiveness of debt and the $50 Billion in the 1990s to stablize the peso. Those loans were paid back in full.

To suggest that the US is wholely responsible for Mexico's woes is merely inaccurate. And such a focus is to play handily the Republican game of distraction.

He stole a loaf of bread, and was imprisoned for 19 years as a thief.

These illegal immigrants are not stealing bread, they're working to buy bread. What's "illegal" about them is not what they do -- which we pay them to do, I might add -- but that we cannot admit that we have done this.

Sure, Mexico is incredibly corrupt. Is that their responsibility? Is Dick Cheney's graft your responsibility? Is that really the problem here? Let's face it: While Canada's border was open for all these years, and made more restrictive only years after 9/11, Mexico's border has been officially closed -- with underfunded and ineffective enforcement, but "closed" nonetheless. Do we lay that at the feet of a corrupt government? Do we lay a corrupt police state at the feet of their peasants?

Or do we admit that this country -- our country -- has a big problem with race?

Does anyone really believe that we'd be having this discussion if these illegal immigrants were white? This is part of a long, rich tradition in the Republican Party -- blame poor black women, blame poor Hispanics, blame all Arabs for all our problems.

Meanwhile, who seems to be managing to keep doing better and better? The ruling classes in the mega-corporation boardrooms, who also happen to be running the government. (Gotta love that revolving door.)

This whole issue is a made-up effort by the right wing to pander to the worst impulses of their base constituents, appealing to their racism, their xenophobia, their fear. Nativism is nothing new in America. But those times have never been our nation's proudest moments.

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MediaGirl

I'm struggling with trying to understand a peripheral issue - though I am open to hearing that it's beside the point. Can someone please explain to me why "we" are not also going after employers of illegal immigrants? From my local paper this morning:

Some big businesses are shutting down operations, corporate spokesmen said: Six of 14 Perdue Farms plants will close; Gallo Wines in Sonoma, Calif., is giving its 150 employees the day off; Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, will shut five of its nine beef plants and four of six pork plants.

If our gov't is so key to crack down on these workers, could they not penalize the folks who are so eager to employ them? We're not talking Modest Joe's House Painting here, we're talking TYSON FOODS.

Understand this is not my position. In my attempt to grasp the underlying issues, it seems to me this critical component of the illegal worker discussion is AWOL.

Nerd's Eye View

It's Monday. I'll be walking the dogs and packing for a trip. Most I'll be buying is bag of dog food for the boarder. Except that my one tire is a little low. Gee, it's got a nail in it! Can't get it fixed because Big "O" has nobody to fix it, but they do put enough air in it to get the dogs to the park and PetSmart.

The "check engine" light went on at park. Did I mention that I usually get my car serviced at big "o"?? I can't call them for an appointment because they closed after lunch.

sigh. I woke up this morning thinking my only inconvienence would be the traffic jam on the freeway from a mudslide.

Debra
A Stitch In Time
Simple Still Life