Washblog || Seattle Immigration Rally 50,000 Strong: No Human Being Is Illegal

Seattle Immigration Rally 50,000 Strong: No Human Being Is Illegal

By noemie maxwell
Tue May 02, 2006 at 03:15:17 PM PST
Section: Washington State Topic: Immigration

The problems of immigration and globalization seem to me expressions of the same dysfunction -- our culture's inadequate valuing of the individual person and the unique qualities of each place on earth. Exploitive transnational enterprises move their operations from country to country, seeking the most favorable conditions for their business, using up the local treasure and labor before moving on to the next target. When individual people, struggling in a crazy world that arises from such practices try to move around to find their own favorable conditions, they are turned away or exploited.

Haven't we asked for people to come here and do our labor on the cheap? Our professional and manufacturing jobs pour out of our borders into other countries. Labor has been systematically undermined for decades by business and government till it lacks the power to demand fair wages. Isn't it natural that low-paid laborers pour in?

And isn't it fitting that so many who come here illegally resettle in the American Southwest, on homelands their ancestors lost when the US took them over? Surely, the prominent presence of members of the American Indian Movement at yesterday's rally was no accident.

To the diplomats in Arizona taking of illegal deals, why are you so hypocritical when we know that almost half of what was Mexico was illegally bought by the United States?

US Santa Ana was a Conquestee from France. He was not the President of Mexico or a Mexican. 1816-17 we were fighting our own independence with their own people and also fighting the French. The US took advantage and offered Santa Ana money for the Mexican land. Do you call this legal? By the way, are you going to sell Iraq the same way? The same way you buy a car from a thief and not from the original owner? The Mexicans R not asking for our land back. We're asking 4 the right to work the land that was stolen from us. Oregon, California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada ...
Partial text of two signs held up at yesterday's rally

As I sat on top of an electrical box at Fourth Avenue and Jackson yesterday and watched for 45 minutes as human beings poured past me, I knew for sure that this cause is just. And I wondered, what took so long for people to gather together like this?

Many thousands of people, I guess about 50,000, walked past with their signs and the flags of Mexico and the United States over their shoulders like shawls, carrying pictures of Martin Luther King, handwritten messages, and children on their shoulders, while news helicopters roared nonstop overhead. I had to work hard to keep from crying. For years I have been hearing news snippets about the suffering and deaths of people illegally entering the United States and their tribulations once they get here. But the news moves so quickly from one sorrow to the next that I can never seem to get my bearings. Yesterday gave me the opportunity to consider this cause in the words of the people who live it and in their presence. I feel very differently now, having had this physical experience of so many people walking past me testifying to their reality.

I want to share here some part of the collaborative statement that was made. I can't transmit presence itself, as I'd like to be able to do. But I did jot down whatever messages I could. The one that appears at the head of this entry was by a man named Jesus. It was written on two huge blue tarps with paint. Four men held it up on poles. I couldn't transcribe it all because, as Jesus described with a smile and a kind apology to me, they had to move on.

A number of these signs, for example, "no human being is illegal", or the Martin Luther King signs from last year's rally, appeared over and over. My translations (in parentheses) are iffy -- and the transcriptions probably contain errors.

Una Sola Causa. Un Mundo Mas Justo y Humano (one cause only, a world more just and humane)

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Now

Respeto Los Derechos Para Todos (respect the rights of all)

Do Not Criminalize Hard Workers

We Demand Because We Produce

We Are Not Criminals

I March For A Just Cause: Solidarity

Amnesty Now

Dignity For All

We Are Hard Workers We Need Legalization

America = Immigrants

We Watch Your Children. Are We Criminals?

Si Se Puede

Not A Terrorist. I Am Worker Taxpayer

Immigrants Are The Key To The US Economy

We Are The Backbone Of The Lowest Paying Jobs

Who's Going To Pick Up Your Cherries?

We Are Not Terrorists. We Are Not Thugs. We Are Hardworking People Who Love America.

I'm Not A Hardcore Criminal. I'm A Hard Worker

Justice For All Immigrants

For Those That Died On The Borders, We Will Continue To Work In Peace

(A black, crepe-covered coffin with the word "JUSTICIA" written on it in white, carried by two pall bearers)

Stop The Injustice

We Work Hard

To Work Is Not A Crime

No Borders

We Need An Opportunity

March For A Dream

We Are All Human Beings

The First Illegals Came On The Mayflower

If You Are Not Native American, You Are An Illegal Alien

In Memory Of The People Who Couldn't Accomplish The American Dream

No One Is Free When Others Are Oppressed

Equal Rights Are Not Special Rights

Who Work Hard? Hispanic People

Immigrants Built America. Immigrants Build America

Were The Pilgrims Legal When They Came To The US?

We Are America. Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights

Asian Pacific Islander Solidarity

Japanese American Citizen League

Stop The Racist Anti-Immigration Bills

Filipino American Political Action Group

Stop Indefinite Detention

Liberty and Justice For All

Defend Women's Rights

Statue Of Liberty Doesn't Say RSVP

We Are America's Future

No Human Being Is Illegal

West Seattle Neighbors For Peace And Justice

Immigrant Rights. That's Hot

Protect Worker Rights

You Need Us: Ustedes Nos Necessitan

Eximos Porque Producimos (we demand because we produce)

US Needs Our Labor. We Need Our Dignity

Trabajo Es Un Derecho (to work is a right)

Alto A Los Deportaciones (stop the deportations)

We Are Not From Mars

Let My People Vote

America. Land Of The Free, Home Of The Brave

This Is The Land Of Our Fathers

District Council # 5: Hazardous Waste Workers

We Are Not Here Advocating Violence

IFPTE Local #17

Legalization For Day Workers

Amnestia. Full Rights For All

King's Dream Is All Our Dream

We Are Students And Workers, Not Terrorists

America, You Are A Great Nation. Latino Familys You Are People Too

SEIU Local #6

ILWA

Somos Uno Porque US Es Uno (we are one because the US is one)

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project

American Friends Service Committee: No Human Being Is Illegal

No To HR 4437

We Want Justice

The Minute Man Are The Criminals And The Law Protect Them

No Somos Criminales

We Are All The Children Of A Common Mother

SEIU 775: For Living Wages, Good Benefits, And Quality Care

US Constitution Was Made By Immigrants

I'm Proud To Be An Immigrant, Aren't You?

El Centro De La Raza

We Support Communities. We Pay Taxes

Martin Luther King: End Racial Disparity Now

Peace And Racial Justice

Latino Liberation Movement

(Several people moved through the crowd with Israeli flags)

Yo! Congress! Many Of You Are Immigrants

Your Neighbors Your Friends Speak Up

We Want A Better Migratory Policy

We Work Hard For This Country

For A Fer (sic) Immigration Reform We Pay Taxes

We Want Our Parents To Be Legal And To Have Respect

Don't Make Us Choose Sides

Due Process Not Detention

Unete 1 Mayo

Citizenship For Families

Keep Our Families Together

Fighting For Workers Rights Teamsters Local 117

The American Dream Is Not A Crime

Radicalwomen.org: Mujeres Radicales

US Needs Our Labor

Are You Enjoying The Fruit Of My Cheap Labor?

We Will Not Stop Until You Legalize Us

Jobs With Justice

Legalization For All Hispanic Immigrants. We Deserve Dignity And Equality

Ni Multas Nis Espera Ni Chota (no fines, no waiting, no police)

Our Children Are Our Future

Casa Latina

Who Will Cook Your Dinner? Who Will Pick Your Oranges?

In Memory Of Those Who Died On The Border

We Deserve A Chance

Arnold Schwartzennegger Is An Immigrant

No Senseless Laws

The Kicking 37th District Democrats: All The Democracy You Can Handle

Love Peace Respect Dignity

We Prefer King's Dream Over Bush's Nightmare

La Lucha Obrera No Tiene Frontera (the fight for work has no borders)

We Will Prevail. I Still Believe In Justice

Workers Without Rights = Slavery

United Farm Workers

Immigration Reform With Dignity, Labor, and Civil Rights For All: Comite Amnistia

Alto A La Guerra. Abran Las Fronteras. (stop the war, open the borders)

Don't Let Hard Workers Leave The US

Nativo Y Extranjera : El Mismo (native person and foreigner, we are the same)

Trabajadores Con Justicia

Yo Soy Democratia (I am democratic)

Give And It Shall Be Given Unto You

Lo Justo Es Justo

We Didn't Cross The Border. The Border Crossed Us

Bienvenidas Immigrantes: Fuera Bush (welcome, immigrants: go away Bush)

< Progressive Inclusion: Immigrant Rights and the Progressive Movement | Progressive 'Phase Change' in Washington: Conversation with Don Hopps >

Seattle Immigration Rally 50,000 Strong: No Human Being Is Illegal | 13 comments (13 topical)

I Hate To Be A Grinch, But...

...this phrase of "no human being is illegal" is empty rhetoric, as it now stands, and I fear the Dems/Progressives are on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Illegal immigrants are, indeed, illegal. I can show you the laws. The Republican Party has been THE force making sure that people who employ illegal immigrants can do so with "plausible deniability" and few sanctions.

Republicans are NOT serious when they threaten to deport millions of illegal aliens. They could easily do so now, as millions of aliens dutifully send in their W2s each year with obviously fake Social Security numbers.

What the Republicans are trying to create, both with the Bush "Guest Worker" proposal *AND* with the Sensenbrenner Bill, is a permanent, legal underclass in this country,with unequal protection under the law. Let me say that again: BOTH the Bush proposal AND the Sensenbrenner proposal have the same intent - a legal underclass with unequal protection under the law.

That is TOTALLY unacceptable.

I worked with illegals from all over the world. I've worked in immigration law. I have personally retrieved people from DHS's (privately run) jail in Tacoma. Yes, being an illegal here in the US is better than going to back to some of these hellhole countries.

However, this Republican, Big Business illegal immigration we have in America is about the importation of political and economic oppression. We can't allow that. The political economy of importing illegal workers dictates that we will keep doing it until it becomes a toss-up whether people are better off as illegals here, or living back in the third world. Do we want to live in an America that provides only a slightly better living standard than Mexico? Certainly not because we have lowered the living standards here.

We do not need the labor of non-citizens and people who have no chance at citizenship. There is no excuse for having a large population of people who are not citizens or resident aliens on the way towards becoming citizens. There is no such thing as a "migrant" worker. People aren't geese. It does nobody any good to lie about it. If we want people's labor, then we either want them to work as citizens of governments we can be proud to trade with or as citizens of our own country. We do not want people living in the shadows. That is what the Republicans want and they must not get it.

Let's be clear. Vastly increased citizenship means vastly increased deportations. We need both. It has become a norm for businesses in this country to expect a supply of cheap, illegal labor and that must change. We cannot let the Republicans win this issue by selling super-low-wage jobs to desperate Latinos and anti-Mexican bigotry to everybody else. We have to stand up for good jobs for CITIZENS. We can't allow illegal immigrants to become a new, slave class in this country.

by dlaw on Wed May 03, 2006 at 09:05:45 AM PST

* 7 5.00 1 *

I agree -- by noemie maxwell, 05/03/2006 09:28:59 AM PST (none / 0)

Profoundly moving

For me, it was a profoundly moving experience to have participated in that march. I feel changed by it.

by DWE on Tue May 02, 2006 at 07:44:40 PM PST

* 1 none 0 *

It was great to see you there -- by noemie maxwell, 05/03/2006 08:39:17 AM PST (none / 0)

I didn't ask for...

..anything much.

You talk about transnational corporations in one breath and then on the exhale you talk about the common man. That's good, it's difficult to talk while inhaling.

I grew up listening to people saying "America, love it or leave it." I've come to understand it as I understand Deming's "what gets measured gets done".

Why would it be natural, if labour had been undermined for generations, for labour to pour in?

by m3047 on Tue May 02, 2006 at 09:39:33 PM PST

* 2 none 0 *

Your comparison of Deming's by noemie maxwell, 05/03/2006 12:27:17 AM PST (none / 0)

Deming by m3047, 05/03/2006 07:16:50 AM PST (none / 0)

So, they're two koans masquerading as by noemie maxwell, 05/03/2006 08:29:37 AM PST (none / 0)

there is a certain entanglement, certainly by m3047, 05/03/2006 07:59:30 PM PST (none / 0)

Though it seems to me that those illegally present by noemie maxwell, 05/04/2006 11:45:25 AM PST (none / 0)

breath by m3047, 05/03/2006 08:04:09 PM PST (none / 0)

No human is illegal...

...but illegal immigration is illegal. I support human rights and human dignity but many of these folks want citizenship without going about it in the legal way.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

by Belltowner on Wed May 03, 2006 at 05:03:28 PM PST

* 9 none 0 *

Hate speech on Sound Politics

Just a few selections off the top. There are many more.

Face of the enemy. This makes me sick.
Posted by: Jeffro on May 3, 2006 11:00 AM

As usual, it's more about establishing yet another victim class and spreading socialism and Marxism than it is about the alleged topic of the protest. ...So the marches are more about an opportunity for the anti-American, Che loving socialists and progressives to sell their evil messages and GOTV.
Posted by: Jeff B. on May 3, 2006 11:08 AM

Message to George W and Congress:

SHIP THEM BACK and fence our entire southern border. NOW! If we need workers, (and I said WORKERS, not welfare recipients) let them integrate LEGALLY.....and not all from Latin America. Let's allow immigrants from ALL corners of the globe....ones who want opportunity, not handouts!
Posted by: Saltherring on May 3, 2006 11:13 AM

this isn't a rally this is an invasion
Posted by: thecomputerguy on May 3, 2006 11:21 AM

Somebody ought to tell these maroons Hispanics are EUROPEAN, that Spanish is a European language. That they are descendants of the conquistadors.

If we follow the illogical of these yahoos, they should be heading back to Iberia.
Posted by: JCM on May 3, 2006 11:27 AM

Viva La Mexico? Then here's a thought.... Go back where you came from. Demand political reform in YOUR OWN COUNTRY. Disrupt and shut down the cities in MEXICO with your endless protests. Enough is enough of this.

Would all the bleeding hearts be so welcoming of those demanding citizenship if we had hundreds of thousand of Russians, Muslims, Irish or any other group marching in the streets demanding that we cave to changing and bending our existing laws regarding immigration and citizenship? I think not.
Posted by: mimi on May 3, 2006 11:30 AM

Awwwhhh The face of welfare. Isn't it grand.
Posted by: swassociates on May 3, 2006 11:36 AM

I'm amazed to see elected officials (sworn -- under oath -- to uphold the laws) photographed at a legal assembly attended by citizens who openly defy the laws...and do everything they can to encourage the behavior.

Mr Executive and Mayor,
Excuse me while I exercise my right of free speech and tell you to go straight to hell.

Have a nice day.
Posted by: doug on May 3, 2006 12:10 PM

I don't know what purpose dressing up in Mexico garb is supposed to serve these people. It's very in-your-face, "we-can-break-into-any-country-we-want". Just try that in Mexico!

I am willing to bet that 99% of the "immigrants" carrying signs in English do not know what the sign says.
Posted by: William on May 3, 2006 01:22 PM

So, how come all the screaming commies and their signs didn't make the news?
Posted by: H Moul on May 3, 2006 01:28 PM

William, I bet you're right...99 % cannot read the signs they carry, and 100% can't read the "Jockey" on their shorts. Was I born a racist, or has it been nurtured over time?
Posted by: Nick Tuck on May 3, 2006 01:44 PM

I love all the Che signs and T-shirts. His pathetic life is reduced to sloganeering and selling "trendy" images in support of capitalism.

What a fitting epitaph for another loser commie.

As for the impact of the marches...can you say "backlash"?
Posted by: Shaun on May 3, 2006 01:56 PM

by noemie maxwell on Thu May 04, 2006 at 11:56:45 AM PST

* 13 none 0 *

Seattle Immigration Rally 50,000 Strong: No Human Being Is Illegal | 13 comments (13 topical)

PNW TOPIC HOTLIST

WELCOME AND FAQ
ABOUT

Login


Make a new account
Username:
Password:

HELP

Recommended Diaries

Free Speech for People moves forward in Washington State
At my urging, Senator Jacobsen has introduced a Senate Joint Memorial asking for Congress to submit to the states a Federal
By chadlupkes (1 comment)
State Budget Craters By $2 Billion More. The Good News Is....
... Now Progressives are going to have to stop talking about tax hikes and start talking about the value of government.
By dlaw (19 comments)
Why Aren't We Fighting for a State Income Tax?
I am getting really tired here: I've been asked to sign petitions and send emails by almost any advocacy group that
By ktkeller (24 comments)
We Want to Take You and We Will Nyah Nyah
Last week I'm watching a podcast of Monday's House Local Government and Housing Committee because I'm interested in the Executive Session
By ktkeller (7 comments)
Online Voting Rights for Overseas Military Personal
Having been deployed during an election I have some very passionate views on this issue. I have seen my friends simple
By dorsolplants (20 comments)
A Modest Proposal: How to Cut Education Funding
As cited in a recent Seattle P-I article, Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, chairwoman of the state Senate education committee, warned that budget
By OrneryDemocrat (9 comments)