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Hoisting banners, beating drums and waving American flags, demonstrators filled Market Street, the main thoroughfare of the city's Financial District, in what was billed as a "Day without Immigrants."
"Todos son inmigrantes," read one sign, expressing in Spanish the notion that nearly all Americans are either immigrants or descendents of people who migrated to this country.
Nestor Puente, a plumber, said he is now a legal resident of the United States, but wanted to march in support of all immigrants--legal and illegal--who he said are working to make this country better.
"I've got to support my people," he said, as musical instruments and chants echoed in the background.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people skipped work and school to demonstrate the depth of contributions immigrants make to American society.
Puente said he felt great about the turnout and hopes the efforts get the same attention as the rallies Sunday, in San Francisco, D.C. and elsewhere that protested the situation in Darfur, Sudan.
"They made the front page," Puente said. "What about us?"
As is often the case in San Francisco, the rally spilled over into support for other left-leaning causes as well. Sign-carriers, for example, could be spotted stumping for progressive politicians and protesting the war in Iraq.
See more CNET content tagged:
immigrant, San Francisco
better-than-you attitude, because they went to "college".
Ironically, many major tech companies today are founded by
drop-outs from colleges.
There is no tech angle. CNET is part of the Leftist bunch of news
sites, and they threw this report in just to promote their
administrators' viewpoints on what they think "we" should be
doing.
In all frankness, they should be reporting on what the "Wii"
should be doing and all other things tech.
country was founded on.
If they can tie in illegal aliens "demanding" their Bill of Wrongs to
some soldier getting killed in Iraq or Afgahnistan, they will, just
to give a black eye to the People of the Nation.
But the Media that reports that way has no ratings. Websites,
especially news websites, crush the Alphabet Soup evening news
broadcasts. If a person is far to the Left, and believes in
Marxism, are against America, they read cbsnews.com or
cnn.com, if a person is far to the Right and believes in a
Representative Republic, are for America, they read
worldnetdaily.com or other like minded sites.
A harsh line I'm sure, but the reality is that as a legal immigrant I have no one in my corner, in fact they want to make my lot far worse.
I was not, and will never, qualify for any form of welfare, and would face instant deportation for committing any crime including violations of immigration law. I would then not be allowed back in the country for at least 5 years, if at all.
I can not vote - in any election, local, state or national, and I am required to pay taxes.
I now hear that even left wing lawmakers want to make my life harder, punish me for not complying with new, restrictive proposals - that is I should be the one singled out for scrutiny and then deported if I don't face up to it, rather than those that broke the law every second they've been in this country.
They get citizenship, I have to carry a biometric id card and my personal information gets to be stored in a national database. It doesn't stop there, any prospective employer would be instantly predujiced against hiring me, because of the burden of proof he would have to present in order to avoid being fined for hiring illegals.
I even love the term undocumented worker. As if the only problem is they forgot to fill out a form or something, but are otherwise compliant with immigration law.
If I make a mistake on my immigration paperwork I face deportation. If I don't report my new address within 4 weeks of moving I face deportation.
They didn't have to wait for months for a visa interview, face an aids test, argue with an immigration official that the income documented on my wife's financial support paperwork is enough to support the both of us (she gets fined and is liable for any welfare given to me). They didn't have to keep filling out paperwork for years after arriving, paying more and more in fees and administration costs.
They didn't have to face a grilling interview, knowing that one "incorrect" answer could mean the whole thing comes crashing down on you.
These are not particularly horrendous hardships, but they do cause incredible stress and the process takes years to complete.
If I want citizenship, I then have to go through nearly the entire process again. Gathering up ridiculous amounts of "proof" that I came here for the right reasons, that I'm supporting myself, not receiving handouts from the government, and that I have committed any "immoral" crimes.
So okay I do sympathise a little with the plight of illegal immigrants, who've settled down, have homes and family and face the agony of seperation if they're caught. But at the same time it annoys the crap out of me that my situation could be worse, just to make theirs better.
Then you can claim you are "undocumented worker" and benefit from getting instant citizenship without having the wait 10 years.
Welcome to the land of the free and home of the brave.
mexico deports more people per year than the USA...yet we have 20 million people living here illegally...send them back just like thier countries would send us back if we tried to do what's happening. if i want to become a mexican citizen, i have to go through the process. if i want to be french, i have to go through the process. our process should be respected by citizens of other countries just like they expect us to obey thiers.
effective as nothing to my bottom line today.
For better reporting on this matter, please go to:
www.worldnetdaily.com
www.newsmax.com
www.thenewamerican.com
www.drudgereport.com
CNET is for tech, and trying to create a tech angle on these
people is pathetic.
illegal immigrants, the INS should be monitoring
them in order to pick up people for deportation.
This would be more cost-effective than hunting
down the violators one or two at a time.
"I've got to support my people," he said, as musical instruments and chants echoed in the background.
There you go America...even this guy...who is 'legal', wants to support 'his people'. I thought 'his people' was supposed to be legal American citizens who respect and abide by the law??!!
Deport each and every one of them and have them follow the laws you have in place America, not doing so is making you a weaker country.
Things must not be so bad if they can afford to miss a day's pay.
While I feel for people who want to make a living I don't break the law doing it. If I'm unemployed and knock off a gas station and get caught, get thrown into lockup with 40 other people who also knocked off a gas station I don't expect to get off just because "everyone is doing it". That is the mentality that is going on right now. We have X million illegal immigrants right now so it makes it all right. Then you have other little facts like X amount of money that is leaving this country going back to family abroad. A noble gesture to be sure but that is money that is not going back into this country. That is money that will be spent elsewhere to inflate their economy.
I'm sorry but I'm a 3 generation natural citizen of this country. My parents, parents came to this country through LEGAL means. What does giving amnesty say to the people who have waited 10+ years to get into this country legally? So sorry mate. You just got fracked.
Immigrants can make all the noise they want but I wonder how many who are in support of this are illegal immigrants themselves or have a friend or family member who are illegal immigrants. Its all self serving BS in the end.
citizenship to persons that illegally immigrate
to this country is a slap in the face to current
citizens and legal immigrants (such as my wife).
If you aren't aware of the process it takes to
legally immigrate -- let me tell you it's a
byzantine and demeaning process that takes
years, ream after ream of documentation, and
dealing with a bureaucracy so numbingly slow and
ineffectual that it would make the Soviet-era
Kremlin envious.
I think that something should be done at both
ends of the spectrum. Legal immigration needs to
be worked into a rational and streamlined
process. I'm certain that as it is now, the
process completely fails every goal it's
intended to fulfill. It splits up families,
causes economic burdens, and keeps out people
that could well be an asset to our country --
and I see no evidence that it specifically
impedes those that would seek to undermine it.
I would support a program that was permissive of
granting temporary low-cost visas for workers
from Mexico for certain classes of work. Maybe
even a program to formalize the process of
matching the labor pool to jobs.
At one time, I taught ESL at a church in the
southern US and we had a number of students from
Mexico that worked in the US illegally. They
were great guys, and while they loved the US,
they had no desire to stay (and typically worked
6 months, then returned home, and came back
again). They were well aware that they were here
illegally, but at the same time needed to
provide for their families at home -- despite
being under-paid they still earned more in the
US than they could at home (if they could find
work there at all). They were very sensitive to
the accusation that they might be taking jobs
away from Americans -- and several quit jobs
when they felt that it was true -- so they
relegated themselves to doing low-pay work they
didn't think anyone else wanted. One guy that
was a cabinet maker was cleaning up offals, for
example.
Short of citizenship, there ought to be some
consideration given in this regard. Folks
wanting to immigrate outright ought to be
required to go through the formal process (which
sorely needs to be fixed), and those wanting to
work temporarily ought to be formally leveraged
as a resource in whatever capacity we
accommodate same to the mutual benefit of our
country and the people involved.
The most important thing to do is to stop giving automatic citizenship to those born in this country. Make those kids illegal as well.
I realize they come here illegally for a better life, but they are stealing money from taxpayers. STEALING! If we have money earmarked for schools, but now we have to shift some over to welfare, guess who loses?
1) It is almost totally out of control. Plus, we are being told that it _should_ be that way, that America is owned by anyone in the world who wants to come here, rather than by Americans.
2) The demographics will insure that uncontrolled immigration will result in a U.S. that is at least half Latin American, in both language and culture, and half "other."
Yes, we have historically been a nation of immigrants, BUT with crucial differences.
First, the federal gov't controlled the influx so that immigration served our national interests. Diseased people and criminals were not let in, and workers with desired skills were given preference. Numerical quotas were enforced.
Second, no single culture or language group has been allowed to make up the bulk of the immigrants for very long. For instance, very early in U.S. history, Pennsylvania started to become "too German" so immigration from German areas was severely curtailed. This "whoa, too many" response was repeated for Irish, Polish, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Haitians, SE Asians, etc.
Third, immigrants were expected to adjust themselves to their new country, not the other way around. For instance, public schools were taught in English only, and all government documents were in English only.
Lastly, the number of new immigrants has generally been kept to a small fraction of the existing population. Sometimes it would spike, but this would be followed by a dip (an enforced dip).
The result of this CONTROLLED immigration has been a SINGLE nation comprised of people from a WIDE VARIETY of backgrounds who nevertheless think of themselves primarily as AMERICANS.
Anyone willing to break one law and gets ahead is likely to break another. Furthermore this is passed on to the children of these people that it is ok to break the law if it gets you ahead. This creates a dangerous precident.
I think we should allow immagration to continue, but it must be at a controlled rate so that our infastructure (schools, roads, etc) can keep up, the immagrents are not totally fleeced by the unethical, and so that the effort of obeying the law from day one is rewarded.
Second your right to assembly is a constitutionally protected right that well considering you aren't citizens in no way shape or form gives you the right to protest. Which means that all of the illegal?s who where protesting yesterday should have been rounded up and taken into custody for disorderly conduct.
The last point I want to make is I honestly haven't met one person that favors giving illegal immigrants? citizenship, BUT yet CNN and other news agencies state that 73% of all Americans believe that illegal immigrants should be given some form of citizenship.
OK now on to my two birds one stone rant. We keep hearing how the number of people enlisting in the military is down. WELL why not just get all of the illegal immigrants to join the military, AND THEN when they are done with their term they will be given automatic citizenship. They really then could become true patriots like our forefathers. The forefathers of the US had to fight for their rights then I don't see why the illegal immigrants shouldn't have to fight for their rights.
Thank you
breaking a law is a facetious one. It is a
necessary but not sufficient condition that one
break a law to be a criminal.
Not all laws are legal. Laws are struck down all
the time. Further, the law has little permanence
-- what's illegal today could be illegal
tomorrow or vice-versa, yet the activity is no
more or less criminal (in the absolute sense)
than it was prior to or after the law came into
being.
It's still illegal to eat peanuts in church in
Massachusetts, but violators (you know who you
are) are not criminals -- at least most people
wouldn't consider them so. Drinking liquor,
banned in some towns, not others, yet you're not
apt to be labelled a criminal for having a glass
of wine in Manhattan, are you?
In this particular case, the people in question
are breaking the law quite specifically because
they are "undocumented," meaning that they
haven't filled out nor received the proper
papers. It's not illegal for them (in general)
to enter the country (at least temporarily) --
but it is to have a job without proper
permission.
"Undocumented worker" is precisely descriptive
of their particular infraction of the law. It is
against the law, certainly. Whether it's truly
criminal or not depends on your point of view
and most probably on the situation.
For example, I had known a student at MIT that
had found out while applying for financial aid
that he was, in fact, not an American citizen.
He had believed that he was born here, but
apparently, his parents came to this country
after he was born and started the formal
immigration process. At the time, children were
included on the same application as their
parents. However, 20 years later, it turns out
that the INS never completed processing his
parent's application. He was too old to be
considered a child anymore, so the INS removed
him from his parents application and notified
him that he had to leave the country
immediately. He had lived in the US since he was
6 months old, never left, and at almost 21 years
didn't know anyone in, or even the language of,
his native country.
He was forced to leave. I don't know what
happened to him. However, I know for certain two
things: he was in violation of the law, and he
wasn't a criminal.
It may be semantics, but too often these days
people justify submitting to ruinous stupidity
foisted on them in the form of legislation
because "it's the law" without any question if
the law is just or even just plain sensible.
I support the McCain - Kennedy proposal along with hefty penaltys for those employing illegal aliens. The minimum wage would have been increased years ago without those willing to work for nothing.
I dont know what the tech tie in is here...
Kieran Mullen
natives. As for "God," I don't believe in any religious mythology.
There are no "natives." The first peoples came here across land
and ice from asia.
I do live in the state that gets slammed by ILLEGAL aliens who
break the law as the first thing they do. How is not liking
criminal activity racist?
Methinks thou doth protest too much, and your own racist stripe
is showing a mile wide.
Every nations has its own sins. The fore-fathers of Mexico murdered their on indian populations. So, what is your point? Mexico is a racist nation as well! What are you trying to tell me! Their sins are less than ours.
If America was still the 13 colonies, mexicans would still be trying to get into America. The problem is Mexico. Mexico is two hundred years older than the United States. America has put a man on the moon. We are the best country under the sun. What is Mexico's problem. How much more time do they need to get their act together. 500 years!
- America is and always has been RACIST
- by tblair76 May 2, 2006 3:14 PM PDT
- I am ashamed to be an American today. I have never seen so much RACISM in one country. You hate everyone who comes here, even the slaves YOU brought. You butchered the NATIVES and now you believe you are ONE NATION UNDER GOD. Yeah right, I bet God hates what is going on.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- Ashamed of YOU
- by bobj123 May 2, 2006 8:12 PM PDT
- I am ashamed to have to read you post. Americans are not racist, every person in part is. People dislike change. And when another race is trying to change something in a country which rules have worked for centuries, but have been difficult for some to even attempt to follow well they are being ignorant of the rules, just as you are sterotyping every citizen. Get over yourself...
- Like this
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- DO NOT play that card
- by Christopher Hall May 3, 2006 5:52 AM PDT
- It has absolutely nothing to do with race. And for you to call it out as such is just plain irresponsible.
- Like this View reply
Processing -
- You're the bigot
- by Bob Brinkman May 3, 2006 7:52 AM PDT
- I'm an American and you have never met me, yet some how you seem to think you know me... and that I am by default bad.
- Like this
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (69 Comments)The American people are fed up not with the influx of Mexicans. They're fed up with the wanton ineptitude of the federal government to do anything worthwhile about it. Who in their right mind would deny someone who is here to work their right to earn a better living? There's a very good reason the people that have come here over the past few hundred years have stayed here - to the tune of 300 million, give or take - and that's because this is, flat out, the best country on the planet if you want to put yourself on track for a better life.
If anything, the illegals are good for this country. They're good because of the burden they put on our social systems, showing us just how idiotic it was to enact them in the first place. They're good because they show us that the politicians haven't got a clue what they're doing. They're good because they're here to work.
Be ashamed to be an American, but at least be ashamed for the right reasons. And carry that with you to the voting booth.