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President Obama, Bail Out Humanity! – We Need Legalization Now!
May 1, 2010
We stand in solidarity and sympathy with the families of the brave miners and oil rig workers who lost their lives in the recent disasters. They know that these workers every day left their loved ones behind to work in hard, dangerous conditions to provide a better life for their families and education for their children. They understand what we immigrants suffer, when we leave our children and loved ones behind sometimes thousands of miles away, often risking our lives to come here – thousands have died in the deserts north of the Mexican border, or in rafts or rickety boats in the Caribbean. We are often forced by dire economic realities caused by colonial oppression and globalization, which has ruined the dependent economies in their homelands, or to escape dictatorships and repressive conditions.
Immigrants face constant threats of deportation. Particularly after 9/11, under the orders of Bush, Ashcroft and Gonzales, those from predominantly Muslim countries feared being arrested at night in their homes in front of their families, and being put in jail and deported, often to countries involved in war. Many did not even dare to sleep at home at that time. Many died in jail or after their release from inadequate medical attention. Women were left with no one to support their families while they took care of young children. Deportation of non-criminal immigrants (who make up about 74% of all deported) has been increasing steadily, from 115,000 in 2000 to 272,000 in 2009, the largest number ever.
Immigrant workers, particularly those without documents, do some of the hardest jobs, with the worst working conditions for the lowest pay. The only ones who benefit from this are the monopoly capitalists, the same ones who are laying off workers and cutting wages of all workers, U.S. born and immigrant. These corporations and their government are trying to divide us, using repressive legislation such as Arizona’s SB1070 and NY Senator Schumer’s proposed bill. They open the way to racial profiling and the sowing of hate by right-wing neo-fascist forces such as the “Tea Party.”
President Obama, you have shown with your health care bill that if you have the will, you can bring about change, even without any support from Republicans. The elections of 2008 were a clear mandate that the people of the U.S. want change – an end to wars of aggression abroad (Iraq and Afghanistan), an end to the attacks on civil liberties and democratic rights (“Patriot Act”), and for the humane treatment of immigrants.
The U.S. is in political and economic turmoil. Its economy has been severely shaken by the crisis that began with the stock market crash in 2008. The banks and other financial institutions are objecting to any restrictions being placed on their activities. The masses of people are tired of their country being ruled by Wall St. and the Pentagon. We immigrants are not the cause of these problems: there is not one immigrant worker who is a CEO of a major Wall St. corporation of a leading general in the armed services.
President Obama, we need legalization now for all the 12 million or more undocumented immigrants in this country. Nothing has been done for immigrants since the amnesty of the 1980s, when there were only 3 million immigrants without papers. All immigrants need legal status without being treated as criminals, with family units paying only a small fee. And those who have been deported need to be allowed to return, except for those convicted of a felony. The backlog of decisions on giving legal status must be cleared away. This situation is a humanitarian one, not a political one. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has shown that they believe in you – now you must show that you deserve the honor.
The trade union movement is beginning to awaken to the need to fight for the unity of all workers. It must return to its heritage of the fight for the 8-hour day that began in Chicago on May 1, 1886, a fight that was largely led by immigrant workers. The student movement is also taking up the fight against deportations of students and their parents. The legalization of immigrants in the U.S. would also have a big impact on other countries, especially in Europe, which are now home to many immigrants, especially from their former colonies and their neo-colonies. We can also learn from the movements in other countries, such as Greece, Thailand and Nepal, where people are fighting for a better life.
Finally, we in the PakUSAFF make the pledge that we will use our new votes to elect only those who will stand up against wars of aggression. We will only support those who support human rights and civil liberties. We want to live proudly in a country that stands for peace, and for the progress of all humanity, that can be looked on with respect by people of all countries of the world.
| Dr. Muhammad Shafique President | Blog: http://pakusaff.blogspot.com | Mr. Shahid Comrade General Secretary (917) 280-0840 |
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