Welcome to the World of NumbersUSA, FAIR, and ALIPAC:



Building walls.  Making millions of migrants miserable.  That's not the world I want to live in.

(Picture from Signs of the Times)

Read The in-between Generation in a Nation of Immigrants at DMI Blog on generation 1.5 and their contributions which make the DREAM Act a necessity for the good of America.

At Just News read Advocates rally after raid, arrests.

More than 75 immigrant advocates gathered at Hopkins Plaza, in front of the Baltimore Offices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, hoisting signs with slogans such as, "Don't divide our families," and "Painting Houses is not a Crime."

My post, The Intolerant States of America, made just a mild splash on the web, but some interesting things came up that I wanted to discuss.  It garnered 55 Diggs, 23 recommends and comments on Daily Kos, a few more comments over at Alternet, Blue Mass. Group, and The Sanctuary (feel free to show some love in any of these forums).

But it was a link from the blog of Samaha, that I'm most proud of.  She describes the mission of her blog as such:

I don't think U.S. citizens realize how closely the rest of the world is following the U.S. election.  I've spoken to U.S. volunteers in Guatemala and everywhere they go Guatemalans want to ask them them what their feelings are on the candidates.  According to the Christian Science Monitor, it looks as if McCain was met with "skepticism" on his trip to Mexico and Colombia.  One student in Mexico had this to say:

Some Mexicans say they favor McCain, but a zeal for Obama, as a minority, is an undertone across Latin America. "Obama will change everything if he is elected... there will be true immigration reform and not a band-aid because he has African heritage and understands the plight of immigrants," says Marco Polo Herrera, a student in Mexico City. "McCain will be more of the same."

Christian Science Monitor - Sara Miller Llana (3 July 2008)

I am still doubtful over whether or not Obama is the best candidate for those concerned with the migrant plight, but it's interesting to know that there are those in Mexico who feel that way.
  

There's not a person who is passionate about migrant rights that does not believe they have the answer about where the debate should go.  Workers' rights activists believe the answer lies in unions and in targeting exploitative employers.  Others believe the solution is in targeting the racism of the anti-migrant side.  Others believe the solution is in human rights, and the list goes on and on. 

I myself have always believe that the only solution to this problem is to give opportunities to migrants in the countries that they are coming from.  I believe the only solution is to move towards a world where people migrate out of want, and not out of need. 

Congratulations to Man Eegee and Latino Politico! Happy 3rd Blogiversary to Latino Político at Latino Politico. This is a great post which speaks of the energy in yesterday's SanctuarySphere. Man Eegee notes that we must strengthen one another and remember that we share a responsibility to all of our brothers and sisters of this world. This is why we're here in this realm of thought, because we believe in the good of each other. Thanks to Man Eegee for 3 years of dedication and thanks to everyone else for their dedication as well.

Immigrant Ballot Power at Standing FIRM on our newest voters. Also check out the great series of articles at The New Bedford Times in Series Spotlight: The New Immigrants. In Op-Ed: Real Change Happens Off-Line we learn one person's belief that while the internet brings us together it is not in a "real" way. I do believe we have to be active in person as well as on-line, but they can certainly work well together. What do you think?

Supreme Court Won't Hear Kansas In-State Tuition Case at A Dream Deferred. While Kris Kobach tried to take his case to the Supreme Court that undocumented students should not receive in-state tuition they refused to listen. And Leaving the United States for Higher Education tells of one undocumented student who sought an education elsewhere because it was denied here.

Here's an article in the New York Post Kobach wrote as an adverstisement for E-Verify. It's quite disturbing.

Ask a Chola records a message for Lou Dobbs in this video:



The Pro-Migrant side is so much more fun than the nativist side.

Ray William Johnson is a college student in New York who produces Capitol Hill Gangsta on YouTube and he recently put out this video:



It's good to know that at least some people take the time to research the facts as they pertain to migrants.

"I think Obama would be a disaster, and there's a lot of reasons," said [Leroy] Pollard, explaining the rumors he had heard about the candidate from friends he goes camping with. "I understand he's from Africa, and that the first thing he's going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He's got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there's the Muslim thing. He's just not presidential material, if you ask me."

Eli Saslow - Washington Post (30 June 2008)

Welcome to the Intolerant States of America.  Liberal elitists will read the words of Leroy Pollard, a resident of Flag City, U.S.A., and feign disgust.  This arrogance betrays the truth that we are all part of Leroy Pollard, and Leroy Pollard is part of us.  The first person I ran into who believed the myths about Barack Obama was not a resident of a small town like Flag City, U.S.A., but a wealthy investment banker, and the parent of a Harvard graduate. 

First let me say congratulations to XP. Check out XP the Radical and Soon to be Uncle.

Harris County Grand Jury: Kill An Immigrant, Go Scot Free at Para Justicia y Libertad. Also check out the Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round-Up: 06/30/2008.

Federal judge "compels" Department of Homeland Security to honor original agreement with Texas university at Latina Lista.

As the nation gets ready to celebrate the 4th of July this week, Texans along the U.S.-Mexico border are defending their property rights in the face of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scooping up land to construct the mandated border wall.

Check out the post UMX: Stronger Than Aryan Pride where we read of Nezua's interaction with white pride while shooting water falls at The Unapologetic Mexican.

Today's youth-and all humans-are currently untapped reservoirs of power and heart. Someone like Obama comes along and speaks to that and you see what this nation could be if there were some truth and heart here, some lessons worth ingesting, some pride worth having.

The above quote from Nezua's article reminds me of a quote from Smart Borders from a while back:

Every 6-week marking period, students are required to internalize this spirit of volunteerism and community service. Because I feel most people are just waiting for an excuse to do good, it is easy for me to ask this of my students. And most of them have responded with impressive results.

There is definitely an energy waiting to be released by a powerful cause or call to action and it's important that we ensure that it's positive. It's quite apparent that the anti-migrant groups have tapped into this energy through using fear.