2006-04-28

Discussion Topic

OK, class.

What do we think of this?

Your comments please.

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060428/2006-04-28T002206Z_01_N26224260_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-USA-IMMIGRATION-DC.html

3 comments:

Mike said...

The only thing I've noticed here in Boston was somebody complaining that the local Mexican restaurants were closed today.

Jen said...

Mike--

Ha! That's hilarious in a particularly sad way.

From what I understand, transit's pretty messed up here but I don't use it, and I really haven't heard a lot of noise from the protesters. This is odd, since I can hear the 5 gulong 3 blocks down the street protestors most times, plus every drunken frat-boy leaving the bars at 2AM.

What bothers me most about the legislation currently up is that it represents yet another attempt to polarize the country over an issue which is being exploited by the economic overclass on multiple levels: they are using this to ensure continued support from people who are beginning to feel disenfranchised by job loss, etc, and yet this same overclass--particularly in high-immigration areas--exploits these workers in multiple ways.

I found it terribly ironic & yet not particularly surprising when one congressman (whose name, unfortunately, I cannot remember), a Republican, lambasted the party for exploiting this group of disadvantaged workers then in the next sentence said that we shouldn't be giving jobs to immigrants when we have prisoners who could perform the same labor: just another example of exploiting a predominantly minority, unpaid workforce in my opinion.

George said...

Mike,

That's because there's nothin' in Boston for Mexican people.

And how much pressure can you actually exert on Congress by assembling a huge crowd that can't vote?

Next time around, I fully expect the protests to be blocked by fleets of taxis operated by legal immigrants who are tired of the lawbreakers' whining.