Immigrant Solidarity—Monday, 11pm: Be There or Be a Jerk

Okay, let's clear up something. Joe reported this morning on the Immigrant Solidarity March/Rally that is happening on Monday and also on this signage incident. (Someone graffiti'd a flyer with the word "ILLEGAL" over the top.) Joe accuses supporters of immigrant rights of being both ignorant and misinforming, a common tandem in conservative-speak whenever the writer is about to put one over on you himself (or herself).

The first trick Malchow and his ilk are trying to play is to highlight Bush's moderate guest-worker program while ignoring the actions of groups like the Minutemen (NH website here) and the House in passing HR 4437 (which didn't have a guest worker programs) and the general nuts who babble about national purity and keeping our English language sacrosanct and safe from all that Mexican. These groups and efforts are not insignificant. HR 4437 actually passed the House.

The second trick these duplicitous fools are trying to play is to cast all supporters of a more liberal immigration policy as open advocates of illegal immigration. This is false. The people marching on Monday (and I hope to be one of them) are not encouraging illegal activity. They are encouraging a saner, safer, and more practical policy of dealing with the 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants that are here already and a better, more effective package of legislation and policies that will find ways to structure the process of immigration in such a way that both America and the immigrants benefit legally. On top of that, these staunch "lawfulness" advocates miss the point—this is a human-rights issue as well as an issue of law.

Thirdly, Joe downplays the level of anti-immigrant animosity on campus. This poster, put up by the Dartmouth College Republicans should give you a different view:



Also, I must mention this: Joe states: "Anyway, do I want that representing my school? Yes, m’aam [sic]. No one ever said good grammar... is bad for a fine little New Hampshire college." Well, Joe has an orthographic error instead of a grammatical error there, but how is grammar related to protesting for the rights of immigrants? Is writing well then related to counter-protesting? Because if so, Joe's efforts will surely doom the counter-protest crowd.