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Capitol Hill swarmed by immigration activists
Published: 14 October, 2009, 14:02
Edited: 16 October, 2009, 07:01
TAGS: Protest, Human rights, USA
America brands itself as “the land of opportunity”, but for millions of immigrants living there illegally, the only thing available to them is deportation.
Thousands gathered for a rally near the White House demanding an amnesty to be allowed to stay.
Byron Pastor came to the States for a better life. “This is a country of better opportunity and for freedom,” he said. He is but one of the thousands of immigrants who came to Capitol Hill to demand a change.
“We're looking for a change in the law, because right now so many people are being deported, and that's affecting the families,” says immigrant Laly Arellano.
There are 12 million people living in the United States illegally. Many say the lack of federal immigration reform has caused so many people to come to the United States without permission.
The activists in Washington DC say the only sensible thing to do is to provide an avenue for those people to get legal status. They say deportation is not the answer.
Olivia Segura's daughter was serving the United States when she died in Kuwait, and now Segura's husband faces deportation.
“My husband was in the process of getting his residency. And because we didn't know how to cope with my daughter's loss he was drinking and driving when he got arrested for DUI. He has been in jail for one year and he is going to be sent to Mexico. Do you think that is fair?” Olivia complains.
Some activists believe that granting legal status to the millions of illegal immigrants will only help America in the long run.
“If those people were legalized, those people would be paying taxes, those people would be buying properties, they'd be buying more cars, they would have accesses to services that they don't have now,” believes Jaime Contreras, who came to the rally along with thousands of other immigrants.
Many also believe the recession and the healthcare debate have created a harsh anti-immigrant environment:
“Immigrants are used as scapegoats every time there’s a problem – whether it’s the economy or what have you,” Jaime says.
The current climate has not helped the situation and many continue live in fear.
“Everybody's afraid. I'm afraid. I'm a US citizen, but I got locked up just because of my name, even when they found out I wasn't the person an hour later. That's why I’m scared,” another immigrant, Jose Flores, said.
Despite the recession these immigrants believe there is still a place for them in the country. They say it is about time they were treated fairly as equal citizens, not as criminals.
14.10.2009, 04:46
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8 comments
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How would the Russian Federation deal with twenty million illegal aliens crossing their borders and taking up residence there. America has experienced this for many years and political leaders do not have the will to implement policies to ensure that olny legal immigration is allowed. If the world economy worsens, when the China bubble busts, millions of illegal Chinese could just cross the border and take up residence on Russian lands. How would Russia ever protect it's borders from illegal migration, especially in the region just north if China? Looks like the U. S. A. and the Russian Federation may suffer similar immigration issues in the future. Our countries have much in common and should work together to solve both of our countrie's problems.
"Illegal" immigration is not immigration at all, but at very least is criminal tresspass. Example...The folks that live next door to me start comming into my home without me knowing or my permission and just make themselves right at home. They eat my food, find how my medical system works and run very high bills. Those that really are willing to work go to my place of employment and tell my boss he will do my job for less money and no medical benefits. He will also bring his 12 cousins for any other stuff that needs done. They don't need medical benefits because they refuse to learn the language of thier adopted country so now they qualify for FEDERAL WELFARE. No wonder these thieves don't want to stay home and straighten out thier own government. Everything is free for them, no downside at all, execpt to complain and PROTEST when I and other folks try and get them to do things THE PROPER WAY. If you break into my house I'll shoot you, break into my country and all these bleeding heart morons will drop to thier knee to give you oral sex. IMMIGRANTS ask permission and are invited in. INVADERS just break in, take what they want then complain that it's not enough. Lets close our borders, get them back under control, then open the door slowly and carefully.
@jon R.F. does have the problems you mention. There was, and still is a quiet colonization of Russian far-east by Chinese and Koreans. This issue is almost unreported in any Russian media. Another type of immigration is from ex-soviet republics (mostly from the Caucasus), and since most of these immigrants both legal and illegal settle is the cities the issue is much better documented and reported on. The approach to those immigrants is also surprisingly similar: both in the US and R.F. they are categorized as useful cheap labor that takes up jobs that "nobody else wants" for wages that are so low nobody else wouldn`t survive on - this also leads to tax evasion and other undocumented activities, including various crime. The reasoning for this "needed" immigration are void, as for instance Belarus has a rapidly growing economy that surpasses Russia, by only employing their own and having virtually zero immigration.