Author: mopress

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UFW

Today, July 26, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a
hearing on proposals for comprehensive immigration reform. The voices
of hardworking immigrants living in the shadows of our society need to
be heard.

Our broken immigration system needs fixing. But as the immigration
debate continues, we must let lawmakers and President Bush know we will
not accept harsh and unrealistic proposals.

One such plan is the "Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration
Reform Act" introduced last week by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tx.) and Jon
Kyl (R-Az.). This bill would create a new unlimited guestworker program
with no chance for workers to earn the right to stay in the country. It
would also require that undocumented immigrants already working and
living here leave after five years of the law’s enactment. This bill
would further separate families and divide our country.

We need real, bipartisan and comprehensive solutions that include the
following principles: A path to hard-earned legalization for
undocumented immigrants already contributing to this country;
reunification of families; and protections for workers in this nation.

The AgJobs bill (S. 359, H.R. 884) sponsored by the United Farm
Workers has all of these components. It would allow undocumented farm
workers to earn the right to permanently stay in this country by
continuing to work in agriculture. With broad bipartisan support, it is
a comprehensive bill negotiated by the UFW and the nation’s
agricultural industry. It is the only viable bipartisan immigration
reform solution for the agricultural industry.

Contact President Bush and your congressmembers today. Let them
know measures such as the Cornyn-Kyl bill are harmful to this country.
Tell them they should enact AgJobs and other bi-partisan comprehensive
immigration reform bills that include our principles.

See Action Page at UFW

The Texas Civil Rights Project just announced
that this year’s banquet speaker will be the real life hero of Hotel
Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina, who transformed his hotel into life-saving
shelter during an infamous season of genocide.

Or (to mix our literary allusions) as Thoreau very nearly said:

Practically speaking, the opponents to education reform in Texas are not a
couple hundred politicians in Austin, but a hundred thousand merchants
and farmers in the rest of the state, who are more interested in
commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not
prepared to do justice to children or their education, cost what it may. I quarrell not with elected foes, but with those who elect them, who
co-operate with them and do their bidding, the voters, without whom the
elected suits would be harmless, perhaps even willing to appear able.

Would you re-elect a representative, senator, lieutenant governor, or
governor who helped to pass a state income tax for education? Yes or
No?  See poll at home page, because after a while, we have to ask
if WE are ready to help solve this problem.  Can’t blame the lege
if nobody’s votin’ on THIS question.

Note: The first ‘yes’ vote comes from the
editor. In the past 48 hours the poll has gone from a Lone Star state,
to a Texas two-step, and now look! There’s a crowd! Three (count em)
Texans on
record.  At this rate, we reach a quorum for justice in some
future millennium yet to be calendared.  Hang in there, children
of Texas, if we won’t fund the schools, we’ll damn sure build the
prisons!

‘No Nonsence in November’ has a campaign website, announced this week
by
Texas political prodigy Glen Maxey, aiming to defeat that ugly
amendment to constitutionalize homophobia in Texas. Remember,
Texas was one of
the few states to turn back ballot ID, and we can beat this
Republican-led effort at public paranoia, too. Here’s where you go to
stay on message:

http://www.nononsenseinnovember.com/
Sez the website: "For the first time in history, you are being asked to put a
prohibition against someone’s human rights in a document that has long
been seen as the place where you grant and expand protections for
people."

See also TCRR review of initiative to constitutionalize homophobia in Texas.