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Maybe you never watch tv, listen to the radio or talk to your neighbors. Maybe you never leave your house and have food delivered to your door. But if you're the least bit aware of current events, then you know that today, May 1, 2006, there were rallies and protests for immigration reform in the US. Many businesses were completely closed to allow employees to attend the rallies. Many of those businesses are food-related.
Here in LA, the biggest impact was the masses of people in the streets, but I did notice that many restaurants in my neighborhood were closed in support.
Did your stomach feel the impact of a day without an immigrant?
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5-02-2006 @3:40AM James said... Many businesses closed to support the rally? Maybe in the downtown LA area, but out in the burbs of the valleys, it was business as usual. I for one went out bought more stuff than normal just because I felt like it.
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5-02-2006 @10:39AM Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said... My lawn got mowed. Our office cleaning staff bailed out, but it didn't make much difference because they're pretty damn lazy to start with and don't do a good job when they ARE working. We ate at Ambala Dhaba, which seems to employ mostly Indians, so no problem there.
The best part? I got home in fifteen minutes instead of my usual thirty to forty-five. Here's a sentiment echoed by everyone I've talked to here: If that's life without illegals, we'll take it!
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5-02-2006 @11:04AM Silicon Valley Worker Bee said... My co-worker foolishly tried to get a burrito for lunch. No dice at any of the local burrito places or the neraby Mexican supermarket, either -- all closed.
On the upside, there seemed like there was much less traffic!
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5-02-2006 @11:46AM jmchez said... Here in New York I noticed that my gym was mostly empty in the afternoon. At first I couldn't figure out why the rallies would keep people away. However, it turned out that the thing keeping people away was the beautiful weather.
Also, all immigrant "bodegas" and grocery stores remained open. Guess, they weren't going to sacrifice a day's earnings.
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5-02-2006 @1:54PM Jon said... Here in Worcester, MA, 67 businesses closed in support of immigrant workers' rights. I attended a rally downtown in support. There were about 2,000 people there, and i didn't see any counter-protesters. I didn't buy anything, then again i never buy stuff anyways. I also skipped class to go to the rally.
One thing to note is that organizers in different cities and involved with different organizations advocated different things. Some called for boycotting and closing of businesses but others didn't push it for fear of alienating the people we are trying to persuade. It was understood that if not going to work meant trouble for you from your employer or you really needed the money, then going to work just made sense.
Many people couldn't miss work because of asshole bosses, fear of police harassment, need to work, being undocumented, etc.
It is also important to note how many factories and farms closed down because of May 1. After a couple days of being shut down people would certainly notice.
If you really don't see the significance of immigrant workers in our society then you are lieing to yourself.
May 1 was not just about undocumented immagrants, who are already a big part of the american economy (over 11 million people), it was about immigrant worker's rights, workers' rights, American immigration policy, and racism.
BTW my family immigrated here from Europe several gerations ago, and i support immigrant rights.
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5-02-2006 @8:45PM James said... Jon, you're fooling yourself. Have you even looked into the immigration policies of any other countries? Go back to school and study the facts and not propaganda.
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5-03-2006 @11:35AM Jon said... God damn. I just wrote out a whole response and accidentally closed the tab. This will be a condensed version.
We need immigrants and immigrants deserve rights because they are people. Nuff said.
Immigration policy as it stands now in the US is unfair and needlessly complicated, encouraging border hopping and people to stay with expired visas. It tears families apart and deports people back to countries they didn't grow up in.
Immigrants are just a scapegoat, as they have always been throughout history. The real problems are capitalism, free trade, government, racism, corporations having way too much power, etc.
Let us not forget the contributions of immigrants in this country. Workers' rights is a huge one that we take for granted these days. Immigrant workers fought hard for and died for workers rights, such as the 8 hour work day, the right to unionize, etc.
When I have time i will look at immigration policy of other countries today, but I see the USA as being in a completely different situation than most other countries, so I'm not sure what the point would be. How about you look at history and economics. Look at how integral those already working here are and listen to immigrants and those who don't normally have a voice. Look into the maquiladoras, the expoitation of Mexican workers then the abandoning of them. Look into the underdevelopment and the medling in politics in Latin American countries by the USA and corporations. Look at how capitalists are taking away jobs and lowering wages, not the immigrants.
There is way more to say in favor of immigrants' rights, but I don't see this as a productive place to discuss them.
And remember no one is saying open up the borders to everyone. We are merely saying that immigrants are underappreciated and have to jump through rediculous hoops to stay here. Also, undocumented workers are here and already are important parts of our economy and need to be recognized as such and given rights, because they are already a part of our communities and they are already providing for us. Giving them rights, as well as responsibilities that come with being recognized would benefit the most people the most.
sorry for the ramblings. Again, there is a lot to say.
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