Immigration

Post-Postville: It’s About Worker Exploitation, not ICE

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Had ICE been smart a year ago today, it would have claimed—with credibility—that it raided the Postville, Iowa Agriprocessors plant in order to save the workers it seized that infamous day. Postville and the 2008 ICE raid is not simply the story of failed immigration policy; it is the story of years of indifference to the exploitation of the nation’s low-wage workforce.

Long before the raid thrust Postville into the lexicon of the immigrant rights movement, Agriprocessors exploited its workforce with impunity. For years, fear, intimidation, injuries, short-pay, and under-age hiring characterized everyday life on the packinghouse lines. State and federal agencies responsible for enforcement of labor and safety laws were absent, indifferent, or simply… Read more

Politics

The Real Pandemic in America is Hate Crimes Targeting Blacks

Written by Eric Ward

Much has happened since federal hate crime legislation passed out of the U.S House of Representatives two weeks ago. Last week similar legislation, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was introduced on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The bi-partisan legislation, named after hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, would allow the U.S. government to prosecute hate crime violence within areas of federal jurisdiction.

Other things have happened as well. In Washington State, an African-American male was repeatedly hit in the head with a large rock and punched in the face. His crime? Having the nerve to be in the company of a… Read more

Blog Highlight: Edwards Campaign Aides had “Nuclear Option”

Written by Jill Garvey

I enjoyed Nicole Belle’s Sunday post on the ‘nuclear option’ for Edwards’ campaign aides. Apparently when affair rumors became increasingly likely, his aides formulated a plan to pull the plug on Edwards if it looked like he would win the primary. Party people through and through. Nicole put it all in perspective when she wrote,

Meanwhile, may I express some exasperation at the investigation of the money paid to Rielle Hunter by the Edwards campaign for videotaping as something critical to our democracy and yet we’ve known that the Bush administration lost NINE BILLION dollars in Iraq and there has been not one investigation? It’s not an either/or proposition, but c’mon, there has

… Read more

International

Mother’s Day in Colombia

Written by Katie Bezrouch

Did your mom receive a box of chocolates today? Or Maybe a dozen roses?

Both of these products are primarily grown and processed outside of the U.S., and both are available to purchase fair-trade. However, most people still opt for the cheaper option, and to buy gifts (flowers especially) for loved ones that were produced in conditions unbeknown to the consumer. Being part of the low income bracket myself, I understand thoroughly why it can be difficult to choose the higher-priced item no matter what the circumstance. Even if I am rigidly aware of a human rights conflict sleeping in the product, I still feel pulled towards the cheaper counterpart. As do most people.

Dorothy Day: Protester, Journalist, Someday a Saint?

Written by Joan Flanagan

The last time Dorothy Day went to jail was at age 75 while protesting with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers supporting grape workers in California. The first time she went to jail was at age 20 with a group of suffragists who were demonstrating at the White House in favor of giving women the right to vote. In between she co-founded the largest organization of Roman Catholic lay people for peace and social justice: The Catholic Worker. On May 1, 1933, Dorothy Day and a handful of volunteers started selling the Catholic Worker Newspaper in Union Square in New York City for a penny an issue.

©Bob Fitch Photo

They sold 2,500 papers… Read more

Picture This! Sheriff Joe’s Racy(ism) Photo-Op

Written by Guest Blogger

By Dan Weiss

On Saturday protesters in Phoenix held a ‘Walk for Respect’ to bring attention to Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil rights abuses against Latino residents. After seeing footage of the march, I am amazed that the protesters were able to remain peaceful. A group of white nationalists showed up to taunt them with racial slurs, salutes to Hitler, and support of Sheriff Joe.

The few minutes of video footage I saw turned my stomach, but the truly shocking part was seeing hard-core white racists chatting up Sheriff Joe before the marchers arrived. They assured him that they “had… Read more

Politics

Dispatch from Sarajevo

Written by Ana Turck

I recently returned from a week-long visit to Sarajevo. Flying into Sarajevo airport and watching the awe-inspiring mountain ranges and green hills, I could not shake off the memories of my escape over them during the war. As the plane circled the valley I recognized Mount Igman and the winding road that my mother, baby brother and I took in a rattling, old Yugo taxicab during a brief lifting of the 3 year siege in the spring of 1995.

Recalling my escape, I re-lived the same soul-emptying sadness that I felt as I glanced, for the last time, at the city I loved so much. These thoughts and the anticipation of reuniting with my family,… Read more

Immigration

A Stunning Denial of Justice in Shenandoah

Written by Jill Garvey

While the world was glued to flu coverage last week, justice crumbled in tiny Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. The tragedy began almost a year ago when Luis E. Ramirez was beaten to death by a group of white male teenagers. Reports of the attack describe it as racially-motivated and brutal. A report by CNN stated, “After a night of drinking, the teens taunted the undocumented worker with racial epithets, pummeled him to the ground and then kicked him in the head, court documents charge. He died in a hospital two days later.”

The trial for two of Ramirez’s attackers ended on Friday when Derrick Donchak, 19, and Brandon Piekarsky, 17, were acquitted of aggravated assault, reckless… Read more

Politics

FAIR and Unbalanced: Signs of “State Rights” Strategy to Trump Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Signs are emerging that FAIR-associated candidates may be laying groundwork for a collective state electoral strategy aimed at trumping gains from proposed comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.

In a strategy reminiscent of bygone “states rights” claims, which were molded by segregationists to fight federal civil rights laws, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) politicos have declared for office in four states, as reported in this week’s Fair Exposed by the Center for New Community.

If successful, the strategy would not only advance the restrictionist immigration agenda, but would also pose new threats to hard-won voter and civil rights.

Leading the pack, unsurprisingly,

Holocaust Revisionism, Swine Flu, Invasions and the Rise of Anti-Immigrant Con Men

Written by Eric Ward

Over the last six years what has become apparent is that the anti-immigrant movements’ new motto has become “all’s fair in the name of bigotry and intolerance!” There isn’t a moral line they’re not willing to cross, which is evidenced by the gambit of organizations, like the Center for Immigration Studies, who are blatantly guilty of data manipulation and of recent attempts to spread xenophobia by playing on public fears of Swine Flu.

One month ago an organization calling itself the Council of Seniors sent out a slick solicitation letter in an attempt to frighten senior citizens into a donation of $19.00. They claim that by simply filling… Read more