Immigration

Biking Beyond Bigotry: The Best Time of My Life

Written by Guest Blogger

By Kiko

The days between April 28 and May 6 were some of the best moments of my life.

During that time, we – the riders of the Biking Beyond Bigotry tour – embarked on a spectacular trip full of challenges and adventures, happiness and solidarity.

It was a bike trip and a speaking tour with an important objective: to spread awareness about how socially and culturally prejudiced some environmental activists are; to show that these individuals only live for themselves, without caring about the harm they are causing others and for whole families.

Politics

Cross-Post: Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Labor Law, But It’s No Model for SB 1070

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Originally published on Colorlines by Jamilah King – Thursday, May 26 2011

Today the Supreme Court ruled to uphold an Arizona law that punishes businesses for hiring undocumented workers. Yet while the ruling on the four-year-old law is considered by some to be a test run for Arizona’s much-maligned SB 1070, immigrant rights advocates are careful to point out that today’s ruling should not be used as a barometer for the impending federal battle over one of the nation’s harshest anti-immigrant laws.

“Today’s decision is a narrow one that only upholds Arizona’s specific law on employment verification,” the ACLU said in a press release. “The decision has nothing to do with SB 1070

… Read more

Politics

Cross-post: Sponsor Of South Carolina Anti-Sharia Law Claims 99% Of Terrorist Acts Committed By Muslims

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Originally published on thinkprogress.org.

All Terrorists are Muslims…Except the 94% that Aren’t

Sponsor of South Carolina Anti-Sharia Law Claims 99% Of Terrorist Acts Committed By Muslims

By Lee Fang

At least a dozen states have proposed nearly identical laws designed to ban “Sharia law” in American courts. In South Carolina — despite the testimony of a law professor noting there is no evidence of Muslim traditions being imposed in judicial settings — a group of legislators have joined the anti-Sharia bandwagon and offered a bill. Earlier this month, ThinkProgress sat down with State Sen. Mike Fair (R-SC), the chief sponsor of the anti-Sharia legislation, to hear his views on the issue.

Politics

Time to Reinvest in Building Strong Communities

Written by George Garza

A couple weeks back, I was listening to NPR’s affiliate station in San Antonio, TPR – KSTX 89.1FM. It was early evening and I’m assuming the show airing may have been rebroadcast. The info, though, was very very timely. The interview featured two military advisors who wrote a document titled “A National Strategic Narrative” and signed it “Mr. Y”, a throwback to an article written by George F. Keenan, originally titled “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” signed by and given the pseudonym “Mr. X” or just “X.”

I am usually dialed into NPR, forcibly keeping up with the chaos of the globe, with little hesitation to turn the car off… Read more

New FAIR Report Disappears From Website

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

The anti-immigrant group Federation for American Immigration Reform released a new report yesterday titled “Immigration, Poverty and Low Wage Earners: The Harmful Effect of Unskilled Immigrants on American Workers.” However the report mysteriously disappeared from FAIR’s website today. The report can still be found on another website here.

Immigration

Georgia’s HB 87 On Your Mind?

Written by Glenn Hutchinson

Georgia, oh Georgia, why do you want to be Arizona?

I said, Georgia, why this new law, HB 87?  It’s about as bad as Arizona’s SB1070.

Your governor, Nathan Deal, tried unsuccessfully for years to end birthright citizenship when he was a Congressman in D.C.  Now he’s won a victory in making you a state likely to be boycotted.

Here’s the bill:

  • Under HB 87, Georgia police will ask a person’s immigration status if they suspect that the person is illegal when stopping them for a “criminal violation.”  (Of course, what makes a person look “illegal”?)
  • Give a ride to an undocumented immigrant?  You could get a $1,000 fine and jail time.

Biking Beyond Bigotry: Days of Heat, Nights of Progress

Written by Guest Blogger

by Mario Wyon

Most recently I was living in southern Mexico near Guatemala, in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.

I gave notice at my jobs, my house, and my community. I meditated on the idea of biking for 350 miles in Arizona. I surrendered to the wave of energy and opened my heart to the possibility of just doing my best, with the hope that it would be enough.

And, thankfully, it was.

Immigration

Anti-immigrant Groups Disavow Bigotry, their Facebook Walls Tell Another Story

Written by Brian Schultz

A compassionate anti-immigrant movement? Most organized restrictionists want you to believe it’s possible. With conspicuous disavowals of bigotry and chauvinism, anti-immigrant honchos allege that the ethnicity or nationality of the “offenders” does not motivate their stance, and that they will not tolerate racist interpretations of their arguments. Organizationally, it’s a necessary move and—who knows?—maybe they even believe it.

The truth is, the anti-immigrant movement is fully aware of its propensity to attract the least savory kind of politicking. And this is especially true of the famed Tanton network. After a New York Times article exposed the views of their founder, white nationalist John Tanton, the affiliated groups he founded and funded have… Read more

Politics

Cross-post: Nativist vs. Nativist

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Gratefully borrowed from the pages of the NC Dream Team blog:

May 24, 2011 | by domenicpowell

VDARE, one of the hardest-nosed anti-immigrant screed machines out there is calling out the Tanton Network for being “cowardly conservatives” unwilling to own their racism. After a lengthy piece on the founding of FAIR and its white supremacist connections in the New York Times, its founder and architect of the “Tanton Network”, John Tanton, stepped down.

According to VDARE, this aquiecense, the fear of being called a racist–or being associated with racism–is unpatriotic. True “immigration patriots” like themselves have to be willing to stand up for what they believe.

CIS Releases New Report

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

The anti-immigrant Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a new report this week titled, “Built to Fail Deception and Disorder in America’s Immigration Courts.” The report calls for an increase of the attrition through enforcement campaign championed by anti-immigrant groups by urging  reform in the immigration courts in the United States.