The Day Without a Mexican...or a German, or an Israeli

In 2004 an amazing movie satire was released called A Day Without A Mexican, which hypothesized what would happen if every Mexican, legal or not, suddenly vanished from all of California.

Yesterday that hypothesis came true. The filmakers had this to say about it.

In the spring of 2006, reality has imitated art. Immigration issues have exploded onto the national stage and currently there is a call for a National Boycott on May 1st -- No work, no school, no buying, no selling -- in support of immigration reform in the United States.

All artists dream of changing the world. Our goal is to create work that is relevant to our times. If our work has encouraged social change, that is the ultimate satisfaction. In making this film, our objective was to open the dialogue on the issue of immigration by including factual information and alternative views that would change the terms of the discussion. This in the hope of having the Latino community take its rightful place as an important contributor and player in the history and future of the United States. The film was meant as a fable, a warning to be heeded.

Today, the fable has come to life. As we see reality and our imagination become one, we want to encourage people to participate in the struggle as they are able. We will be documenting the process and the outcome in hopes of furthering the discussion of the contribution made to our society and economy by not just the Latino immigrants but all immigrants. That these contributions increase productivity and raise the standard of living for all of us.

Yesterday's demonstrations were clearly not limited to just Mexicans. One of the most amazing things about it was the broad range of immigrants, from Iran, Germany, Ethiopia, Australia, who all came together to protest the threat of making a minor immigration violation into a Felony.

Feelings and reactions were mixed - from those in LA who felt that "Traffic has never been better" to those who were outraged that "law-breakers" would dare to demand for the ability to continue flouting our laws.

From the Los Angeles Times (which wasn't included in SusanG's roundup of coverage).

Feeling power in their numbers, hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully, even joyously, through the streets of Los Angeles on Monday as part of a nationwide demonstration of economic and political clout by immigrants -- legal and illegal.

Thousands of businesses were shuttered on the "Day Without Immigrants" as workers and their families, most of them from Mexico, participated in a boycott of work and commerce, rallying to demonstrate their importance to the U.S. economy and to demand changes in immigration law that would give illegal migrants a path to citizenship.

...

A crowd estimated by Los Angeles police at 250,000 marched to City Hall in the morning, after which many determined demonstrators made their way, on foot or by subway, to MacArthur Park for a larger march along Wilshire Boulevard. Police estimated that crowd at 400,000 and reported few problems.

With nearly a half-million in LA alone, not to mention some reports of nearly 600,000 in Chicago, the scope and scale of this March seems unprecedented - at least to me.

The latest polls indicate that feeling on immigration is almost evenly split - with an even 45% feeling that immigrants "Help more than Hurt" the nation as the reverse.

61% of respondants were in favor of the question "If you had to make a choice, would you favor deporting immigrants in America who are not legal citizens and do not have work permits, or would you favor allowing these immigrants to stay in America as long as they pass a security check, meet certain conditions, and pay taxes?"

68% of respondants were in favor of some phase plan which would allow some long term illegal immigrants, who pass a security check, a form of amnesty while others who have only recently arrived are sent back in order to re-enter legally.

We have to come to realize that we are primarily a nation of immigrants and that at it's basic core the impulse to deny other the oppurtunities that our forebears or ourselves have had is just plain selfish.

Since the early 1920's our Immigration Policies have been Racist at their Core in response to that era's "Yellow Peril". Quotas limiting the number of legal Visa allowed to desirables and undesirables have been closely controlled for decades, in clear violation of the Civil Rights Act prohibition against discrimination based on national origin.

SEC. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.

SEC. 202. All persons shall be entitled to be free, at any establishment or place, from discrimination or segregation of any kind on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin, if such discrimination or segregation is or purports to be required by any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, rule, or order of a State or any agency or political subdivision thereof.

How can we continue to insist that we enforce laws which are inherently unfair and discriminatory? It's far past time we looked at the quality of these people, not the nation of their birth when assessing the question of whether they "deserve" the oppurtunities and freedoms we take for granted and frequently fail to appreciate. We do indeed need reform, but a "Guest Worker" or a "Amnesty" program is just playing around at the margins, we need to address the heart of the issue. Just who do we let in and why? How do we accomplish this fairly, and at the same time protect ourselves from those who wish to exploit our immigration law to harm us?

Whether yesterday's protest accomplishes the desired effect and helps establish a method for illegals to pay back their debt to our society and eventually enter with "full docmentation" proudly remains to be seen - but what can't be easily brushed off is the fact that these millions of people are showing a love for this country and it's tradition of free speech and freedom to assemble that many of us have long forgetten and/or rarely show.

"If you want something, you have to fight for it," said Jaime Torres, 19, an illegal immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico, and a student at Los Angeles City College. "We have to be respectful, but we have to raise our voices."

We could all learn a thing or three living for a day without a Mexican (or a few Million).

Vyan

(Now listening to "War Pigs" by Faith No More on Truth 2 Power Radio)