John Lewis
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March 17, 2008
Video of the March Against the Wall
Posted by John Moore under activism, ahimsa, Besteiro Middle School, border patrol, Border Wall, Brownsville, citizenship, Civil Disobedience, criminalizing immigration, Declaration of Independence, dehumanization, economics, gandhi, human rights, humanity, immigration, Indentured Servitude, John Lewis, La Frontera, law, Legal theory, Letter to Congress, Los Indios, love, Martin Luther King, Middle School, mlk, NAFTA, national security, nonviolence, Open Borders, Presidential Candidate, Presidential Candidates, racism, reconciliation, Slavery, terrorismLeave a Comment
March 13, 2007
Open Migration, not Guest Worker Program
Posted by John Moore under Chinese Exclusion Act, criminalizing immigration, human rights, immigration, Indentured Servitude, John Lewis, Open Borders, Slavery, Southern Poverty Law Center1 Comment
The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report yesterday, stating that the current system of exploiting undocumented laborers working in the United States is “Close to Slavery.” The article, which I encourage you to read, can be found here.
How did we end up with a system where some, based on citizenship (which is almost entirely a function of place of birth), can expect one wage while others cannot? It hasn’t always been the case. From 1776 until 1882, immigration to the United States was open. That all ended with the Chinese Exclusion Act. That Act ushered in an immigration system based on racism which still exists today.
From 1882 to 1965, our immigration laws were explicitly racist. They aren’t so overt now, but the same quota system that started in 1924 exists today – with the same intention and the same affects. Immigration restrictions are designed to keep people (specifically brown people) out, and that is exactly what they do.
For a detailed history of U.S. immigration law, click here.
And the leaders of the Southern Poverty Law Center aren’t the only ones pointing out the similarities between the criminalizing of immigrant workers and slavery.
Our civil rights heroes such as John Lewis, have said the same thing. For more discussion on that, follow this link.
Nonviolent Migration 