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Sometimes it is quite easy to recognize an historical moment. In the past few weeks, more than two million Americans have demonstrated against proposed immigration reform measures. 300,000 took to the streets of Chicago. Tens of thousands are marching in Costa Mesa, in normally conservative Orange County. Recently, between 500,000 and one million demonstrators jammed the streets of downtown Los Angeles. It was, by far, the most massive demonstration in the history of the city. By any measure, we are living through a unique period of the nation’s history....

The principal focus of ire is HR 4437, the bill authored by Republican James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. Broadly speaking, the bill would make it a felony to enter the US without documentation. The effect would be to make criminals of millions of hard-working residents of our country who, by the way, pay billions of dollars in taxes. These people would live in peril of being deported to their countries of origin, potentially dividing millions of American families.

Furthermore, the bill would make it a crime for any American citizen to aid an undocumented person. Church and charity workers, employers, and kind-hearted neighbors could conceivably be jailed. No wonder the demonstrators have numbered in the millions!

The issue is much more complicated than the Sensenbrenner Bill, however. At least two immigration-related bills are being considered in the Senate. One bill, by Majority Leader Bill Frist (R–Tennessee), would green-light repressive security measures.

Another, supported by all the Democrats and four of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, proposes to initiate a guest worker program and establish a path to citizenship for undocumented workers currently living in the US. As of March 31, the latter bill had been passed by the Judiciary Committee. Either Senate bill would, upon passage, have to be reconciled with the Neanderthal House bill.

Sometimes the “politics of the street” is much broader than the “politics of the Beltway.” The Great March, in Downtown LA on Saturday, March 25th, had evolved, by mid-week, into a nascent student movement as thousand of students from schools throughout Southern California were walking out of class. Their agenda included not just opposition to the Sensenbrenner Bill but such other issues as educational improvements. By the end of that week, even expert political analysts professed amazement at the unfolding drama.

In an effort to assist Northeast Democrats in understanding what is happening, the upcoming meetings of the club will feature panels on Immigration Issues. On April 19, I have invited the following guests to speak on the indicated subjects:

• Congressman Xavier Becerra on “Status of Current House and Senate Legislation,”
• Pete Navarro (lawyer/Affordable Housing Commissioner) on “The March of 2006,” and
• Father Richard Estrada (parish priest at “La Placita”) on “Effects of the Proposed Legislation.”

Help yourself understand the momentous events happening around us. Come to Arco Iris on April 19 at 7:00 p.m. for this important panel presentation.

—Bill Rumble

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