A New Civil Rights Movement?

by Chhandasi Pandya; April 11, 2006

ZNET

Many observers and participants are calling the waves of demonstrations across the U.S. over the last two weeks the birth of the “new civil rights movement.”

The truth of this observation will be seen in the days to come, and the sustained action of the immigrant justice and more broad-based initiatives. Certainly, the political landscape in America is ripe for such action. From the disenfranchisement of African-American voters in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, to the rounding up and deportations of thousands of South Asian and Arab men and women in the wake of September 11, to the widespread displacement of New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, large populations within the United States are seeing dramatic threats to their daily civic and economic lives.

By naming the struggle as it is happening, participants in the movement for immigrant justice are building momentum, giving it a character that commands attention.

While much reportage of the last month of demonstrations across the U.S. has focused on HR4377, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, the fight for immigrant justice goes much farther back. Community groups and communities of color across the States have been talking about the state of immigration for years in their own media. Undocumented workers, documented immigrants and the larger communities in which they live have been criminalized for as long as they have been here. The unprecedented protests are a response to Congressional moves to institutionalize this criminalization and dehumanization.

Indeed, the Sensenbrenner bill, named after its author, House member James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), would “make illegal U.S. presence a crime.” (1). It would criminalize whoever “assists, encourages, directs, or induces a person to come to or enter the United States.” (2). The language of the bill is also replete with references to terrorism, port security and would “reimburse” sheriffs at “designated counties” along the Southern U.S. border for handing undocumented people over to federal authorities, if authorized to do so. Furthermore, the legislation would allow the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to privatize the shipping of undocumented people to detention facilities (3).  Much like the privatization of security occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan, such a measure would be a boon for contractors.  

 Such unprecedented measures introduced in the House bill, which passed in December 2005 by a vote of 239 – 182, have served as a call to action among immigrant justice groups and supporters across the country. 

Meanwhile, a broader piece of legislation on immigration reform in the Senate, stalled on April 7. The Senate legislation calls for a guest-worker program which could eventually enable undocumented workers to get documentation. It is strikingly similar to measures proposed by President Bush in the beginning of January 2004. The guest-worker program has been called by immigrant justice advocates little more than “revolving door” immigration (4). The Senate bill would allow for undocumented people to possibly obtain citizenship in at least 11 years. In order to obtain citizenship, these people would have to pay $1,000 in fines and apply for a six-year non-immigrant visa. After six years and another $1,000 fine, and after passing a background check, demonstrating they are trying to learn English and know about U.S. civics, undocumented immigrants would be allowed to apply for a green card. If undocumented immigrants become “resident aliens,” they may then apply for citizenship after 5 years (5).

 If all of the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S. were able to reach citizenship status – paying $2000 each – the U.S. government stands to make $22B in revenue.(6)

While Congress takes a two-week hiatus, Senators are apparently going to their constituencies to see what they want regarding immigration reform. Senate leaders vow to come back and pass the reform bill. However, even once some version of the Senate bill is passed, the Congress will have vote on a comprise piece of legislation that between the Sensenbrenner bill and the Senate bill. Observers on all sides are unclear as to the nature of the final bill.

As millions of people in America take to the streets demanding a formalized process of legal entry and the guarantee of citizenship for those undocumented people already in the country, Congressional leaders will haggle over two bills which do little for justice for immigrants. Nonetheless, the importance of the demonstrations should not be underestimated. A community of people and its supporters, who have faced attack and criminalization for years, are organizing openly after years of civic exclusion. The opportunity for other marginalized communities in the U.S. to join and support this could make 2006 a defining year in this country’s history.

What follows is a reverse chronology of some of the events organized surrounding the issue of immigrant justice over the last month.

Reverse Chronology:

May 1 – “The Great American Boycott of 2006.”  Organizers are proposing a national general economic strike and encouraging participants to stay home from work, school and not buy or sell anything. Organizers are further pushing participants to hold rallies “round symbols of economic trade in your areas (stock exchanges, anti-immigrant corporations, etc.)” (7)

April 10 - Rallies in over 100 cities on April 10, including over 100,000 in New York and Washington DC

April 9 – About 500,000 people march in Dallas, Texas (Another 30,000 march in Fort Worth, Texas)

April 1 – Over 10,000 people march over Brooklyn Bridge in New York City

March 27 – 31: Nationwide walkouts by students

March 25 – Historic rally in Los Angeles brings out over 1 million people

Chhandasi Pandya is a freelance journalist based in New  York.

(1) Summary of house bill, available through the Library of Congress.
(2) Summary of house bill, available through the Library of Congress.
(3) Point-By-Point explanation of bill from the American Immigration Lawyers Association
 (4) For more on Bush’s January 2004 proposal:
 (5) For a good question and answer on the issue, see the National Council of La Raza
(6) Calculated as 11 million * $2,000 - a simple calculation not including administrative and other costs, taxes, interest.
(7) For information about the various demonstrations across the country, see here