No Mas! No More!

Yesterday, I went to an Immigrants Rights rally in downtown Asheville. The group originally started at the Mills Manufacturing plant and walked five miles to City-County Plaza. The announcement the group sent out said this:

National Day of Action AGAINST RAIDS & DEPORTATIONS *Please wear white*

October 12, 2008
STOP racist attacks used by I.C.E.
MARCH WITH US
Today, the US & European governments are legislating an assortment of laws to criminalizeundocumented immigrant workers. Immigrant workers that after all were FORCED out of their home countries by the neoliberal economic policies of globalization and Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA CAFTA). These policies were imposed on Latin America by the US & European governments.

STOP Raids & Deportations NOW! No to break up of immigrant families!
Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the first 100 days of the new federal governments. A DAY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

When they arrived at the steps of the County Courthouse, one of the speakers (a man, pictured below) commented on how it was illegal for some members of society to do things like drink from a water fountain, sit at a lunch counter, or ride in the front of a bus not so long ago in the USA. And he clearly pointed out how such "illegal" activities for some members of our country, but not others, was clearly a result of racism. And the same is holding true today when some members of our community are arrested for simple things like driving a car or working a job to provide for their families. It is all based on racism, and put into place by immigration policies that insure cheap and scared and cowed labor force. In short, the federal actors in this immigration drama are doing it on purpose, just like the Jim Crow politicians in the south of the USA did it on purpose a few decades back.

And, as I have often pointed out - the fact that the Buncombe County Sheriff's office is helping to enforce these laws set by man also means they are violating the laws of God. And that sentiment is clearly seen in some of the signs present at this Immigrant Rights rally - drawn straight from the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus.

So, the main speaker said today, we are going to march to Buncombe County Sheriff's office and teach him some Spanish: NO MAS! This means no more to the inhuman and dreadful enforcement of the very bad laws and policies on our books.

And, if they want to stop 'illegal' immigrant to this country, we need to change those laws and start arresting the employers. We need to have working permits for people who want to come to our country and work. And, since we are a nation of immigrants, we should welcome with open arms anyone who wants to work and contribute to our society..... since this is what built our country. These are all pictures I took on a fabulous fall day in Asheville.