Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Immigrant students march in Uptown against new bill

More than 50 students are expected to converge on Marshall Park tomorrow to protest recent state legislation they feel targets Latino communities, encourages racial profiling and will ban undocumented immigrant students from attending public colleges.

Advocates are particularly concerned about House Bill 343: Support Law Enforcement/Safe Neighborhoods introduced this month by Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow.

Some advocates say HB 343 is the most egregious bill against immigrants ever introduced in the NC General Assembly.

The bill, among other things, instructs officers to determine the immigration status of those arrested or detained, makes it illegal to transport undocumented people in a vehicle, and bans illegal immigrants from attending public colleges.

Organized by United 4 The Dream, a youth-led advocacy group within the Latin American Coalition, marchers will meet in Marshall Park at 5:30 and then march through Uptown Charlotte.

Elver Barrios, co-founder of United 4 the Dream, says that HB 343 will force out many bright students who just want to work and be given the chance to contribute.

“We are tired of always being pushed back and targeted…,” said Barrios. “We did not choose to come to the United States but our parents made a choice to bring us along to give us opportunities that we would’ve never had in our home countries. Now that we are here and we have made this our second home, we will not give up the fight.”

For more information, contact 704-941-2542.

22 comments:

Unknown said...

So blame your rapes for raping our country as you too will rape our country. Repair your country and make it great insteading of hijacking ours. Illegals are squeezing the life out of Americans. Go back, Go back

Sandra said...

If I, an American citizen were to do something to bring the attention of the Mexican police while in Mexico I would have to show my pass port. They will check to see if I am there legally. It I break the law I will be prosecuted and either jailed or deported. If I were to illegally immigrate to Mexico they would arrest me and who would care? Why does this only apply the other way? All other countries have the right to find out of those within their borders are there legally, why is it racist when it is done here, the country with the most freedom of all?

lunar366 said...

"Now that we are here and we have made this our second home, we will not give up the fight.”

That statement says it all. Our second home, not first not primary, secondary. That's what they think about AMERICA.

Anonymous said...

i too think its a shame that we have to come to this , but then again if i went to another country illegally.... i chance not only being detained... i chance being shot!!
so why should we make arrangements to glorify the border hoppers? why should everything in our country be changed to benefit them and their lifestyles and above all their language!!! its sad to think after all the schooling i've been thru... i still need a language class just to survive in my own country.
so you want to live here? then get legal! get legit! learn some english!!!

Melissa said...

It is so obvious that you all know nothing about immigration issues please do your homework. I am one of the organizers of tomorrow's event and I have something to say to all of you.

@Anna, they had no choice to come here and are working to benefit our community. They just might be the answer to our recession to bring life to our country. Most of them don't even know the countries they immigrated from and for others going back could mean harm.

@Sandra, really? Have you ever been to Mexico. It doesn't work that way. It is racist because these people are not treated as humans. Nothing is said to "white" immigrants from Canada or Europe who are undocumented. The focus is on latinos and african immigrants.

@lunar It is not a secondary home. To many this is the only home they know. Why should we not let these students give back to the country they call home in a meaningful way?

@jeff First of all "border hoppers" is a very demeaning term reducing these people to less then human. please use language that doesn't demean. I encourage you to do some research and look into how hard it is to learn another language, to gain legal status and to gain services to help you do so. It is incredibly hard to gain legal status and there are few to no services offered to learn english. Most young immigrants understand english and think in ways that are beyond even my understanding as a first language english speaker. People don't give me a hard time to learn another language, but if I spoke spanish the story would be different.

@all I ask that if you are going to make such comments please think about how they make people feel and do your homework. Do some research and maybe you will find the unfairness in bills like HB343

Anonymous said...

I think this is sad people want to do this because those that have the oppurtunity to studdy don't do so and those that want to can. That's why this country faces so much issues because of the unfairness i believe there should be issues done about border control but people should be given the right to an education and transporting illegals in a vehicle being looked as a crime well, that's just low.I think there are more important things to worry about than considering that a crime.

Unknown said...

Melissa, you obviously have only listened to the opponents of LEGAL immigration and not the people who have lived with an illegal population. I left California because of the illegals. They truly believe that California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico were STOLEN from them, therefore they are not here illegally they are just reclaiming their land. They also believe that we should all learn spanish, and they refuse to learn english. They send the majority of the paychecks back to their home country and live 10 people to an apartment to make ends meet. They come over the board on day passes to deliver their children so they can stay here and receive free medical and food stamps. So, if you want to believe that is racial bias go for it, but when a group of people have these beliefs, they are going to be targeted by people who do not.

Unknown said...

I believe that this bill might be a good choice. I mean looking at all these immigrants that come to this country legally and pay taxes, but they don't get all the benefits they need, Versus illegals that come here and grab all the resources for themselves, like medicaid, and didn't have to pay taxes at all. I understand that people come here for better opportunity, but come on, earn a citizenship first and we will all be happy.

Unknown said...

Hey Melissa,
IF you like these people so much, then why don't you move to mexico and take a bunch of them with you?
I am sure with your liberal leaning, you could spread YOUR wealth down there as I don't want my money going to them or them taking jobs others in this country can't get because they are taking all of them.
I am sick of all this liberal stuff and people with spread-the-wealth mentality.

GO HOME and take all the liberals with you Mexicans! You are NOT welcome here!

Larry said...

I too am tired of going to the airport and being asked for ID, and then the banks and all the other times they want to know all about me.

I say if we ask even one person for ID we ask everyone for ID. Or otherwise we ask for no ID. I say support this march.

In fact go to my site www.NoMasIds.com or www.NoMoreIDs.com and end this silly mess once and for all.

If people can not trust you telling them who you are then this is not America.

March for the end to any verification today!!!!

Unknown said...

I think law breakers should be handled in accordance with the law. I know that some of these kids were brought to this country with no choice. As kids they bear no fault for their legal situation but 18 is the age of adulthood in America and at that point they are responsible. I don’t think it is right to punish kids who had no choice in their parent’s decision and I also don’t think it is right to punish the American people for a choice those kids parents made either. How about we jail the parents who knowingly created this situation? I don’t see any racism in the law or how it is applied. I’m sorry but the largest group of people breaking our immigration laws are coming from Mexico, so that group will have the largest focus on them. That is not racist; it is numbers plain and simple. As a black man I lived through times in this country when it was legal (written in to the law) to racially discriminate based on the color of a person’s skin. I find any comparison to that civil rights struggle and choices made by individuals who knowingly broke the laws to so very offensive and hurtful.

Anonymous said...

YOU KNOW WHAT i going to be honest if you guys were actually in these so called "illegals " face i bet half of you would have the balls to say it ....so odds are one you left because you are a close-minded arrogant ,self-centered person ....yea GO BACK ! really why doesn't everyone say that when they are sitting in their beautiful 5 room 2 story house eating your freshly pick vegetables ??? oh yea you guys sure dont remember that talk now huh ?

Unknown said...

Why is there so much hate directed towards a group? This is ridiculous. Does a piece of paper make you better then another person? Does it boost your ego to take basic human rights away from people? What makes them unworthy to have these rights? Please help me understand why...

Pammy said...

@Wendy. Why do we hate people, who have no respect for us? Why do we hate people, who enter our country, without our permission? Why do we hate people, who have STOLEN BILLIONS of our American tax dollars to pay for their K-12 education, instead of that money going to improve the education of our American children? Why do we hate people, who come from Pre-dominantly hispanic countries, but call us racist for being predominantly white? Why do we hate people, who pop out over 300,000 kids, every year and we are forced to pay for it? You want me to go on? We owe these Illegal Aliens nothing. They whine that they were brought here, against their will. Well, they were brought here, against our will. There is no debate. This is not their country. We don't want them here. They are not the victim. The American law-abiding U.S. tax payer is. The Illegals are the bad guys. You give no respect. You get no respect. They are leaving. Whatever it takes.

Pammy said...

One more thing. To all you Illegals that were brought here, by your Illegal Alien parents. If you are over 18, you are an adult. Take responsibility for your life, leave and come back LEGALLY. I know the concept of having to do anything LEGAL, is how for an ILLEGAL to understand. But, that is the ONLY way, you will ever be welcomed in the United State of America.

Unknown said...

@Wendy. Where you see hate directed towards a group, others see factual statements, money and resources being used by people who are breaking the law. When you ask “Does a piece of paper make you better then another person?” other people know paper has nothing to do with this discussion, it’s about the glaring unfairness of some people not having to follow or respect the law. So I ask you Wendy, what makes illegal immigrants feel like they are better than everyone else and they are too good to follow the law like everyone else?

db said...

I noticed the article did not state whether the immigrants are LEGAL or most likely ILLEGAL. If you are ILLEGAL, you have NO legal rights therefore your "rights" have not been vioalted. Get over it and GET OUT!

Anonymous said...

So why is that Hispanic fool dressed like a "banana"?

You don't see Asian kids going around dressed like taco's.

He needs to raise his "cultural awareness" and sensitivity to other "races" outside his own.

Yet, this is so typical of the backward La Raza illegal immigrants from the south of our border.

No wonder people despise them so.

They act like they own this place, when they are immigrants no better than any others and give hard-working legal immigrants a bad image.

Anonymous said...

For those of you who don't know, the "banana" is an insult to Asians on the order of "oreo" to blacks, and "coconut" to other brown skinned people.

When I first saw the photo, I was surprised to see such a thing in the paper.

Would this paper print a photo of a black person dressed as an Oreo cookie? I don't think so.

Why this fool chose to be dressed as a banana for his protest just shows how ignorant these illegal people can be.

Also, a lot of people come here legally. Especially students.
And it is very difficult to get in.

But for these people, it is just so easy, all they do is cross the border and think they are owed something that everyone else has to work for.

Some people who are better students than these cannot get in this country.

They should go home and wait in line like everyone else. Even poor people in third world countries know how to queue.

Unknown said...

To all those talking about the "this bill is bananas!" costume: That is a young woman. She is Asian-American. She can wear a banana to protest if she wants.

The matricula consular is a biometrically-precise form of foreign ID. It is not a fake ID, it is not being used to get US government services or vote or anything else. If you were in, say, France, and you needed to prove your identity, you'd want to be able to use your US passport or driver's license, right? DUH.

Anna JJ6, I pray you never experience an actual rape, though if you did, you might understand just how overheated, offensive and frankly SICK your comparison is. Grow up.

MB said...

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Anonymous said...

IN response to meliss. Comments are in ()
they had no choice to come here (some did some didn't) and are working to benefit our community. (No they are working to benefit themselves. Our community is working to benefit them whether we want to or not) They just might be the answer to our recession to bring life to our country (They might not be. They haven't yet. Every individual is differnt). Most of them don't even know the countries they immigrated from (lie) and for others going back could mean harm (Oh well. apply for asylum...).


It is racist because these people are not treated as humans. (That is not racism)
Nothing is said to "white" immigrants from Canada or Europe who are undocumented. (Nothing is said to most illegal aliens regardless of race or origin apparently) The focus is on latinos and african immigrants. (No it isn't the bill says illegal immigrants cant go to public colleges. If you don't have the papers you don't go. you are lying about the racism. It appears that primarily latino people are asking for the bill not to pass. Most "Canadians" and "africans" and "white" illegal immigrants don't seem to feel the need to protest.)

@lunar It is not a secondary home. To many this is the only home they know. Why should we not let these students give back to the country they call home in a meaningful way?
If it isn't someone's second home why did they refer to it as their second home. If they want to contribute in a meaningful way enlist in the military like so many legal immigrants do. Knock out the citizenship with that and qualify for college after enlistment.)

First of all "border hoppers" is a very demeaning term reducing these people to less then human. (It's a slang mildly derogatory term it doesn't reduce anyone to less than human) please use language that doesn't demean. I encourage you to do some research and look into how hard it is to learn another language, to gain legal status and to gain services to help you do so. It is incredibly hard to gain legal status and there are few to no services offered to learn english.
(No more or no less than the rest of the people doing it legally)
People don't give me a hard time to learn another language, but if I spoke spanish the story would be different.(What does that even mean. You speak English why would someone give you a hard time. If you only spoke spanish or any other language than english people would give you a hard time because they don't understand you.)

Do some research and maybe you will find the unfairness in bills like HB343
(Its unfair it isn't already passed)