Activism Among Undocumented Immigrants

Emily Bazar writes in USA Today:

Illegal immigrants, who for years have been largely silent and sometimes off-the-books providers of labor in local economies, now increasingly are standing up to be heard. Many figure that the risk of speaking out is outweighed by fears they will lose their jobs or even be deported if they don't make their case to the public.
The in-your-face activism is in response to intensifying crackdowns on illegal immigrants by local and federal authorities in recent months. Dozens of cities and counties, frustrated by Congress' failure to pass a law to revamp the overwhelmed immigration system, have adopted their own policies aimed at discouraging illegal immigration. Most of the local measures have penalized landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and businesses that hire them.
Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates reduced immigration, says the burst of activism signals desperation among immigrants disappointed that a proposed congressional overhaul of the immigration system collapsed in June. The plan would have created a process for some illegal immigrants to earn legal status.
Bill Hing, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, who specializes in immigration, says legal immigrants are participating because some of their loved ones are here illegally. "The community is made up of a lot of mixed families," Hing says. "There might be 10-to-13 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. You can multiply that five or six times to determine the number of people it affects, because of relatives and employers and co-workers and friends. There are a lot of people frustrated that nothing was done" by Congress.

Yesenia Rivas' family is an example. Twelve of her relatives, legal and illegal immigrants from El Salvador, participated in the Prince William boycott, she says. The guidelines were simple: Spend money only at immigrant-owned businesses or those displaying a "pro-immigrant" poster. Click here for the whole story.

bh