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500,000 march for rights of immigrants

MAR 26 - South Asian immigrants, both legal and undocumented belonging to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere joined what some are calling the largest mobilization of immigrants ever in the United States, estimated by police at more than 500,000. The crowd, mostly Hispanics and Latinos, boisterously marched in Los Angeles today to protest against federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall on the US-Mexico border. It was believed to be the largest protest march in Los Angeles history, far surpassing Vietnam War demonstrations and the 70,000 who rallied downtown against Proposition 187, a 1994 state initiative that denied public benefits to undocumented migrants. The US Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to resume work on the comprehensive immigration reform proposal which was passed by the US House of Representatives last December. The law if passed by the senate would make it criminal to help an illegal immigrant and a felony for one to be in the U.S. illegally. It would impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border. Opponents of the proposed bill want some sort of compromise where they would get some sort of credit for being in the country and contributing to America. The Senate will begin debating this hot button issue on Tuesday. Immigration is looming as an issue in the November mid-term elections in which Republicans are seeking to hold on to their majorities in both houses of Congress. But the politics of border security have created competing pressures for Republicans. Bush views the guest-worker programme as a way of courting Hispanic voters in states such as Arizona, New Mexico and Florida. But some conservative Republicans are focusing on enforcement as constituents vent frustration at what they see as a strain on schools, hospitals and other local resources from illegal immigration. There are more than 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, according to estimates. According to Center for Immigration Studies, there are 35.2 million foreign-born people living in the U.S. — about 12.1 percent of the population. Mexico has been identified as the largest source of immigrants to the United States, followed by East Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, according to the report. A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that immigration peaked about 2000, then dipped in 2002 and 2003. Nevertheless, Jeffrey Passel, a research associate at the Pew Hispanic Center, said that immigration levels remained high, compared with historical levels. (DesPardes News Service)

Montreal mosque vandalized

MAR 22 - For the fourth time in recent weeks, vandals have targeted a Montreal-area mosque, this time smashing several windows with rocks at a St. Michel mosque early Tuesday morning. Imam Said Jazari says his is the fourth mosque in the Montreal region to be hit since the global controversy over the publishing of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. Jazari organized a demonstration against those cartoons last month. "We get threats on the phone," Jazari says. "They tell us they're going to attack the mosque, they're going to attack us." Police are investigating the threats, as well as the vandalism. Jazari says that's not enough. He is asking to meet with the minister of public security. So far he's received no response. He says the province should take the threats of violence against Muslims more seriously. "Today it's rocks coming through the windows," he says. "But tomorrow it could be bullets." The mosque is now installing security cameras inside the building and in the back alley.

America - a land of immigrants

Feb 18 - Researches show that migrants and their families largely enter the United States to work and thus boost its economy. However, the number of visas is very limited and does not come close to meeting labor market demands. Government studies predict a shortage of low-skilled workers - about two million - in the years ahead. But immigration restrictions being proposed or tabled in the Congress do not seem to reflect this ground reality. The net benefit of immigration to the United States is nearly $10 billion every year. Seventy percent of immigrants arrive in prime working age and this means not a penny was spent for them in terms of education and the like. Yet over the next 20 years they are expected to pump $500 billion into the country's social security system. Contrary to reports that immigrants take away jobs from U.S. citizens, they supplement rather than displace native workers. A recent study by the University of California-Davis reveals that immigrant workers fill jobs in certain industries that are not filled by American workers -- such as meatpacking plants in Nebraska, chicken processing plants in Delaware and Maryland and oil-drilling projects in Alaska where there are many Filipino workers.

 

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