New Orleans

Napolitano has ignited sparks from reformers (I would have liked to have written “firestorm,” but it would have been a lie) for increasing the pressure on immigrant families, ignoring violations of human rights, and advancing rather than stopping the abuses of 287(g) which subcontracts la migra to local law “enforcement” types like the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona.  This meeting was a “who’s who.”  Representatives were there from the AFL-CIO, SEIU, HERE, UFW, CASA de Maryland, National Immigration Forum, the Center for Community Change, America’s Voices, the National Day Laborers’ Organizing Network, the National Council of La Raza, LULAC, and others, but also from Wal-Mart, IBM, McDonalds, the Chamber of Commerce, and other businesses.

Talking to people there seems to have been several takeaways from the meeting.  One is that they are VERY sensitive to the problems with 287(g).  The President specifically mentioned it, but he also said they were sticking with it.  The gesture was a little like him saying, “…you have beautiful eyes,” and then popping his finger in your eye.  Another by all of the White House folks, was essentially that, “…the President can NOT get this done.”  I’m sure they added “without you,” but given the stunted capacity of the field operations for immigration reform and the atrophied “movement” for reform in recent years and what has turned out to be false and misplaced hopes that the White House could win this and “our” contribution could be handled in the beltway, this was sobering and bad news.

Given the messages of hate and polarization that we are seeing in the healthcare fight and the right mobilizations in many town halls, the real message of the meeting seemed to be that immigration reform has no real chance until late 2010, and without a huge surge from the base and a rekindling of the grassroots movement for real change here, it may have no chance at all.

Houston

http://boards.hbo.com/topic/Maher-Overtime/Submit-Questions-Overtime/2000007509

and on his facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/Maher?ref=ts

You know 287(g), because we talked about it often here.  This is the Homeland Security contract that sends money to untrained, unsupervised cops in cities and counties in different jurisdictions for them to act like they work for the immigration folks and scoop up undocumented immigrants.  In most cases this has led to a mess of racial profiling cases, lawsuits by the hundreds, and liabilities that just won’t stop.  A recent New Yorker article said that Maricopa County had paid more than $40,000,000 in claims on lawsuits based on Arapio’s reign of terror against anyone with brown skin in that sun scorched city.  And, all of this has been sanctioned and sanitized by Napolitano, first as governor and apologist for Arpaio when she was in Arizona, and now as enabler while she is in DC.  My companeros with the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (www.ndlon.org) are even picketing in front of the HBO studio today to demand the question be asked.  Suerte to Pablo, Chris, and the gang for standing up now, so let’s do this thing.

Obama gets it, but doesn’t seem to see the contraction.  Yesterday in talking about the bust in Cambridge of a buddy, African-American professor Henry Louis Gates of Harvard, he could see it clearly, but he wasn’t looking far enough.

He needs to remember his own words from yesterday:

“What I think we know separate and apart from this incident,” Obama stated of Gates’ controversial July 16 arrest, “is that there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That’s just a fact.

“When I was in the state legislature in Illinois, we worked on a racial-profiling bill, because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how race remains a factor in our society.”

Bill Maher is not my personal piece of cake.  He was in New Orleans recently and the rest of my tribe went to see him and thought he was great, so what do I know.  I can’t get past the fact that he seems such a smart aleck, but whatever.  He can still do the right thing here.  Being a self-proclaimed liberal can’t be all talk.  Eventually even a Bill Maher needs to take the smirk off his face and stand up hard.  Let’s make him do it now!

When we finish with Maher, next we will move to send the President the phone number for Napolitano.  Maybe he could talk to her about this racial profiling problem and get her to do something about it.  Maybe we could sent him a picture of her ID and remind the President that Napolitano works for him.

But, first, onto Maher!

Several months ago in the wake of 5000 marchers in Phoenix and the excitement of the new appointments, I was virtually assuring people that 287g was dead on arrival now.  I was wrong, and I’ll be darned if I understand why, except that I suspect the inside the Beltway part of the immigration reform movement is giving the White House a “wink and nod,” on this matter rather pushing the point that we all have to see something happen NOW, not just a fight for a bill that may or may not happen over the next year.

There is low lying fruit that this movement needs to pick now.  287g and Arpaio have to be terminated and slapped down.  The DREAM act around immigrant education has to be passed this year.  There’s more.  We have to shake the tree though to pick this fruit.

When the White House Summit around immigration rolls out, perhaps there should be some people in a vigil or a picket line around the White House reminding the President and the Secretary that there needs to be action now?  This needs to be part of the debate and the arsenal.

I heard a true story from a friend about a meeting two months ago between Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director, and leaders of the immigration reform movement from LULAC and other groups.  Patrick, who I know well, told a story in that meeting that he said President Obama often tells about a meeting around civil rights between legendary labor and civil rights leader, A. Philip Randolph, and President Roosevelt on the topic of integrating the military.  The President said that he agreed with Randolph.  Randolph said, then let’s make it happen.  Roosevelt said that until there were 100,000 people in the streets outside the White House, there was no way to get it done.

My friend was not sure that anyone heard Patrick.  Knowing him, I think he issued the movement a work order, and now we need to get it done.

This is not just the time for lobbying.  This is the time to turn up the heat and demand results now, not later.