Marching for the Dream / Marchando por el Sueño / Las Vegas, 23 May 2008 3:00 PM
Here's a pretty old post from the blog archives of Geekery Today; it was written about 16 years ago, in 2008, on the World Wide Web.
This is happening in three days. We’re counting on the community to spread the word as far and wide as possible. If you’re in the Las Vegas area or know people who are, please pass along the word to anyone you know who might be interested.
The United Coalition for Im/migrant Rights in Las Vegas is organizing a street demonstration THIS FRIDAY, 23 May 2008, at 3:00 PM, beginning with a march through the streets from Valley High School to the UNLV campus, followed by a rally at the UNLV amphitheater. UCIR has called this march as a continuation of the May 1 movement for immigrant rights and against government harassment of peaceful workers and students.
The demonstration this Friday is specifically intended to raise awareness of the predicament of undocumented immigrant students, to speak out against the as a demonstration to raise awareness of the predicament of undocumented immigrant students, to speak out against the criminalization of immigrant youth, and in support of the DREAM Act, which provides a process for undocumented immigrant children to gain permanent residency, avoid the threat of deportation, and eventually gain citizenship while pursuing a college education.
Marching for the Dream: 3 PM May 23, 2008
We will meet at S. Eastern Ave. in between Karen and Vegas Valley Drive (in front of Valley HS) and conclude with a rally at the UNLV amphitheatre.
Children and youth should not lose their capacity to dream; on the contrary, they should cultivate the necessary rebellion to not conform to the unjust and degraded world that we have inherited them.–Rigoberta Mench?@c3;ba; TumEducation, not Deportation!
For more information visit www.ucir.org, email us at info@ucir.org, or call (702) 287-9316.
Marchando por el Sue?@c3;b1;o / 3 PM, 23 de mayo 2008
Nos reuniremos en S. Eastern Ave. entre Karen y Vegas Valley Drive (frente a Valley HS) y concluiremos con una protesta en al anfiteatro de UNLV.
La ni?@c3;b1;ez y la juventud no deben perder su capacidad de so?@c3;b1;ar; por el contrario, deben cultivar la rebeldia que es necesaria para no conformarse con el mundo injusto y degradado que les hemos heredado.–Rigoberta Mench?@c3;ba; TumSi a la Educaci?@c3;b3;n, No a la Deportaci?@c3;b3;n!
Para más informaci?@c3;b3;n visita www.ucir.org, mándanos un email a info@ucir.org, o llama al (702) 287-9316.
You can support the struggle against international apartheid and anti-immigrant segregation by joining the march, bringing a sign or placard with a strong anti-criminalization message (some of the signs already prepared include: Education, not deportation;
Keep your borders off my education;
End International Apartheid,
Immigrant students are not criminals,
and This is our home. We are not going anywhere,
and Papeles para tod@s
). Most importantly, bring yourself and as many friends as you can (non-coercively!) get your hands on. We are taking to the streets, and I hope to see you there.
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IMO, one of these demonstrations should protest against the widening role of the cops in the U.S. In some states they already have power to act as immigration officers (e.g. Massachusetts).
Whoa. Thanks for setting me straight on the DREAM ACT. I thought it was a neoconservative proposal to allow immigration for the goal of increasing military recruitment.
I wonder if Hoppe approves of all this protest action occuring on his private property. Blech!
Erick,
I agree. Here in Vegas, the cops have also been pretty nasty and disruptive just towards public immigrant rights demos. (On May 1, they literally lined up outside of the schools in order to intimidate or arrest students trying to stage a walk-out. Then they threatened a UCIR organizer with jail for )
Unfortunately it’s hard to get things like this organized, precisely because cops are always on hand for demonstrations, and they might lash out in response to one designed to protest their own activities. It’s especially hard in places where cops have the power to deport any undocumented immigrants who might come out to protest their actions.
Dain,
Well, the DREAM Act does allow for a path to permanent residency and citizenship by enlisting in the military, as an alternative to doing so by pursuing a college degree. But, thankfully, that’s just one option available, not the only option. (It’s also distinct from the American Foreign Legion sort of idea in that the path to getting your papers is only open to immigrant children who came to the U.S. before the age of 16, so the idea is more to regularize the status of kids who had already arrived here with their parents, than it is to encourage more immigrants to come in through the channel of military recruitment.)
Generally speaking, the whole thing is a weak-kneed gradualist sort of scheme where citizenship is made conditional on proving your Americanness to the government by following a U.S.-government-approved career path for a Productive Member of Society. Which sucks, but I support it provisionally in the sense that some decriminalization is better than no decriminalization, and in any case the event provides a platform for getting out a more principled anti-apartheid position.
Incidentally, I think that Hoppe is in Turkey these days. He departed Vegas a while before I arrived.
Discussed at radgeek.com /#
Rad Geek People’s Daily 2008-05-23 – ¡Sí se puede! Victory for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in the Burger King penny-per-pound campaign: