The U.S.A. is a remarkable country. Is there another country in the world that would allow people that are in this country illegally to protest en masse in the public square? I don’t think so.
But that is exactly what happened yesterday. An estimated one thousand people marched four blocks east from Renwick Dr. on Bellaire Blvd to Chimney Rock and then almost one mile north to Gulfton, where they entered Barnett Bayland Park to continue their rally. I have no idea how many of the marchers were actually illegally in this country but presumably there were some – why else would they chant “Undocumented and unafraid” over and over. And over. Below is a video I took of most of the march as they turned into the park.
Waiting for them as they arrived at the park was a counter-protest of sorts. I counted 38 people, so we’ll round that up to 40. Both sides were down considerably from previous years. In a brief conversation with Duane Bradley, GM at KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston, he was expecting five thousand marchers and had printed up five thousand 5 1/2” x 17” flyers to pass out. Oh well, you can always use flyers that say “¡Sí, Se Puede!”, right?
The counter-protesters have started up a new organization, called Stolen Lives Quilt. You can visit their website for more information but basically they take photographs of U.S. citizens that have been killed by illegal immigrants, transfer them to blankets with the information about their deaths, and then display them at events like the May Day rally. I’m still not sure what I think of this. On the one hand, I understand the anger that a loved one would feel towards the person that caused the death. On the other hand, does the citizenship status of a criminal really matter? And then there is the matter of hearing angry, vitriolic yelling from some, not all, of the counter-protesters standing behind the quilts. It just seemed out of place. Perhaps they should save the quilts for candlelight vigils or something. I mean, seriously, look at this quilt:
Now click on that quilt and look at a picture of the same quilt with a vulgar sign behind it. It ruins the effect, at least for me. Like I said, I’m still not sure what to think about the project but I know that, at least for me and my wife, the anger of some of the counter-protesters took away from the memory of the people that the quilts were honoring.
As for the marchers, they would garner far more sympathy and support if they weren’t so arrogant in their presentation of their issue. Anyone can sympathize with the plight of a starving family in Honduras making their way to the land of freedom. Very few can sympathize with public displays of flaunting the laws of our land. Waving Mexican flags only hurts their cause. Chanting arrogantly that you are undocumented and you have no fear of reprisal turns people against your cause. Leaving the public park that you were protesting in full of trash does not endear you to the community of taxpayers that are funding that park.
But worst of all, pretending that illegal immigration is harmless to our society generates pushback. When we read that 70{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of all illegal immigrants in Texas are on one form or another of public welfare, that our schools are in danger of being closed because of the amount of money spent educating children brought here illegally, and then see the arrogance of marching publicly, proclaiming that U.S. citizens are wrong to want to protect a fragile economy, it is but a short jump to attributing the violence of drug cartels to all illegal immigrants – after all, if you are arrogant enough to flaunt the fact that you are breaking one law, it is easy to conclude that you have no respect for any authority.
I’d suggest that instead of arrogantly flaunting our laws, perhaps your organizers could set up a day to clean the park. Ask the City of Houston if your plumbers and carpenters can open the restrooms and repair the damage that has been done – perhaps your community didn’t make them unusable but take the high road and repair them anyway. Pick up the trash that is a foot high in some areas. In other words, take pride in your neighborhood. You’d be amazed at what that would do for your reputation.
It was a frustrating experience.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
The demonstrations that took place yesterday were far less in numbers than previous years. Could it be that illegal immigrants now realize their demands have angered the American people so much that there is no sympathy anymore? That citizens and permanent residents are sick and tired of being the payee of everybody who skips federal processing and have no intentions of being strong armed by the radical open border zealots There is absolutely no excuse when we know that thousands of these people are in this country illegally and not rounded up. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE INFINITE POWER TO STOP THIS SILENT CONSPIRACY CALLED ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. DON’T BE DISTRACTED BY THE LIBERAL MEDIA, WHO ARE TRYING TO BRAIN WASH YOU; CALLING EVERY PERSON AN IMMIGRANT? THE MAJORITY OF INDIVIDUALS ARE ECONOMIC ALIENS, WHO ARE FLOODING THIS COUNTRY WITH BIRTHRIGHT CHILDREN. THIS NATION IS BROKE, PAYING FOR TWO WARS, PAYING ENTITLEMENTS, PAYING FOR EVERYONE WALZING THROUGH THE UNDERMANNED BORDER, OR FLYING IN?
Remember that Americans will get no empathy of their job losses from the Obama Czarist administration or the Bush Republicans. All those teeming street rallies mean future votes for Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and the buffoons, hiding their true identities as Liberals. Nor from Bush Republicans who don’t want to see, a giant loss of illegal workers; they bolster the profit margins of corporate welfare. ICE agents could have checked people in the crowds for their identification, with no prejudice to skin color? That’s why all soft Governors, Mayors, police chiefs and elected official who run Sanctuary States of California and elsewhere need to be removed from office and replaced by TEA PARTY representatives of the American people. FIND OUT IF YOUR MEMBER IN THE STATE OR FEDERAL CONGRESS, IS AN AVID BELIEVER IN THE TEA PARTY POLITICAL TICKET. IF NOT THEY MUST BE REMOVED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
This is another reason why all legal law abiding people must insist on a mandatory E-Verify program for every legitimate business throughout America. No more half measures of voluntary E-Verify, so thousands of businesses can walk over the unemployed faces of Americans. We need more lightening ICE strikes on companies not toeing the line? So more “Whistle Blowers” feel they are not being disregarded by the immigration authorities, for informing on businesses where they are employed. Further every police department must be equipped with Secure Communities permanently, with access to ICE data bases. Thousands of Companies feel they are outside the law, but if they lose their business licenses, get fine, along with asset confiscation and jail, it might make the owners sweat a bit. Most certainly the extra cash will not benefit them if the monetary fine is $ 50.000 dollars or more, or sitting in a cell? ICE should audit not just a few restaurants, but hospitals, large corporations and a big resister of the law, Unions hiding illegal immigrants.
IF YOU WANT TO STOP THIS MOCKERY OF OUR LAWS, THE SANCTUARY CITIES AND STATES, CHAIN MIGRATION, THE DREAM ACT, AND ALL STEALTH VERSIONS OF IMMIGRATION REFORM THAT IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MASS AMNESTY, JOIN THE PEOPLES PARTY, THE TEA PARTY IN YOUR TOWN, CITY OR AT THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS.
The most powerful nation in the world is falling foul to Communist china. This has been forced upon us by unfair trade practices and the manipulation of currency by the Chinese. This unfair advantage has deteriorated our manufacturing base, the shutdown of thousands of companies that were making quality products, compared to the foreign countries that have imported cheap goods into this nation. Hundreds of thousands of average Americans lost their jobs, AND FOR WHAT. To bring cheap goods to America? The only people making huge profits are international mega corporations, which have taken US jobs offshore and across borders. The TEA PARTY will end this erroneous belief and tax US companies bringing low-priced inferior goods. We are the greatest population of consumer buyers in the world and we have the ability to place tariffs on all goods entering America, instead of these unequal trade policies that we have with NAFTA, CAFTA and China.
We are destroying our own country, with millions of foreign national pouring through illegally and others through attorney loopholes. Donald Trump in one of his many speeches, this time in Nevada about China and its huge financial impact on the American economy, “I’d drop a 25{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} tax” on imports from China.” There is no doubt in my mind that we must stop poorly made imports from china; toys tainted with lead paint, bad food imports. The only winners in this trade war are importers and China. My wife buys instant gratification from a deluge of catalogs. Unfortunate Cheap buys from Chinese manufacturers only last a few months, if you are lucky?
I say we stop paying for wars and start paying for homes. For a country that basis its ideals from Christian values seems to be lacking one key aspect to the personality of its founder (that’s Christ people, in case you forgot), and its love. Where is the love for fellow brothers and sisters? Have you visited the places these people are trying to escape from? Have you personally worked the jobs their “taking?” Chances are slim. This border stuff is border line racism hidden behind a fragmented ideology of the American Dream; I call it the “American Nightmare,” of which we all need to wake up from.
I have personally seen the American War Machine at work. I’ve seen the bloodshed and tears and lost brothers. This madness needs to end. Real people are hurting, broken, and hungry. Why are we so advent on “securing” our borders? Instead of greeting these fellow children of God with a rifle, how’s about we greet them with a warm embrace. Let’s show these new residents the proper American Dream. Let’s show them some love people.