On Eve of State of the Union Address, Immigration Reform Activists Show Impatience With Obama
By Diego Graglia &bull 1/27/10 • Categorized as Immigration News, Immigration Reform 
What a difference a year makes. The “Sí, se puede” chants that supported President Barack Obama a year ago are now aimed at him.
As Obama gets ready to deliver a State of the Union address in which he may mention immigration reform, pro-immigrant activists are reminding him that he had promised to deal with this issue in his first year in office, only to act mostly on the enforcement side of immigration.
On Tuesday, some 150 activists blocked streets near the Department of Homeland Security in Washington D.C. to underscore “the growing disenchantment with the administration’s inaction on immigration reform,” according to a press release by the organizers published on the VivirLatino blog.
“The protest was held to call for an immediate suspension of deportations of immigrants with U.S. citizen family members and action on passage of comprehensive immigration reform. Held on the eve of the President’s State of the Union address, it highlights the growing frustration of immigrants and their families regarding the administration’s failure to deliver on basic commitments made during the 2008 presidential race.”
Watch a video of the protest by The Matea Group/YouTube
Over the last year, we’ve documented the growing disenchantment with the Obama administration of Hispanic and immigration activists as the president and other officials expressed support for immigration reform but put other priorities first.
Protesters in D.C. said their patience has run out.
“We’ve been really patient in terms of hoping the Obama administration will do the right thing,” Mary Moreno, of the Center for Community Change, told Southern Maryland Online. “We’re not going to wait any longer. We’re going to be more vocal.”
As in the recent New York demonstrations for the release of Haitian-born activist Jean Montrevil, activists engaged in civil disobedience by blocking the street. But, The Washington Post reported, they did not manage to get arrested.
Obama may address immigration reform in his speech Wednesday night, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told USA Today’s David Jackson. But apparently it would only be to remind Congress that the ball is in their court.
At least some progressive Democrats on Capitol Hill intend to push for an overhaul, despite the grim prognosis brought on by Senator-elect Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D.-Ariz.), leader of the Progressive Caucus, told the Post: “We are going to push,” he said. “Maybe I’m masochist, but I’m still optimistic.”
Sneaking into America does not make you an immigrant; it makes you a criminal. Where are these protests priorities anyway? It is common knowledge that legal immigrants are the group hurt the most by illegal immigration. It is those true and legal immigrant’s jobs and wages that damaged the most by the influx of illegally cheap labor.
Knoll – British name.Not american.It is well known that any previous wave of immigrants would do anything to stop the next wave.maybe this will force you to think…if you can think.
Paula, Knoll is a German surname, but the point is well-taken
But, as far as immigration goes, part of the issue is that we hold these people responsible rather than the system that has resulted in their situation. We’ll deport people but do little to hold corporations/businesses responsible for their actions, and their willingness to seek out and hire illegal immigrants for their own cost savings, and the fact they don’t have to give them benefits. The system is making victims out of people who only want what is best for themselves and their family- and that is hardly a criminal offense.
“Knoll” is an Americanized version of the Dutch Surname “Knol”. I have put considerable thought into this issue and have learned that illegal aliens are a great and costly problem. Supply and demand dictates that if you have an over-supply of something, in the case of illegal illegal immigration that would be low skill labor, then the price of that thing goes down, again in the case of illegal immigration, that would be wages. Especially the wages of working class Americans and, yes, real immigrants. If you want to keep the working class, minorities and immigrants down, then by all means support illegal immigration.
As for “they are only doing it for their families” line of thinking; that is true for a range of criminals. Robbers, drug-dealers, smugglers, burglars, just to name a few. Taking something illegally, in the case of illegal alien that would be someone’s job and wages, is still illegal, immoral and wrong.
Paula is right; people who came from a family of immigrants who came to this country in a very different climate, should stop the hypocrisy.
Anyone, I mean anyone including born Americans would do anything to survive and have a better live (including moving to another country, legally or illegally).
People, wake-up; the situation in America is ugly and no one can tell if tomorrow our children will need to leave this country to have a better life. This is a human trait: we have the survival instinct and that is how we all behave.
I hope things get better for our America and no one of us have ever to go through the trauma of having to flee to another country to survive.
Wake up America!!!!!!!!!!!!