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Showing posts with label rep john boehner r-OH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rep john boehner r-OH. Show all posts
+Andy Borowitzmakes fun of the new members, Democrats, gop & tea-baggers alike, of the 114th US Congress as they take office because the vast majority of them deserve it. He also points out this new congress is already one of the most hated in the history of the institution, both from+The New Yorker .....
Credit Photograph by Chip Somodevilla / Getty WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Sixty-four
unskilled workers will report to new jobs in Washington, D.C. on
Tuesday as part of a federal jobs program that provides employment for
people unable to find productive work elsewhere.
The
new hires, who have no talents or abilities that would make them
employable in most workplaces, will be earning a first-year salary of
$174,000.
For
that sum, the new employees will be expected to work a hundred and
thirty-seven days a year, leaving them with two hundred and twenty-eight
days of vacation.
Some critics have blasted the
federal jobs program as too expensive, noting that the workers were
chosen last November in a bloated and wasteful selection process that
cost the nation nearly four billion dollars.
But
Davis Logsdon, a University of Minnesota economics professor who
specializes in labor issues, said that the program is necessary to
provide work “for people who honestly cannot find employment anywhere
else.”
“Expensive as this program is, it is much better to have these people in jobs than out on the street,” he said.
Credit Photograph by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)
– In a troubling sign for the 114th Congress, a new poll released on
Tuesday indicates that the day-old legislative body is the most hated in
the nation’s history.
According to the poll,
conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute,
only eight per cent of those surveyed approved of the job Congress is
doing, a scathing indictment of the legislators’ first day on the job.
The
114th Congress started the day on a slightly more positive note,
garnering a ten-per-cent approval rating, but after the House of
Representatives reëlected John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to a new term as
Speaker, the number sank to eight.
On the Senate
side, Joni Ernst (R.-Iowa), newly elected to the most despised Congress
in American history, said that the low approval number was no cause for
concern.
“If you ask somebody to pick a number between one and ten, eight is a pretty high number,” she said. “So it’s all good.”
After Senator Ernst made her comment, Congress’s approval rating plummeted to four per cent.
Andy Borowitz is a New York Times best-selling author and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes the Borowitz Report for newyorker.com.
THESE politicians are so hypocritical it is sickening. Of course, if Pres Obama had any backbone he would call them out on this himself. Really Mr President, stand up to these fools, call them out for their ignorance, racism and hypocrisy. At this point WHAT do you have to loose???? And check out how Arizona repiglican tea-bagger candidate adam kwasman (MAJOR DRAMA QUEEN) made a complete and total ass of himself while giving a hateful anti-immigrant speech in Oracle, AZ and when told a bus full of illegal immigrant children was coming into town, joined the rush to "greet" them with screaming and yelling against their presence. The problem is it was a bus of YMCA child campers. Fortunately kwasman is a seasoned repiglican tea-bagger and he did what they do when caught being stupid and ignorant, he lied. Unfortunately for him the media was able to roll the tweets and tape. Just keep in mind, he has been an Arizona state representative so he will no doubt be elected to the US House. From the +Washington Post .....
President
Obama speaks at the Paramount Theatre in Austin on July 10. The
president also visited Dallas, but he chose not to go to the Mexico
border, despite many in Congress urging him to do so. (Jack Plunkett/AP)
The
surge in migrant children trying to cross into the United States at the
southern border has led to sustained Republican criticism of President
Obama for not visiting the site of the crisis. But many of those critics
have themselves not been to the border in the past few months, a survey
conducted by The Washington Post reveals.
Since the number of
unaccompanied children arriving from Central America surged in May, many
members of Congress in both parties have argued the president has
mishandled the situation and should witness the crisis first hand.
Two
of the most vocal critics, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), have not visited in the last two months. Cruz’s
office noted that the senator toured an air force base in San
Antonio last month where many of the children are being held after
arriving at the border. Among Democrats, House Democratic Whip Rep.
Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said it “wouldn’t hurt” Obama to visit the border,
but he has not been either.
Members of the congressional
leadership who have not been to the border include chair of the House
Republican Conference, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and Sen.
John Barrasso (R-Wy0.), chair of the Republican Policy Committee Chair,
who recently said Obama was “projecting worldwide U.S. weakness”
through his mishandling of the border situation.
Obama visited
Texas last week and declined to go to the border, stating he was “not
interested in photo ops” but “interested in solving the problem.”
Many
Republican members of Congress from Texas have explicitly hit out at
the president for avoiding the border — including Reps. Kenny Marchant,
Joe Barton and Jeb Hensarling — even as they themselves have not
visited, at least until now.
The Texas delegation is scheduled to
visit to the Rio Grande Valley on Friday on a trip led by Rep. Sam
Johnson (R-Tex.), to examine the crisis first hand. Other members who
have not been since May are planning trips during the August recess.
“There’s no way to fully grasp the scope and depth of the crisis through
a simple briefing in Washington,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.).
The
majority of members on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, who has jurisdiction over the agencies dealing
with the border crisis, have not visited the border since the crisis
developed in May. The committee’s chairman Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.),
who has supportive of the president, has not been to the border since
May but visited Guatemala and Mexico in April. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
urged the president to go to the border last week. Along with Ron
Johnson, committee members Sens. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), and Michael
Enzi (R-Wyo.) have all publicly criticized Obama's decision to visit the
border. None of them have gone themselves.
Among members on the
House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) wants to
build a fence across the entire southern border, Reps. Peter T. King
(R-N.Y.) and Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) have criticized Obama over his
handling of the situation. None of them have been to the border. A
person close to the committee says that a trip was organized for members
of House Homeland Security Committee on July 3, with an invitation to
all committee members, but some declined due to prior commitments over
the holiday weekend. Half of the committee, plus other representatives,
visited the border patrol station in McAllen, Tex.Sebastian Payne is a national reporter with The Washington Post. He is the Post’s 35th Laurence Stern fellow
That's a bus full of YMCA campers. (Politwoops/Sunlight Foundation/Twitter)
We
may have reached peak political theater near the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to AZcentral.com, Arizona state Rep. and 1st district
congressional candidate Adam Kwasman (R) rushed to the scene in Oracle,
Ariz., on Tuesday to participate in protests against housing some of the
thousands of undocumented immigrant children who have come across the
border in recent weeks in a facility nearby. Kwasman was in the middle
of a fiery speech about "Lady Justice" when he spotted a yellow school
bus and dashed off with the protesters to greet it. He snapped a picture
which he tweeted with he message "Bus coming in. This is not
compassion. This is the abrogation of the rule of law." "I was able to
actually see some of the children in the buses and the fear on their
faces. This is not compassion," Kwasman told 12 News reporter Brahm
Resnik. There was just one problem: Those weren't undocumented kids.
They were YMCA campers from the Marana Arizona school district. Kwasman
later deleted his tweet, which was archived by the Sunlight Foundation's Politwoops Web site.
When a reporter confronted him with, well, the facts, he insisted that
whether the kids were immigrants or just children on their way to a
field trip, he saw sadness in their eyes. "They were sad too," Kwasman
noted. According to AZ Central, reporters on the scene noted the busload
of children taking photos of the media circus as they drove by. The
entire exchange is worth watching:
Dame tus, tus pobres, cansados
Sus masas apiñadas, anhelando respirar libre,
El desamparado desecho de vuestras rebosantes playas,
Enviar estos, los desamparados, tempestad tost a mí,
yo levanto mi lámpara al lado de la puerta de oro.
Autor: Emma Lazarus
Muchos republicanos y té embolsadoras, así como muchos
demócratas tercera vía, y también muchos cristianos han estado acusando a
la administración de Obama de no hacer nada, o al menos no hacer lo
suficiente para detener la avalancha de los hijos de inmigrantes
ilegales de Centroamérica cruzar a la EE.UU. Somos la nación más
poderosa de la Tierra y sin embargo, nuestro gobierno y muchos en
nuestra nación tienen miedo de los niños. Me mmigration ha sido un problema desde esta nación aprobó las leyes de inmigración, el primero en 1790 que no siempre han dado la bienvenida al cansado y los pobres , las masas hacinadas anhelando respirar libre y eso es algo en nuestro pasado que debe ser recordado y que deberíamos estar avergonzados de. Y
como una nación que muchos proclaman como cristiano (cuando conviene a
nuestros propósitos), debemos estar preparados para dar la bienvenida al
extranjero en nuestra tierra como nos enseñan las Escrituras, el
Antiguo y Nuevo Testamento que hacer. Esto de + Transeúntes y + Mother Jones .....
¿Has visto las fotos del martes en Murrieta, California? Tres autobuses estaban llenos de menores no acompañados y las madres con hijos, todos huyen de la violencia en América Central. De
acuerdo con funcionarios de inmigración estadounidenses, que fueron
adoptadas por Seguridad Nacional para una estación de la Patrulla
Fronteriza de los EE.UU. para su procesamiento y eventual deportación
después de haber sido trasladado en avión a San Diego desde Texas, donde
habían cruzado la frontera de los EE.UU. en busca de seguridad. Los autobuses de los niños fueron bloqueados por los adultos que gritan que no eran buscados en Estados Unidos. Grandes
hombres blancos enojados, con carteles en los niños no sabían leer, con
rostros enojados gritando a ellos en un idioma que no entendía-cuando
ya estaban solos y lejos de sus familias y el hogar-que sin duda hará
que los niños se sienten mucho miedo. Algunos de los niños eran los informes, tan jóvenes como de seis años de edad.
Dos chicas jóvenes en un autobús. Imagen cortesía Blend Images / shutterstock.com.
El alcalde de la ciudad, Alan Long, dijo que los niños representaban una
amenaza a su comunidad y que estaba "orgulloso" de los manifestantes. Uno manifestantes de ciento cincuenta ondearon banderas estadounidenses, corearon "EE.UU.! EE.UU.! "Y gritaron a los niños asustados," Vete a casa-nosotros no te queremos aquí. " Totalmente
bloqueado lleguen al centro de procesamiento, los autobuses se dieron
la vuelta y se fueron para otro estación de la Patrulla Fronteriza, en
donde algunos de los niños habrían sido llevados a un hospital para
recibir tratamiento no especificado.
Más de 52.000 niños no acompañados de Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras
han caminado a través de la frontera de los EE.UU. desde el pasado mes
de octubre a algunos, por desgracia, a través de las redes de trata de
personas aunque México. Miles más han llegado con sus padres. El
aumento ha superado el sistema y convertirse en una gravísima crisis
humanitaria a la que los funcionarios estadounidenses se esfuerzan por
responder. Pero esto se está politizando en Washington.
Aunque parezca increíble, algunos republicanos han utilizado esta
trágica situación como una excusa de por qué se escabulleron de
inmigración que tiene un sistema de inmigración inteligente, justo y
humano en su lugar cuando la reforma-habría ayudado a evitar esta
crisis.
Esta escena horrible en California me recuerda a una interacción durante
una charla que di hace unos meses sobre la inmigración.
Resultó ser la comidilla de la inmigración más importante que he dado este año-y fue a la clase de quinto grado de mi hijo. Estaban estudiando el tema y me invitaron a hablar de ello. En primer lugar, nos fuimos a través de la larga historia de la inmigración en este país. Todos
los niños en la clase de mi hijo son parte de nuestra historia nacional
de personas que optaron por venir a Estados Unidos (con la excepción de
las familias obligadas por las cadenas de la esclavitud). Siguiente
Les dije a los estudiantes acerca de nuestro problema actual de 11
millones de indocumentados que viven en la incertidumbre y el miedo
durante años e incluso décadas, de las familias que están separadas,
padres y madres de arrancado de sus hijos, y la gente trabajadora y
respetuosos de la ley siendo deportados cada día.
Mirando muy sorprendido, estos estudiantes hicieron la pregunta obvia: "¿Por qué no vamos a arreglar eso? ¿Por qué no el Congreso cambie el sistema? "
Yo le respondí: "Ellos dicen que tienen miedo."
Los estudiantes parecían aún más confundido y le preguntaron: "¿Qué tienen miedo?"
Hice una pausa para considerar su pregunta honesta y miré alrededor de
la habitación-el salón de clases de una clase de quinto grado de
escuelas públicas en Washington DC miré sus caras burlonas y
preocupados, un grupo de afro-americanos, hispanos, asiático-americanos,
nativos americanos, europeos, los niños africanos. Entonces me di cuenta.
"Tienen miedo de ti", le contesté.
"¿Por qué ellos tengan miedo de nosotros?" los estudiantes le preguntó, sorprendida. Tuve que decirles.
"Tienen miedo de que son el futuro de América. Tienen miedo de su país algún día tener este clase que usted representa lo que se está convirtiendo en nuestra nación. "
Este grupo multirracial, multicultural y multinacional, de 11 años de edad ahora parecía más confundido que nunca.
"Son temo que esto no va a funcionar ", le dije. "¿Funciona?"
Los niños se miraron unos a otros, y luego respondió con muchas voces,
diciendo: "Sí ... Claro ... Por supuesto que funciona ... Funciona muy
bien ... Es genial!"
Juntos decidimos que nuestro trabajo era mostrar la resto del país que
esta nueva América venida a la existencia es, de hecho, realmente
genial.
Nuestra larga batalla por la reforma integral de la inmigración ha sido
recientemente terminó oficialmente en el Congreso por el presidente John
Boehner. El líder de los republicanos de la Cámara de
Representantes dijo al presidente que no iba a permitir que un voto a
favor de la reforma que se crió-a pesar de que en general se cree que un
voto para arreglar este sistema que no funciona pasaría fuera cual
creció en la Cámara y el Senado.
Boehner altavoces y sus propios líderes republicanos admiten que esto es sólo acerca de la política. La
mayoría de los estadounidenses de todas las tendencias políticas creen
que el sistema actual es insostenible y debe ser fijo. Una
gran coalición de la comunidad de fe, la comunidad empresarial, y los
funcionarios encargados de hacer cumplir la ley dice que la reforma
tiene sentido común, es bueno para la economía, es bueno para la
seguridad nacional y la seguridad pública, es bueno para mantener unidas
a las familias, en una palabra, es un imperativo moral. Pero
lo que se está obstruido por un grupo vocal de los legisladores
conservadores blancos que están motivados por el miedo y el odio
político y racial. Muchos republicanos conservadores han
más o menos admitido que esos sentimientos están muy presentes en los
distritos electorales que representan. Y los líderes republicanos no está dispuesto a enfrentarse a su miedo a un futuro de América más diversa.
Esto es obstrucción política del bien común, y es un fracaso moral. Esta
semana, en una reunión con el presidente Barack Obama, los líderes
religiosos pidieron al Presidente que haga todo lo posible, dentro de su
autoridad constitucional, para "aliviar el sufrimiento" de todas las
familias y los niños que seguirán siendo devastada. Permítanme
decir esto muy claramente: Los que han fracasado moralmente para
arreglar este sistema que no funciona hay que se atreven ahora tratar de
evitar que las órdenes ejecutivas para proteger a las personas que
amamos, que han pasado a formar parte de "nosotros", y los que Cristo
nos pide que proteger. Si los republicanos siguen ignorando
y causar el sufrimiento de todos "los extraños" entre nosotros, tendrán
que responder ante la comunidad de fe. Jim Wallis es presidente de Transeúntes. Su libro, The (Un) Bien Común: ¿Cómo el Evangelio trae esperanza a un mundo dividido , la versión de bolsillo actualizada y revisada del lado de Dios, ya está disponible. Siga Jim en Twitter @ JimWallis .
Como cristianos, debemos apoyar a nuestros vecinos inmigrantes y nos
comprometemos nuestro apoyo a ellos, ya que prometen su lealtad a
nuestra nación y es futuro. En cómo debemos tratarnos unos a
otros, a través de la comunidad y las políticas de nuestra Comunidad
adopte, hay un imperativo bíblico claro.
Transeúntes ha lanzado un video de gran alcance que cuenta la historia
del Pastor Juan Luis Barco, un ministro indocumentados seguir el llamado
de Dios y servir fielmente a una congregación. En especial
queremos funcionarios electos como el congresista Rey y los que
comparten sus puntos de vista a escuchar este mensaje, por lo que
lanzamos el video como un anuncio de televisión que atraviesa su
distrito.
Dados los beneficios obvios de, y amplio apoyo público a la reforma de
inmigración, ¿por qué muchos archi-conservadores en la Cámara de
Representantes se niegan a abordar el tema de una manera seria? La respuesta podría apuntar a un tema que todavía no nos atrevemos a hablar directamente: raza.
Para la gente de la fe no es un asunto político, sino moral. Y
para los cristianos, la forma en que tratamos a los 11 millones de
indocumentados, los "extranjeros" entre nosotros, es la forma en que
tratamos a Cristo mismo.
por Jim Wallis
Lo que he oído después de visitar 18 ciudades en seis semanas es que la
gente de todo el país creen que nada puede suceder en Washington, DC Son
básicamente correcto. Así que estoy muy agradecido hoy a reportar la única excepción.
Acerca de Transeúntes Inmigración
En Deuteronomio, Dios le dice a los israelitas: Amarás al forastero,
porque extranjeros fuisteis vosotros en la tierra de Egipto. (10:19). Después
de haber experimentado la vida como inmigrantes en una tierra
extranjera, el pueblo de Dios ahora estaban llamados a ofrecer amor y
bienvenida a los inmigrantes entre ellos. Jesús reitera este llamado a la hospitalidad radical en el Nuevo Testamento (Mateo 25:35).
Los Estados Unidos es una nación de inmigrantes. Aunque venimos de diferentes orígenes, la fuerza de nuestro país es la capacidad de unirnos en torno a objetivos comunes. Sin
embargo, nuestras leyes de inmigración impiden que los inmigrantes
utilicen sus dones para mejorar nuestras comunidades y hacer crecer la
economía. En lugar de "acoger al extranjero," el sistema
actual deja a las familias que viven en el miedo e impide a los jóvenes
de la realización de sus sueños.
Transeúntes cree que los cristianos están llamados a cambiar esta situación. A
través de nuestro trabajo con grupos como la Mesa de Inmigración
Evangélica y la Coalición Interreligiosa de Inmigración, estamos
articulando el testimonio bíblico de una reforma migratoria y animar a
nuestros líderes políticos a tomar medidas. Al trabajar
juntos, creemos que la comunidad de fe tiene una oportunidad histórica
para ayudar a crear una hoja de ruta hacia la ciudadanía para los 11
millones de aspirantes a los estadounidenses.
La gente lo sabe. No sólo los estadounidenses, sino a todo el mundo. La gente sabe que los fundadores no querían decir que entonces, ni tampoco esta nación significan ahora.
Los horribles acontecimientos en Murrieta, California el martes recuerda
la charla de inmigración más importante que he dado este año-la que di a
la clase de quinto grado de mi hijo.
Las historias personales de los inmigrantes que se enfrentan a las
consecuencias no deseadas de nuestros países las políticas de
inmigración a menudo se dejan fuera del debate nacional. 'The
Stranger' cuenta con tan sólo unos pocos ejemplos de los millones de
vidas que se ven afectadas negativamente por las leyes de inmigración.
Muchas personas les gusta señalar que la gente debería hacer las cosas
de la manera "correcta". Aunque estoy de acuerdo con la premisa de esta
declaración, la probabilidad de éxito para muchas personas de color es
prácticamente nula. La realidad es que las personas de ascendencia africana, no siempre se dan las mismas oportunidades que los de otros países.
Como nueve de nosotros nos sentamos en la oficina MP Jamie Briggs,
compartimos nuestras esperanzas y sueños para el impacto de lo que
estábamos tomando parte pulgadas antemano todos estuvieron de acuerdo,
no sólo nos queremos llamar la atención a los niños que siguen sufriendo
en prisión, queríamos ganar a los que entramos en contacto con. Creo que hicimos.
Preparándose para su viaje peligroso hacia el norte, un adolescente
centroamericano se detiene para escribir una carta a su tío en los
Estados Unidos. Él escribe que su madre le está diciendo
que pensar mucho acerca de los riesgos: las pandillas en los trenes, los
cárteles que secuestran a los migrantes, los días de caminar por el
desierto. Pero esos obstáculos, escribe, valen la pena: "Me
veo ganando un montón de dinero en los Estados Unidos, y mi mamá aquí
sin ningún tipo de preocupaciones."
Más MoJo cobertura del aumento de los niños migrantes no acompañados procedentes de América Central.
Así comienza un nuevo anuncio de servicio público dirigido a mantener a los niños centroamericanos se unan a la que decenas de miles de niños migrantes no acompañados
que han sido detenidos por las autoridades de Estados Unidos en el último año. El
PSA pronto se vuelve oscura, sin embargo: Después de que el adolescente
se despide de su madre y su tío deja la carta que ha estado leyendo, la
cámara se aleja de un primer plano de la joven, muerta en el suelo del
desierto. Un narrador insta a los espectadores: "Ellos son nuestro futuro Protejamos ellos.".
Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de EE.UU. (CBP) desarrollaron los anuncios de televisión, así como carteles y marimba con infusión de spots de radio , como parte de su conciencia de los peligros del millón de dólares Campaña. Lanzado poco después del vicepresidente Joe Biden viaje a Guatemala
en junio, la campaña es un intento de contrarrestar los rumores de que
los niños no acompañados se les permitirá permanecer en los Estados
Unidos. Los anuncios hacen hincapié en que el viaje es muy
peligroso y que los niños no van a obtener estatus legal si es que
llegan a través de la frontera.
La campaña tendrá una duración de 11 semanas, el portavoz de CBP Jaime Ruiz dijo a la Associated Press . "Queremos
una relación que está a punto de enviar $ 5,000, $ 6,000 y un familiar
en El Salvador para ver este mensaje y decir, 'Oh, Dios mío, que están
diciendo que el viaje es más peligroso'", dijo Ruiz. "Tratamos de contrarrestar la versión del contrabandista."
Aquí está la otra PSA televisado, en el que dos siluetas: una eventual
migrante y un contrabandista-discuss en dirección norte, el
contrabandista convirtiendo cada vez más agresivo y su sombra en
ocasiones convertirse en el de un coyote, la palabra del argot para un
contrabandista:
(Cabe destacar que la CBP ha creado versiones ligeramente diferentes de
cada una de las historias de El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras, los tres
países que han enviado a los menores no acompañados la mayoría de los
EE.UU.. Mira a todos ellos aquí .)
Este tipo de campaña no es nada nueva. Durante años, el gobierno mexicano
ha producido anuncios sobre los peligros de caminar a través del
desierto de Arizona, y hace varios años, el Departamento de Seguridad
Nacional, como parte de la CBP Iniciativa de Seguridad Fronteriza , distribuido CDs a las estaciones de radio de América Latina
con canciones tristes dirigidas a la desaceleración la inmigración desde el sur. Con tantas variables en juego, es prácticamente imposible medir su efecto.
Pero con más de 57.000
niños no acompañados detenidos en Estados Unidos desde octubre a una
situación que la cabeza CBP R. Gil Kerlikowske llamó "difícil y
angustiante en muchos niveles" al hablar con los miembros del Comité de
Seguridad Nacional del Senado el miércoles, el gobierno parece dispuesto
a intentar cualquier cosa.
Ian informa sobre la inmigración, el deporte, y en América Latina para Mother Jones . ¿Tienes algún comentario o una sugerencia? Email él: igordon [at] motherjones [dot] com. RSS | Twitter
Vida en el hogar de vuelta significa el pago de deudas de contrabando,
sobreviviendo situaciones cada vez más violentas, y tal vez de dirigirse
a los Estados una vez más.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Author: Emma Lazarus
MANY republicans and tea-baggers, as well as many third way democrats, and too many Christians have been accusing the Obama administration of not doing anything, or at least not doing enough to stop the flood of illegal immigrant children from Central America crossing into the U.S. We are the most powerful nation on Earth and yet our government and many in our nation are afraid of children. Immigration has been a problem since this nation passed immigration laws, the first in 1790 We have not always welcomed the tired and the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breath free and that is something in our past that should be remembered and that we should be ashamed of. And as a nation that many proclaim as Christian (when it suits one's purpose), we should be prepared to welcome the stranger in our land as Scripture, Old and New Testament teach us to do. This from +Sojourners and +Mother Jones ..... "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes
the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous
person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the
righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones in the name of a disciple -- truly I tell you, none of these
will lose their reward." - Matthew 10:40-42
Did you see the pictures from Tuesday in Murrieta, California?
Three buses were full of unaccompanied minors and mothers with children,
all fleeing violence in Central America. According to American
immigration officials, they were being taken by Homeland Security to a
U.S. Border Patrol Station for processing and eventual deportation—after
being flown to San Diego from Texas, where they had walked across the
U.S. border seeking safety. The buses of children were blocked by adults
yelling that they weren’t wanted here in the United States. Big angry
white men, holding signs the children couldn’t read, with angry faces
screaming at them in a language they didn’t understand—when they were
already alone and away from their families and home—would certainly make
children feel very afraid. Some of the kids were reportedly as young as
six years old.
Two young girls on a bus. Image courtesy Blend Images/shutterstock.com.
The town mayor, Alan Long, said the children posed
a threat to his community and that he was “proud” of the demonstrators.
One hundred-and-fifty protesters waved American flags, chanted “USA!
USA!” and shouted to the scared children, "Go home—we don't want you
here." Totally blocked from reaching the processing center, the buses
turned around and left for another Border Patrol Station, where some of
the children were reportedly taken to a hospital for unspecified
treatment.
More than 52,000 unaccompanied children from
Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras have walked across the U.S. border
since last October—some, unfortunately, by way of human trafficking
networks though Mexico. Thousands more have come with their parents. The
surge has overwhelmed the system and become a very serious humanitarian
crisis to which U.S. officials are scrambling to respond. But this is
being politicized in Washington.
Incredibly, some Republicans have
used this tragic situation as an excuse for why they scuttled
immigration reform—when having a smart, fair, and humane immigration
system in place would have helped avoid this crisis.
This horrible scene in California reminds me of an interaction during a talk I gave a few months ago on immigration.
It
turned out to be the most important immigration talk I’ve given this
year—and it was to my son’s fifth grade class. They were studying the
subject and invited me to speak about it. First, we went through the
long history of immigration in this country. All the children in my
son’s class are part of our national history of people who chose to come
to America (with the exception of those families forced by the chains
of slavery). Next I told the students about our current problem of 11
million undocumented people living in uncertainty and fear for years and
even decades, of families being separated, fathers and mothers from
torn away from their children, and hardworking and law-abiding people
being deported every day.
Looking very surprised, these
students asked the obvious question, “Why don’t we fix that? Why doesn’t
Congress change the system?”
I answered, “They say they’re afraid.”
The students looked even more confused and asked, “What are they afraid of?”
I
paused to consider their honest question and looked around the room—the
classroom of a public school fifth grade class in Washington D.C. I
looked at their quizzical and concerned faces, a group of
African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, Native American, European,
African children. Then it hit me.
“They are afraid of you,” I replied.
“Why would they be afraid of us?” the students asked, shocked. I had to tell them.
“They
are afraid you are the future of America. They are afraid their country
will someday look like this class—that you represent what our nation is
becoming.”
This multiracial, multi-cultural, and multi-national group of 11-year-olds now looked more confused than ever.
“They are afraid this won’t work,” I said. “Does it work?”
The
children looked at each other, then responded with many voices, saying,
“Yeah…Sure…Of course it works…It works great…It’s really cool!”
Together
we decided that our job was to show the rest of the country that this
new America coming into being is, in fact, really cool.
Our long
battle for comprehensive immigration reform was recently officially
ended in Congress by Speaker John Boehner. The leader of the Republican
House of Representatives told the President that he would not allow a
vote for reform to be brought up—even though it is widely believed that a
vote to fix this broken system would pass were it to come up in the
House and the Senate.
Speaker Boehner and his Republican leaders
themselves admit this is only about politics. Most Americans of every
political stripe believe the current system is untenable and must be
fixed. A large coalition from the faith community, the business
community, and law enforcement officials says that reform makes common
sense, is good for the economy, is good for national security and public
safety, is good for keeping families together—in short, is a moral
imperative. But that is being obstructed by a vocal group of white
conservative lawmakers who are motivated by political and racial fear
and hatred. Many conservative Republicans have more or less admitted
that those feelings are very present in the constituencies they
represent. And the Republican leadership is unwilling to stand up to
their fear of a more diverse American future.
This is political
obstruction of the common good, and it is a moral failure. This week, in
a meeting with President Barack Obama, faith leaders asked the
President to do everything he can, within his Constitutional authority,
to “relieve the suffering” of all the families and children who will
continue to be devastated. Let me say this very clearly: Those who have
morally failed to fix this broken system must dare not now try to
prevent executive orders to protect the people we love, who have become
part of “us,” and whom Christ asks us to protect. If Republicans
continue to ignore and cause the suffering of all “the strangers” among
us, they will have to answer to the faith community. Jim Wallisis president of Sojourners. His book, The (Un)Common Good: How the Gospel Brings Hope to a World Divided, the updated and revised paperback version of On God’s Side, is available now. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.
As Christians, we should
stand with our immigrant neighbors and pledge our support for them as
they pledge their allegiance to our nation and it’s future. In how we
are to treat one another, through community and the policies our
community adopt, there is a clear biblical imperative.
Sojourners has released a
powerful video telling the story of Pastor Juan Luis Barco, an
undocumented minister following God’s call and faithfully serving a
congregation. We especially want elected officials like Rep. King and
those who share his views to hear this message, so we launched the video
as a TV ad running across his district.
Given the obvious benefits
of, and broad public support for, immigration reform, why are many
arch-conservatives in the House of Representatives refusing to address
the issue in a serious way? The answer may point to an issue that we
still hesitate to talk about directly: race.
For people of faith this
is not a political issue, but a moral one. And for Christians, how we
treat 11 million undocumented people, the "strangers" among us, is how
we treat Christ himself.
by Jim Wallis
What
I have heard after visiting 18 cities in six weeks is that people
around the country believe that nothing can happen in Washington, D.C.
They are basically right. So I am very grateful today to report the one
exception.
About Sojourners Immigration
In Deuteronomy, God tells the Israelites: You shall also love
the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (10:19).
Having experienced life as immigrants in a foreign land, God’s people
were now called to offer love and welcome to the immigrants among them.
Jesus reiterates this call to radical hospitality in the New Testament
(Matthew 25:35).
The United States is a nation of immigrants.
While we come from different backgrounds, our country’s strength is the
ability to unite together around common goals. Yet, our immigration laws
prevent immigrants from using their gifts to improve our communities
and grow the economy. Instead of “welcoming the stranger,” the current
system leaves families living in fear and prevents young people from
achieving their dreams.
Sojourners believes Christians are called
to change this. Through our work with groups like the Evangelical
Immigration Table and the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, we are
articulating the biblical witness for immigration reform and encouraging
our political leaders to take action. By working together, we believe
the faith community has a historic opportunity to help create a road map
to citizenship for 11 million aspiring Americans.
The horrible events in
Murrieta, California on Tuesday reminds of the most important
immigration talk I’ve given this year—the one I gave to my son’s fifth
grade class.
The personal stories of
immigrants who are facing the unintended consequences of our countries
broken immigration policies are often left out of the national debate.
'The Stranger' offers just a few illustrations of the millions of lives
that are negatively impacted by our immigration laws.
Many people like to point out
that people should just do things the “right way.” While I agree with
the premise of this statement, the likelihood of success for many people
of color is slim to none. The reality is that people of African descent
are not always given the same opportunities as those from other
countries.
As nine of us sat in MP Jamie
Briggs’ office, we shared our hopes and dreams for the impact of what
we were taking part in. Beforehand all agreed, not only did we want to
draw attention to children who continue to suffer in detention, we
wanted to win over those we came into contact with. I believe we did.
Preparing for his dangerous trip north, a Central American teen stops
to pen a letter to his uncle in the United States. He writes that his
mom is telling him to think hard about the risks: the gangs on the
trains, the cartels that kidnap migrants, the days of walking through
the desert. But those roadblocks, he writes, are worth it: "I see myself
earning a bunch of money in the United States, and my mom here without
any worries."
More MoJo coverage of the surge of unaccompanied child migrants from Central America.
So begins a new public service announcement aimed at keeping Central American kids from joining the tens of thousands of unaccompanied child migrants
who have been apprehended by US authorities in the last year. The PSA
soon turns dark, though: After the teen says goodbye to his mother, and
his uncle puts down the letter he's been reading, the camera pulls back
from a close-up of the boy, dead on the desert floor. A narrator urges
viewers: "They're our future. Let's protect them."
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) developed the TV ads, as well as posters and marimba-infused radio spots, as part of its million-dollar Dangers Awareness Campaign. Rolled out shortly after Vice President Joe Biden's trip to Guatemala
in June, the campaign is an attempt to counter rumors that
unaccompanied kids will be allowed to stay in the United States. The ads
emphasize that the journey is extremely dangerous and that children
won't get legal status if they make it across the border.
The campaign will run for 11 weeks, CBP spokesman Jaime Ruiz told the Associated Press.
"We want a relative that is about to send $5,000, $6,000 to a relative
in El Salvador to see this message and say, 'Oh my God, they're saying
that the journey is more dangerous,'" Ruiz said. "We try to counter the
version of the smuggler."
Here's the other televised PSA, in which two silhouettes—a would-be
migrant and a smuggler—discuss heading north, the smuggler turning
increasingly aggressive and his shadow occasionally turning into that of
a coyote, the slang word for a smuggler: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/347904/psa-sombras-guatemala-30#.U79EHbH-XCI
(Notably, CBP created slightly different versions of each of the
stories for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the three countries
that have sent the most unaccompanied minors to the US. Watch them all here.)
This type of campaign isn't anything new. For years, the Mexican government
has produced ads about the dangers of walking through the Arizona
desert, and several years ago the Department of Homeland Security, as
part of CBP's Border Safety Initiative, distributed CDs to Latin American radio stations
with sad songs aimed at slowing immigration from the south. With so
many variables at play, it's virtually impossible to measure their
effect.
But with more than 57,000
unaccompanied kids apprehended in the United States since October—a
situation that CBP head R. Gil Kerlikowske called "difficult and
distressing on a lot of levels" when speaking to members of the Senate
homeland security committee on Wednesday—the government seems willing to
try anything.
Ian reports on immigration, sports, and Latin America for Mother Jones. Got a comment or a tip? Email him: igordon [at] motherjones [dot] com. RSS | Twitter
