Immigration Activists Chain Themselves to White House Gates

Updated: 3:52 p.m.

Seven undocumented immigrants chained themselves to White House gates Wednesday to protest deportations of immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally but were hoping to be legalized. The protesters were arrested and later released, according to B. Loewe, an activist with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which organized the event.

The demonstrators called on President Barack Obama to end the deportations, even as Congress continues to consider immigration reform. The Senate passed a bill in July that would revamp the legal immigration system, but the House has not yet passed a bill addressing the status of undocumented immigrants.

“When you talk to people whose lives hang in the balance every day, they can’t wait,” an activist behind Wednesday’s protest told USA Today (note: USA Today initially reported incorrectly that eight protesters had chained themselves to the gates, not seven).

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/18...#ixzz2fHL5Ao3H

and they say immigration reform isn't the civil rights issue of our time...

They say that because civil rights was about African Americans (US Citizens) having the same rights as the rest of the White U.S citizens; the only difference was the color of one's skin. But this time, these people are not US citizens, the people is this article made a choice of coming here and staying here. So if i was African American i would be highly offended by the comparison. Some people even compare what is going on with the illegal immigration population to what the Jews had to go through, once again there is no comparison.

That is the problem, they cant look past that.

What difference does it make if I was brought here when I was a day old?
I still grew up here, not my choice...

I know, there is a big difference. If I was born here, that make me a citizen. But, what I'm trying to get at , is that people need to understand the situation better. Immigrants, whether legal or illegal want to work and provide a better life for themselves and their families. They are already here and aren't leaving.

Oh and another thing, legal and illegal immigrants pay taxes like every citizen does. Well, the people that are smart and want to live legally pay taxes, a lot of taxes. Everyone would still pay taxes, but it be so much easier if we were legalized and tracked by the government. Why is this so much to ask??

No it really isn't and you should stop thinking that. You're a not slave, you are not being lynched, you're not be segregated in the form black people were before the civil acts movement. These people were born here and were denied their constitution given rights. In fact, black people were killed for voting. They would kill them and put their bodies up to scare people from voting. Even after the civil acts, stuff like that continue to happened. The Civil acts movement was huge in its time, there have been how many immigrations reforms have there been here?


So no, you are not the blacks of the pre-civil acts USA era

This ^ ^, awesome reply!

so, are there any differences between African Americans born before and after the civil right act of 1964? do they face similar issues? if t the answer is that they are not the same, then, the book the New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is pure bullshit, because throughout her book she claims with statistics and data that African Americans of today face similar struggles as those in the slavery era. you can not compare apples and oranges, they are totally different!! , right?

Face it, we are facing similar civil right issues as those in the pre civil right act of 1964 era!!!!

You're wrong and you should feel bad. But you have spirit.

"omg my parents brought me here against my own will!! I bet this is how African kids felt when their own kind kidnapped and sold them to slavery!!!"



right?

African-Americans face the similar struggles today because of systemic discrimination due to their race that they can't EVER change.

Fact is, many of us can seamlessly integrate ourselves into American society and not face discrimination. We can pretend that we're American, fake socials, get jobs, go to school, etc and never let other people know our situation.

AND this is a situation in which once we get legal papers, we're no longer illegal.

If you are black, you can't change your skintone. There is absolutely nothing you can do to change how someone perceives a black person.

If you want to make parallel comparisons to groups, the LGBT community would be more apt.

HOWEVER, I would say this; it takes a lot of balls to demand rights of citizenship when you're the one who chose to came here and are illegal. Undocumented youth notwithstanding, our argument should be about we want to make a difference NOT we deserve civil rights because we're like other groups who have directly claims to citizenship and representation in their government.