May 1 and Jewish Immigrants
As tomorrow, May 1, marks the National Day of Action–“a day without immigrantsâ€, a national boycott to demonstrate the economic impact of immigrants in this country, immigrant rights groups are calling for support through various methods, including boycotting work, school and shopping to show support for immigrant rights. In this call, it is important for us to take stock of Jewish immigrants who are directly impacted.
Mik Moore at jspot gives us a glimpse of the impact, or more so the lack of information on the impact on Russian Jewish immigrants:
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I have not seen any polling of the Russian Jewish community on the question of illegal immigration (my guess is that it is split on possible solutions), but I would hope that any future Russian Jewish elected would keep in mind these observations from 2004 by Natalie Shapiro, publisher and editor of Russian Bazaar newspaper.
The problem of illegal immigrants is difficult and requires a solution, and it is good that President Bush has taken the first step. I support his project. It is wrong to distinguish people simply on the basis of how and in what way they arrived to America. In America there are now many illegal Russian-speaking Jews, including people from Israel. They want to work, but businesspeople cannot hire them. Even I had to turn away undocumented work applicants; it is very unpleasant to have to issue such a severe sentence, to take on the role of a judge. Newspapers always need specialists, as do many other business … I empathize with “undocumented people†and I am always glad if I can help them legalize their status.
In the past week, over 1,100 undocumented workers in at least 26 states have been arrested by police working under the direction of the Homeland Security Department in an attempt to intimidate immigrant communities and frighten folks from participating in the growing Immigrant’s Rights Movement. Some say it’s also tactic by the Bush administration to demonstrate that they are still “serious about enforcement” while pushing for “guest worker” programs to boost their economic profit.
Suffice to say, it’s time for us to take stock. Commemorate May 1 in honor of our ancestor’s past, and Jewish immigrants’ current day struggles and futures in this nation along with all immigrants.
