Animated with plenty of music, dancing and poetry, a workers' rights rally in Washington Park Friday afternoon was an upbeat contrast to the frustrated protests that exploded across Europe in honor of May Day. Far more hopeful, dozens of union workers and immigration reform advocates mingled in the grass, listening to speakers who called for workers of all backgrounds to unify against corporate and social oppression to build a greater, more equitable, America.
Flanked by her two sons, both wearing homemade shirts protesting the deportation of their father, one woman said her husband was both a determined worker and a victim of a broken immigration system.
Name: Winnie, Howard Jr. (left) and O'Neil Jamieson
A will to work: Winnie's husband, Howard, came to the United States from Jamaica nearly two decades ago with a college degree in engineering and a desire to work. Because he was undocumented, he started his own home remodeling business. "But he paid taxes," Winnie says. "He employed people." It was enough to support his three kids.
But then it fell apart: Five years ago, when Howard went to renew his drivers license, Winnie says, the clerk tagged his application because his ID -- his passport -- didn't have the correct stamps. Six weeks later he was arrested and detained by immigration officials. Out on a $10,000 bond, Howard fought to remain in Kansas City all the way to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, but marriage to a citizen and U.S.-born children weren't enough to override his deportation order. He spent three months in Missouri and Kansas jails before he was shipped back to his home country. "We spent $30,000," Winnie says of the legal battle. "We lost our house. We lost everything."
No way home: Because Howard had made a false claim to citizenship, Winnie says, he is permanently barred from returning to the U.S. But he still gave it a shot. "He tried to come back three times," Winnie says. "I mean, it's his children. What would you do?" On one attempt, he was held in a Mexican jail for weeks. "Now, he's given up," Winnie says. "He's so depressed."
The trouble with relocation: Winnie says people often ask her why the Jamiesons don't reunite their family in Jamaica. The answer is the same difficulty that brought Howard to the U.S. in the first place: money. The former business owner now runs a clothing shop that brings in barely $300 per month. That would barely be enough to pay for their three kids' schooling. "We wouldn't be able to afford it," Winnie says of moving to the Caribbean island.
No relief from either party: A Republican for many years, Winnie says she was surprised by the political disinterest in immigration reform. "I thought if anybody understood family values it was my party," she says. "Surely, these people would not want children growing up without their father." But she got not definitive action from Senator Sam Brownback or Representative Emmanuel Cleaver.
Part of the growing ranks of divided families: "I'm not alone," Winnie says. "This happens everyday. Before I was thrown in the midst of it I had no idea what a mess the immigration system is." Until Congress enacts comprehensive immigration reform, she says, that system will continue to tear apart families and toss out workers contributing to the local economy.
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I don't think the issue for MOST US citizens is immigrants.......... it's ILLEGAL immigrants. I personally resent displays from people claiming unfair treatment for immigrants, or "The USA sent my daddy away" If you're legal, no problems. Illegal is illegal. Period. Do it the right way, THEN if you feel you've been treated unfairly, you will ACTUALLY have the rights as a citizen to do something about it.
This is not about discrimination because E-verify is activated after someone has been hired,� Shuler said. �This helps to ensure that local officials can identify who they arrest. Interior enforcement is crucial.� It's essential that Americans back him and his sponsors when the act is introduced in the next few weeks. This is namely after Sen. Harry Reid(D-NV) and speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) silently neutralized E-Verify, plus 48 other members of the Senate. We cannot trust these pro-illegal immigrant--PARIAH--cheap labor--BUSINESS politicians. With over 12 million Americans out of work and large numbers of new veterans entering the workplace, nor can our own kids get Summer jobs. We just cannot accept any legalization of 13 to 20 million foreign nationals and the huge costs sustaining them. Offer your support to Rep.Shuler (D-NC) on his gov website. Phone: 828-252-1651 Learn more at NUMBERSUSA
Enforce the 1986 Simpson/Mazzoli bill, the Immigration Reform & Control Act as enacted.
Support the revised (SAVE) Act as it targets employers with stiff penalties for hiring illegal aliens, secures the northern and southern border by adding 8,000 new border patrol agents and increases interior enforcement by allowing for additional federal district court judges and provides more resources for law enforcement officers. In this package E-Verify would be mandatory, in-perpetuity driving illegal labor from the workplace. Rep. Heath Schuler's e-verification program, would require federal agencies, contractors and employers to verify the eligibility of --ALL EMPLOYEES--within one to four years, depending on the size of the company. Using this procedure, identity fraud wrought through fake social security numbers and bogus ID's would be reduced significantly.
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