Tuesday, May 1, 2007

May 1 immigrant marches scheduled elsewhere but not in Nashville

There will be immigrant rallies around the country today, but not in Nashville.

In March of 2006, thousands of immigrants and allies marched peacefully in downtown Nashville (story here), in tandem with marches around the country. The marchers were catalyzed by a U.S. House vote to felonize all 12 million immigrants who don't have a valid visa - the "vast majority" of whom are ordinary, hardworking people, according to President George W. Bush (quoted here). That bill is no longer on the table. Also, according to this article in the New York Times, increased deportations have made some people nervous.

"Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, facing intense political pressure to toughen enforcement, removed 221,664 illegal immigrants from the country over the last year, an increase of more than 37,000 — about 20 percent — over the year before, according to the agency’s tally."

(Of note from that article: "'We are not calling for I.C.E. to become the Gestapo knocking on doors in the middle of the night,' said Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for NumbersUSA, a group in Washington that seeks to curb immigration.")

USA Today has a similar story about this year's marches here.

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