Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Senator Kennedy Raises Human Rights Issue

Thank you to the Senator for raising the real-life consequences that are adversely affecting families and communities.

From an Op-Ed last Friday in the Boston Herald:
All over New Bedford on Tuesday, hundreds of women and men woke up, kissed their children goodbye, and left for another day of work at Michael Bianco Inc. They knew it would be a grueling day because there was no other kind of day in the sweatshop-like conditions of the factory. But they were willing to work hard and without complaint because they believed in the American Dream, in which hard work creates a hope for a better life -- if not for them, then for their children.

What happened next was a tragic example of the desperate state of our current immigration policy. Hundreds of armed police and immigration officers raided the factory, creating panic among the workers. They handcuffed unarmed men and women in the same factory where the workers had already known nothing but indignity at the hands of their employer.

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Today, Senator Kennedy's staff is expanding the reach of his message to blogtopia (y!sctp!).

From the blog, Blue Mass. Group:

Gridlock in the last Congress stalled bipartisan efforts to solve the nations immigration crisis. But we will try again soon. The challenge is to combine increased enforcement and tougher penalties on employers who hire the undocumented with a way for the millions of undocumented workers already here to earn citizenship by working hard and paying taxes.

The fact is, immigration is about more than numbers. The story of Lilo Mancia, whose wife remains in custody, after the New Bedford raid, is common but something we are rarely able to see.

Without her, I am dead," said Lilo, breaking into tears. His boys are suffering, too. "They ask for her," he said. Jeffery, who has an ear infection, cried in his father"s arms. His brother kept running around the church basement with his new friend, a green Incredible Hulk doll.

We must find a better solution to our immigration crisis than raids that rip families apart.

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