Pedro Guzman Blogging and Other Musings

Here's where things stand so far in blogtopia (y!sctp) with respect to coverage of Pedro Guzman's forced exile and subsequent disappearance:

The Mex Files, Disability Studies - Temple U., UnSpace, Dallas-Fort Worth Immigration Lawyer, And We Shall March, Intersections, BadCopNews, Courage Campaign, TBogg, Rook's Rant, Guanabee, Left End of the Dial, kid oakland, The Liberal OC, Calitics, Daily Kos, The Latin Americanist, Tejas Cubbie, Why Now?, Beautiful Horizons, Crime Scene KC, Outside the Beltway, The Gimp Parade, Fetch me my axe, States Without Nations, The Bullwinkle Blog, Hullabaloo, scootmandubious, serpentine smile, The Latino Body, nazarian, onefivetwo, cannablog, PREGUNTAVER, All Spin Zone, QuizLaw, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Fair Immigration Reform Movement, Pandagon, The Feminist Blog Network, I Am The Lizard Queen, Vox ex Machina, BlueBloggin

Lots of search engine hits over the weekend here, did this topic make its way to the corporate media while I was out fishing? If so, good, but as mariachi mama said in the comments here the other day, this type of blatant viciousness by ICE and other tentacles of the Department of Homeland Security happens everyday.

"Probable cause" for vehicle searches, requests for verification of citizenship at a workplace or even standard government services boil down to the same thing: skin color.

Again, not something that can be proven with charts and poll numbers. It is something that is experienced everyday by those with tierra-colored skin. I know because I am one of them.

There was a time when I thought that I had a persecution complex. But you can only ignore the sideways glances, the extra attention at checkpoints, the request for additional pieces of identification, the "where are you from" question so much before you just accept that this is the reality you must live.

This 'probable cause' is why vigilante groups like the Minutemen are racist, despite the howls of indignation you get from some of their members. When a group is committed to ferreting out "illegals", it begs the question: How are they identifying them?

The answer to that is why you will find uncompromised deference towards the immigrant community at this blog. They are me, regardless of status. The key to brightening the future, however, is when the larger progressive community says 'They are we too'. A humble blog like this can only do so much to raise the alarm that human rights abuses are occurring on a constant basis.