FW: [NAIR_CC:4524] Congress Signals Change for Immigration Policies Immigration; The Mérida Inititiative dubbed Plan México after Plan Colombia

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Subject: [NAIR_CC:4524] Congress Signals Change for Immigration Policies
Immigration; The Mérida Inititiative dubbed Plan México after Plan
Colombia



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http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/the_media_consortium/2009/03
/weekly-immigration-wire-congre.php?ref=reccafe

Weekly Immigration Wire:
Congress Signals Change for Immigration Policies Immigration

NewsLadder
March 12, 2009, 11:14AM

by Nezua TMC MediaWire Blogger

Since the Obama administration came into power, the absence of
movement on immigration issues has made activists on both sides of the
debate anxious. Most reasoned that there was so much on the new
President's agenda, critical issues would have to wait for their turn.

But when Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) went forward with
the raids that were born under the Bush administration (much to the
apparent surprise of the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security), tension mounted. Over 8,000 people in Arizona gathered last
weekend to protest the way agreement 287(g)) has played out in the
hands of local law "enforcers" like Arizona's infamous Sheriff Joe
Arpaio,who is well known for stunts like marching immigrants in chains
through town. (287(g) hands civil immigration enforcing powers to
local criminal law forces.) Racewire reports in Immigration Advocates
Want Action From Obama.

But the protesters didn't pin all the blame on Arpaio. They issued a
call to President Obama and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, echoed by
a powerful op-ed published in the Times, to step up and take
responsibility for ending the inhumane policies and terror practices
that have become all too commonplace in this country..

Protestors picket against Sheriff Joe Arpaio on February 28

Image courtesy of The Center for Community Change. Taken on February 28,
2009

Is this call being answered? Public News Service reported that Arizona
Congressmen Rep. Raul Grijalva and Ed Pastor joined with Illinois
Representative Luis Guiterrez at an immigration reform rally on Sunday
night at an immigrant rights rally. "The leadership has made public
commitments; President Obama has made public commitments. With the
enforcement part and other things, it's become an issue in which more
and more people want Congress to react. And I think we need to, and as
a consequence of that, I think we have a much better chance this year
than we've had the last four or five."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also has signaled a strong stance
against the ICE raids and subsequent "tearing families apart.." On
March 8, Pelosi's noted her position is that "Taking parents from
their children" is "un-American."

In an exciting move, on March 10th, the US Department of Justice
announced its "first civil-rights probe related to immigration
enforcement," referring to an investigation into Sheriff Arpaio and
Maricopa County's policing. In response, Maricopa County Supervisor
Mary Rose Wilcox admits, "I think they're going to find racial
profiling, which is a civil-rights abuse."

News items like these, considered collectively, may lead one to feel
confident that positive change is coming in the area of immigration
reform. More importantly, that reason can begin to reclaim its place
in the conversation, not to mention a sense of decency and humanity.
These can be important imperatives in a time of economic downfall.
But it is precisely at these times that minority and immigrant communities
become vulnerable to scapegoating and potentially worse.

On AlterNet, Kevin Tillman addresses a popular example of the tendency
to target the immigrant community in Stimulus Spin: Unauthorized
Immigrants Will Get Construction Jobs. Tillman reminds us that even if
undocumented workers benefit along with the rest of the nation, this
is on cause to reject the stimulus package nor to visit hostility upon
the immigrant community.

Here's the thing: I don't care, and neither should you. Because
the whole argument obscures the larger issue. ...[T]here is no doubt
that if we create a bunch of new jobs -- especially in construction --
unauthorized workers will get some of them. After all, they make up
about 4-5 percent of the American workforce. And that's fine, because
stimulus spending is not just about creating jobs.

At the same time, the administration's moves toward approaching
immigration from a different angle are muddied by other interconnected
realities. On March 10th, Air America posted a clip of Rachel Maddow's
interview with DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, with the theme "Mexico
bad and getting worse" to which the solution offered was the Mérida
Initiative, or what many opponents call "Plan México."

Mérida is dubbed Plan México after Plan Colombia, in which the US
(under President Bill Clinton) enacted legislation targeting the drug
commerce in Colombia, specifically the coca crops. (The legislation
was funded and further expanded under President Bush.) Plan Colombia
has been soundly criticized because of paramilitary and police abuses
by the Colombian armed forces, as well as the abject failure to reduce
cocaine production, which instead has greatly increased.

The Mérida Inititiative is a plan that could only be enacted by a
government that has learned nothing from Plan Colombia's miserable
failure. The Mérida Initiative is a program crafted by the minds of
the Bush administration, and like so much legislation of that era
attempts to introduce oppressive and authoritarian measures in
response to predictable phenomena, and all without examining
the true causes. Suggesting that Plan México is "change" from the
policies of the Past is ridiculous. As Laura Carlsen of the Center for
International Policy (CIP) wrote:

"...[T]he militarized approach to fighting organized crime,
couched in terms of the counterterrorism model of the Bush
administration, presents serious threats to civil liberties and human
rights. In Mexico, this has already been clear particularly among four
vulnerable groups: members of political opposition, women, indigenous
peoples, and migrants. ... Because Mexico cannot receive any cash
under Plan Mexico, the entire appropriations package translates into
juicy contracts for arms manufacturers, mercenary firms, and U.S.
defense and intelligence agencies.

Perhaps Plan México will bring about more border cities being taken
over by the military. Such as on March 4th, when Truthdig.com reported
that the Mexican government sent over 2,000 troops into the border
city of Ciudad Juarez to "try and regain control" as "more than 2,000
people have been murdered over the past year." This violence was, of
course, instigated by Mexican President Felipe Calderón's
unprecedented attack on the Cartels. So these conflicts intensify and
the proposed answer--in the form of Mérida--is more funding, more
weapons, more surveillance.

There are no voices telling us, yet, how using greater weaponry and
surveillance and increased military powers are going to quell the
national appetite for drugs that makes this conflict possible. Nor how
even a government or two can hope to match that source of funding.
Nor is anyone yet advising us on why we should be content in 2009 to
watch complex issues of society be reduced to issues of force and more
and more of our society handed over to military control. Especially when
we surely have learned that this is not beneficial to the People.

One hopes that the current confluence of crises will inspire bold
thought and a momentum capable of breaking away from the fearful and
violent mindset that seems to have dogged so much national policy for
almost the last decade. We need to make a different world for
ourselves. And for others.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive
reporting about immigration. Visit Immigration.NewsLadder.net for a
complete list of articles on immigration, or follow us on Twitter.

And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy and health
issues, check out Economy.NewsLadder.net and
Healthcare.NewsLadder.net.

This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of 50 leading
independent media outlets, and was created by NewsLadder.


--
Dorinda Moreno
Elders of 4 Colors 4 Directions
Hitec Aztec Collaborations/FM Global
We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For!
<fuerza...@gmail.net>