Large protests have been seen in the large Route 66 cities of Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Tulsa and Oklahoma City against illegal-immigration bills proposed by Congress.
But even smaller towns along the Mother Road have seen their share.
Here's a story about a small protest in Gallup, N.M. The photo of the rally above is by Matt Hinshaw of the Gallup Independent. That's the Blue Spruce Lodge sign on Route 66 in the background.
About 3,000 marched against anti-immigration legislation in Amarillo, Texas.
About 2,000 protested in Santa Fe, N.M. The city also saw a student boycott and an economic boycott.
About 300 marched in Flagstaff, Ariz.
There was a small demonstration in Barstow, Calif.
And one man — a Republican, no less — held a protest against proposed immigration laws at the Praying Hands statue in Webb City, Mo.
Johnny Mango of the Duke City Fix blog collective in Albuquerque brings an interesting twist to the debate:
When the U.S. obtained most of New Mexico in 1848, many residents of Santa Fe wanted to remain Mexican citizens … and they moved south to the Las Cruces area to remain in Mexican territory. Five years later the Gasden Purchase put them back into the U.S. anyway. The borders changed. The people didn't. The land between Socorro and Chihuahua looks exactly the same. And El Camino Real celebrates a people trying to stay together. Although history does indeed depend on who writes the book, remember, it is only a book. We need to think for ourselves.
Be sure to also read the wide-ranging comments at the end of the story.
My two cents' worth: No matter what the law-and-order crowd says, don't expect to see mass deportations of the 11 million or 12 million illegal immigrants in this country. Ain't gonna happen. And today, the GOP proposal to make illegal immigration a felony — one of the big reasons for the protests — has been dropped.
And as much as I hate to agree with nationally syndicated columnist George Will and his bloated verbiage, his March 30 piece brings the most common sense to the issue.
Yes, we must have the wall. Sorry, but we have to protect our country.
Blessings,
Shirley
Am I the only one who finds the mental image of our government rounding up 11 million people, loading the onto buses, and shipping them to an unknown destination just a little bit too familiar? Somehow, from where I sit, 11 million Mexicans on buses don’t look so terribly different from 6 million Jews on trains.
No, Emily…I see the immigration issue as a means of creating an enemy we can focus on so we don’t focus on issues that will truly benefit the working class–such as a minimum wage people can live on…these folks come here to do work that others won’t…they should not be punished for this…
I agree to a point, Kip. Except the rallies seem to be succeeding in making the “enemy” gain sympathy from many Americans. The sudden speed at which the GOP is backing away from its “felony to illegal immigrants” offers proof of that.
Also, there is a petition drive going in Oklahoma to put a raise of the minimum wage on a statewide ballot. To date, I haven’t found anyone who opposes this. I predict the petition will gain more than enough signatures.
Ship ’em out. If they want to come here legally, let them go through the proper channels. If not, keep ’em out. And another thing, the language of THIS land is English.
Dennis, the language of this land is NOT necessarily English. The state of New Mexico is officially a bilingual state — English and Spanish. That’s mainly because the Spanish-speaking people pre-date the English-speaking residents by several hundred years.
And there are plenty of American Indian reservations on U.S. soil — remember, they are sovereign nations — that are free to use their own languages. I’ve learn quite a lot of this in recent years, since I now like in Oklahoma.
The “America is an English-only nation” argument doesn’t hold up on closer examination of the facts.
Dennis, you are absolutely right. All immigrants should be forced to learn the native language of the countries they choose to settle.
And in that spirit, I say:
Welcome to America. Now speak Cherokee.
Dennis, I do not agree with you. The ones who are already here should stay here and follow the laws. They shouldn’t ship them out. Think of their children who were born here. If their parents are immigrants and they are American citizens they will be separated from their family. If that happens, which I’m surewon’t,there would probably be trouble
RedForkHippie, but the Jews were LEGALLY in Germany. So you can’t compare this situation with that situation. The people that should be and are being sent back are ILLEGAL immigrants. No other country stands for someone just coming into their country without legal papers and a legal right to stay there. Why should we be any different. A lot of illegal immigrants are not just from Mexico and are criminals from their home country. Also, just for your info, Cherokee was not the first language in America…
Paralgl, saying that “a lot of illegal immigrants … are criminals in their home country” is untrue. If it were true, why is the crime rate lower in areas where such immigrants live?
I also think RedForkHippie knows that Cherokee wasn’t the first language in America. The greater point she gave — that you apparently missed — is that American Indians own the first languages of America, not the white man.