“The Protestors Have Come and Gone” – A reaction to a conservative blog

As I was rereading the “Legalize LA” blog comments, I decided to click on one user who blogged about illegal immigration as well.  Their blog linked to a conservative blog on blogspot.com and I decided to  browse through the blogger’s entries (the link: http://thecandidconservative.blogspot.com/ – copy and paste it – I will not hyperlink it).  I found an interesting blog entitled “The Protestors Have Come And Gone” which brought up some points I hadn’t thought about in some time — well, really one point.

The number of protesters have decreased.  Speculation (or maybe facts) have expressed the idea that many protesters concerned with illegal immigration and immigration reform were in fact undocumented immigrants themselves.  This is plausible (though I have not seen any reliable statistics regarding the subject [send me some if you find any]) mainly because ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has been working dilligently to increase the number of deporations in recent years.  As a result, the number of protesters unfortunately have decreased because of fear of being deported (applicable to those who are undocumented, of course).

There’s not much to say on the subject except that we must band together.  I truly understand that undocumented immigrants may not want to risk the well-being of themselves or their families by going out on the streets and increasing the possibility of being asked to show their papers.  Instead, I think that undocumented immigrants, documented immigrants, and US-born citizens must work together to spread the knowledge about immigration reform and to disseminate the truth to many around us (especially those who don’t have to live in fear) so that we can take action together and allow our voices to be heard.

I know this is “only” a blog and of course I’ll get the NYCPIP volunteers worked up to do their best to do the above (and of course I’ll do my best as well).