they learned a lesson from the last march I see aot of american flags instead of mexican flags from two years ago.Hopefully whoever wins the presidency has a realistic plan for the immigration situation. Bush's immigration proposal wasnt bad but he couldnt get the hardliners in his own party to support it.

Fed: I think one of the only things I've agreed with on Bush is his relatively moderate views about immigration--notice the word 'relatively'. The fringe nuts, unfortunately, killed those ideas. What a wasted opportunity.

Go back to your country, get in line, apply for citizenship and wait. I don't care where you came from. You don't become a citizen by jumping borders and overstaying student visas.

The organizers say this is a "justice issue". If such is the case then the Mexicans here illegally should go "Home" and fight against their repressive and corrupt government like those brave mostly women public school teachers in Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico.
That’s called Courage!

p.s

I hope it doesn’t take me two hours to get home

"I see immigration as a fringe issue. It wasn't even an issue until about a year ago and neither party has a cohesive platform."

Yet, it's a "fringe" issue that has dogged political debate and elections for some two centuries in the USA.

I think you have an odd definition of "fringe."

That said, if you are tying to say the immigration issue will not be as fiercely debated as two years ago, I can agree with that. But that doesn't mean the issue will not on voter's minds. I would think that in a sour ecomony, more voters might have resentful attitudes towards people viewed as stealing precious jobs.

I think you need to think this out a bit more, Spav.

@Britt:

Uh, seriously? I want to strike you in the neck.

You disgust me.

@matilda: You see issues like this every 4-6 years that get people SO riled up and then fade away to nothing. i.e. Homeless, AIDS, sexual harassment, crime, gangs etc.

The reason immigration remains on the agenda is because it is a shitty lose-lose issue. And there is NO CONSTITUENCY to win that would even support the effort of trying to "solve" immigration.

Touche Matilda. Touche.

What a fucking idiot.

Matilda:

I think we are totally actually agreeing. I completely agree that immigration cuts close to many hearts (I come from Italian stock, my uncles still have their accents) and does raise basic questions about who we are, where we come from and what is important to us.

And because immigration "begs the question" is the exact reason we will never truly attempt to answer it.

Use E-verify for employment of anyone. Crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. Build the fence. A real fence.

Those points will seem extreme to some Chicagoist commenters, but remember that the majority of Americans support stricter immigration enforcement.

That amnesty bill by Bush---which many on both sides of the aisle thought was a sure thing--- was killed by overwhelming public opinion and pounded a hundred feet under ground. If anyone tries that again, no matter who gets elected, the same thing will happen.

nice word usage, margaret. another word for "undocumented" is "illegal"

perhaps if we all started drinking corona, tecate and tequilla we cold improve the mexican economy enough to employe some people in mexico.Oh and avacado's I love guacamole.

Wait a minute.

Certain posts on this blog have stated that America is hated the world over because of George Bush and his methods of foreign policy. And, our health care and other social services lag so far behind other nations that the country is a complete joke. And jobs? Forget it, the economy is horrible!

Now you are telling me that non U.S. citizens want to come here permanently and live? From nations all over the world? Even if they have to break the law to do it?

I am so confused, I thought our nation was a hellhole, so why do these people want to be here?

I wonder if my nephew is wearing his Che Guevara T-shirt today. He thinks it's cool, though he knows virtually nothing about what Mr. Guevara really did or about the discredited policies in which Guevara believed.

Protest everything! Down with "the man." Happy May Day.

Now you are telling me that non U.S. citizens want to come here permanently and live? From nations all over the world? Even if they have to break the law to do it?

Yes, for remunerations.

I dont know if I would say they are great for the US economy. There are trade offs yes there low wages keep prices low for some goods and services but they use alot of services too. Schools, police, talk to some hospital emergency room workers about the cost of illegal immigration. A high % are paid in cash and dont pay income taxs. I dont know if illegals help or harm the economy but there are tradeoffs. I dont think its going to be an easy issue but a little leadership on the issue would be nice from the next president

Irish, No to your question

I was just giving both sides of the arguement. What goverments did we set up in the beginning 1776-1850's
People that have limited oppurtunites in their country need to take ownership of their country. Mexico just needs better leadership. It has made huge strides in the past ten years it has a GDP that is better than ours and has natural rescources (oil) that are being mismanaged. A way for uncle sam to ease immigration to the USA would be to help upgrade the infrastructure in these developing country's. Walls arent the answer oppurtunites in their home countries need to be developed.

Hey Ward Up, something tells me that you knowledge on Ernesto "Che" Guevara is perhaps equal to your nephews if not less? Heck how do you know he has not actually read a book about his life or his work? Maybe he's taken a Latin American studies class?

p.s

Matty et al. Come on yall lighten up a bit on Spav-vinist, she is finding her voice in the world

Ward says: "I wonder if my nephew is wearing his Che Guevara T-shirt today. He thinks it's cool, though he knows virtually nothing about what Mr. Guevara really did or about the discredited policies in which Guevara believed."

I agree. I am disturbed by dolts who wear this shirt as though Che wasn't, in the end, a murderous totalitarian thug. I even see some people wearing fucking hammers-and-sickles, too, as though that is cool. Would they wear swastikas? If you don't know what I am talking about, investigates how many people the communisits--Soviets and Chinese chief among them--mudered, starved, worked to death, or otherwise killed in the name of utopia.

Fuck Che. For his idealism, and all the good intentions, perhaps, at the start, he ended up as a piece of shit totalitarian, no better than Castro--Che did not respect free speech, and he had no problem putting people in prison simply because they had different political ideas. And fuck people who wear his shirt as though it was some short of fashion statement, or expression of irony.

Sorry, it had to be said.

Spook: Based on your comments here over a long time, I have no doubt your knowledge of history pales next to mine. You get facts wrong all the time, asshole. Don't try to persuade me that Che was not, at heart, a totalitarian. You know that's bullshit, cowboy. And fuck you for defending him. While not as bad as a Stalin, Che certainly shared the same totalitarian sympathies. Che should be condemed, not celebrated. I rejoice that the puke was killed.

Dim tilda

You are a one dimensional cyber cartoon character. This is why trying to engage a historical discussion of Latin, central, and south America as it related to America during Che's time with you would be like trying to have a discussion of the above with a Gold Fish. :-)

What goverments did we set up in the beginning 1776-1850's -ward up

We've been supporting coups, strongmen and terrorists (by our own definition) all the way up through modern times. This is not 'left' conspiracy theory but well documented history.

Now you are telling me that non U.S. citizens want to come here permanently and live? From nations all over the world? Even if they have to break the law to do it?

I am so confused, I thought our nation was a hellhole, so why do these people want to be here? -Sears Tower

C'mon Sears,
You know as well as I do that this is false logic, unless you honestly believe that the U.S.'s prosperity should be measured by developing countries. By your logic North Koreans should be happy because they live in a great place..............compared to Darfur.

"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary...These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate."

Great man, that one. I just hope some kid and his Che shirt walk by an exiled Cuban with a whiskey bottle.

Spook says: "Mark my words we are entering a Depression and we have no one to blame but our stupid anti intellectual anti historical selves."

Yeah, real fresh idea, asshole. You and millions of other Amreicans, some paranoid, some not, are predicting the same thing. Original. But thank God you are the only wise American around, you fucking dick.

Wow, you read the New Yorker--you are so fucking smart, asshole. I do, too, so I must be at least as wise as you. Did you read the Cliffs Notes version of Marxism as well? Did you read Mr Anderson's biography of Che yet, asshole? Thought not.

I would say you are retarded, but I decline to insult retarded people, who can't help it.

Seriously, Spook, get your fucking head out of your ass.

If you really do hang out at dive bars, as you claim, I have no doubt you have been run out of at least a couple by people unimpressed by your surplus of fake wisdom. Then again, I suspect you spend most of your time over $5 lattes at Starbucks, making googly eyes at baristas, you hopelessly ignorant dick.

Spook--apologist for totalitarianism. Another sign of what a hopeless shithead the Spookster is.

Yes, America has many serious problems, including in our legal and penal system, and our history has many, many, many black marks.

And even though Bastita was a monster, I would not stoop to defend the totalitarians that replaced him, as you do. I would never defend any admited and outright totalitarian, as you do.

Just because some things are very wrong does not make tyrants or tyrannical personalities right by default--which, in this case, means your fucking beloved Che.

Come on, asshole, tell me about some book you've read. Based on your writings here, you can barely read anything more intelligent than the back of a cereal box.

You are an ignorant fraud.

You won't engage me in debate, Spook, because you are weak and you are a coward at heart. You know I would kick the living shit out of you because I have a greater command of facts than you; have a firmer grasp of history than you; am better read than you; am better traveled than you; and can write better than you. Don't try to act like you won't debate because you are somehow above it, or you don't like me, or whatever other weak excuse you want to offer. You won't debate because you are a weak fucking coward who knows you will get your fucking ass kicked.

You are a fucking ignorant fraud. Get the fuck out of here. Go back to your overpriced lattes and Marxism For Dummies book. You are a disgrace and intellectual weakling who offers no new ideas, no insight, no accurate facts.

And I think you know it, too. Most cowards do.

By the time I got to the bottom of this comment section, I forgot what the story was about. And yes, I realize I am guilty as well.