10 April 2006

Pity the Poor Minutemen...

Today an immigrants' rights rally will take place in Washington, DC, and in other cities across the USA. The DC rally organizers hope to have somewhere around 180,000 people show up. The prospect of a large rally like this one obviously has the local Minutemen club up in arms. The Post was able to draw the following quote from one exercised member:
Stephen Schreiman, director of the Maryland chapter, said only U.S. citizens should have the right to protest on U.S. land.
"Unfortunately, American laws do not ban foreigners from protesting on our soil," he said. "They've got the legal right to go out there and protest."

Schreiman, whose name sounds suspiciously German to me -- he could be an agent for the Kaiser --, really puts the Minutemen out in wacko wacko land. Ban foreigners from protesting on our soil? In other words, suspend the Bill of Rights for non-citizens? I'm no legal expert, but from my sparse knowledge of precedent, I'd say even foreign nationals are protected from illegal search and seizure, have freedom of speech, rights of assembly, etc. Lawyers can correct or back me up on appropriate case law. However, it's my understanding that joints like Gitmo exist for the precise reason that the Bush Administration doesn't want those particular foreign nationals on US soil, where they would be protected by US legal rights.

Of course, Mr. Schreiman -- or should I say "Herr Schreiman" -- makes the assumption that the protest will essentially be made up of "foreigners," and maybe it will. However, I'm willing to bet that a good sized number of participants will not be the "illegal" foreigners that the good Minutemen are so adamant about keeping out. First and second generation naturalized citizens, children of immigrants, immigrant rights advocates, human rights advocates, legal aliens in the US on work visas or student visas or just visiting, etc., will probably also be part of the process.

In the end, though, we have to pity the poor minutemen, who mainly police only one immigrant population and one border -- the Latino immigrants and the Mexican border -- and probably couldn't field enough supporters to fill even the short bus, as they sit and watch the truth unfold before their disbelieving eyes: this nation has always been and will probably always be a nation of immigrants...

4 comments:

m.a. said...

I swear this immigration thing is the beginning of something big. What it is, I don't know. But it's going to be big.

Anonymous said...

I seriously doubt illegal immigrants would be protesting - they can't risk being arrested.

If you're a non-citizen and here legally, all the typical rights apply. If you're here illegally, you're entitled to due process and certain other rights. However, there is obviously no right to free speech or assembly when you're not even supposed to be in the country in the first place. It's a non-issue, because you will be deported.

DC Cookie said...

Thank goodness for that, or where the heck would I be (although I did so through the legal channels)?

cs said...

You watch out, Cookie, you Canadians are next.

RCR, I knew I could count on you to straighten out the legal stuff.

MA, it's been amazing watching the demonstrations build. I wonder what this afternoon will be like in DC...