The Forum on Immigration held last Friday in Hampton Bays organized by Southampton Town Councilperson Anna Throne Holst, NY Assemblyman Fred Thiele and US Congressman Tim Bishop was supposed to shed light on immigration issues by presenting just the facts about this topic. It was also to re-start a dialog on the topic.
Read one account of the forum in the Sag Harbor Express.
(if you have a strong stomach - scroll down below the article and read the racist comments it elicited)
And please look at an interview with Anna Throne-Holst in that same periodical.
Here is our comment prompted by the interview, also posted on the Express Website:
Ms. Throne-Holst says “We don’t have the power to crack down on people who employ undocumented workers.” But does’nt the Southampton Town Board
have the power to establish and enforce a minimum or living wage law? *
Some of the angry people at the forum - viewed on SEA-TV on Southampton Town’s web-site - were professional anti-immigrant agitators. Others were local citizens upset that low wage workers are being hired by unscrupulous contractors and that those contractors who do not hire un-documented immigrants are the victims.
Some time ago a foundation offered to fund a hiring center for day-laborers in Southampton which would have regularized the hiring process and helped prevent the abuses by certain contractors who hire undocumented workers at low wages, often failing to pay the wages due.
Past Town Boards have vetoed the establishment of such a center. So the low wage employers are able to continue their abuses.
While we wait for the Feds to act - eliminating the “illegals” by
making them legal would make sense - there are things we can do IF we have the will.
_______________________
* Ms. Throne-Holst advises: The Town does not have the power to enact minimum wage laws - only the State or the federal government can do that.
Week of March 19: click here for updates
Who can protest and does not is an accomplice in the act _The Talmud
Immigration Issues in FocusCombatants for Peace - Israelis and Palestinians - ex fighters tour the US
March 19 (Thursday): 6th Anniversary of Iraq War / Occupation
Suffolk County Actions to Mark 6th Anniversary of Iraq War and to Oppose Escalation of Afghanistan War
March 21(Saturday): NAACP Jubilee in Riverhead at 11 am
March 21: (Saturday): Hoops for History - Basketball Match Benefits Shinnecock Museum - 7 pm
April 1 (Wednesday): Global Warming-How Immediate is the Crisis- Talk by Dr Scott Carlin in Babylon
April 1, April 3: Father Roy Bourgeois - School of Americas Watch at Stony Brook, Huntington
April 4 (Saturday): March on Wall Street - United for Peace & Justice
LI Wins Blog: El Salvador Elections and Immigration
Peace and Justice Calendar
Suffolk Peace Vigils
Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan - When will they end?
Gaza / Palestine Update:
Is there a Leadership Crisis? Obama choice for Intelligence Council withdraws under fire from AIPAC
Recommended Reading - click here:
America is in need of a moral bailout - Chris Hedges
apitalism Hits the Fan - Richard Wolff
Kafka Era Double Standard: Edward Hermann on Gaza Coverage
Lucero Killing Follows Months of Anti-Immigrant Agitation
Economic Contributions of Immigrants to Long Island
The independent news hour with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez:
on Riverhead/Southampton/Southold/Shelter Island Channel 20:Note: Channels 20 (public access) and 22 (government meetings) now require a digital capable TV or converter box and have been removed from the basic cable service in violation of contracts with the east end towns. Call your Town Council members to find out what they are doing about this.
Monday 10 pm
Tuesday 6 pm
Wednesday 10 pm
Thursday 10 pm
Friday 8 pm
Saturday - 6pmAlso on WUSB 90.1 FM 5pm Mon-Friday and East Hampton LTV Ch 20
Send comments to EastEndReport@yahoo.com
Combatants for Peace - WPKN Radio News Report
Melinda Tuhus reports from New Haven:
audio here
A group of Israelis and Palestinians are on a speaking tour of the US. Melinda Tuhus talked with them at Quinnipiac College on March 16. Their group 'Combatants for Peace' includes several Palestinian former resistance fighters and ex Israeli soldiers. One Israeli on the tour lives near the Gaza border in a village in range of rocket attacks. The Palestinian who spoke told about the killing of one of his children "by an American bullet with an American M-16 rifle from an American Jeep". He says he wants to protect his remaining children by fighting for peace. The group advocate an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and say only non-violent protest is acceptable.
Also on March 16 a rally was held in New Haven protesting the shooting of Tristan Anderson, an American opposing the building of the wall through the West Bank. Anderson was hit with a new style high speed tear gas cannister shot from a rifle. He is in critical condition in an Israeli hospital. Protesters called for a change in the US policy of un-conditional support for Israel.
audio here
Melinda Tuhus reports for the nationally syndicated programs Between the Lines (WPKN 89.5 / WPKM 88.7 - Tuesday 5:30 pm, Wednesday 8 am and Saturday 2 pm and Free Speech Radio News (Mon-Friday 6 pm) and (local) WPKN News (Mon-Friday 6:30 pm).
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