May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

[Cheetahwoman7]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

Well, would you rather have them be literate and have a high school education or illiterate with no education? Also, at least at the local community colleges here in my area (Central Coast of California), they DO NOT require proof of citizenship. Maybe the four year colleges and universities do?

[stngymama]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

You are correct in that Community Colleges do not require proof of citizenship. It's not illiterate vs literate, just possibly that missing one day of school for a political action may seem like not a big deal, and that state testing may not seem very relevant.
I certainly don't advocate skipping school or illiteracy. There are, however certain social issues for which I would support my kids missing an hour or two, or even a day, of school. But then I'm a product of the sixties, and the [very effective] protests of that time.

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

Well, I guess I have a different slant on all of this. I'm a teacher in a school that is over 95% Hispanic. I would say that a majority of the parents don't speak English and MAY not have papers to be in this country. I say "may" because we are not allowed (by law) to ask if the children or their parents are legally here or not. Education is provided to all of the children no matter their or their parents' immigration status.

Here's the rub for me and these demonstrations/ralleys: Flyers are going around our city that state that the parents should take their children out of school for May 1st!!! I don't mind the ralleys, the marches, any of that, but I do mind that these are the same parents who say they want a better life for their children. If that's the case, leave them in school!!! We have two ralleys/marches that are happening here in town. One at 10am, the other at 4pm. I feel that the parents should go to the first one while leaving their children in school, then can take their children to the second one AFTER school is out. We get out here at 2:40pm, plenty of time to make the second ralley.

I don't see how, when the education is free, the books are free, the school supplies are free, the breakfasts and lunches are free, they can bite the hand that feeds them (in a sense). With the State tests coming up on May 2nd, I feel that pulling their children out can only hurt them in the long run, as these State test scores will become part of their permenant record.

Just my two cents!

CJ

I ment in a round about way they are biting the hand that feeds them. Like CJ said. My sil is also a teacher & the students that are of that decent expect everything for FREE. She said the teachers have to spend their own money to make sure that everyone has school supplies. Wich gets her a bit urked that she has to take $ away from other things that she may need for the classroom or her own family. Her kids even donate their old uniforms so these kids have the required attire.

There are a ton of gas stations in her area where all the illegals gather to wait for farmers & mfgers ect to pull up in trucks & pick whom they want to employ for the day for a few pennies. They are taking away jobs from people who came to this country legally. My hubby went to live down there for a while & unless you were in a union or had a college education you were always competing with the illegals for a minimum wage job w/ no benefits.

If the boycott lasted longer than a day, not only would the businesses suffer but the fact that alot of the US mfgrs of goods would have to cut jobs (their jobs included), hence biting the hand that feeds them & employs them. A restaurant a bit down the way was shut down for a few days because of an Immagration raid. So since this resturant employs illigals but owned by americans they would also be hurting their fellow immigrant by not dineing there. Am I making any sense???

I forgot to mention that I don't agree with making illegals fellons. That's not going to solve anything, but bog up our court system & jails.

I understand that they want to show how they impact the economy, but it is a double edge sword & may bite everyone in the @ss!

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

You are correct in that Community Colleges do not require proof of citizenship. It's not illiterate vs literate, just possibly that missing one day of school for a political action may seem like not a big deal, and that state testing may not seem very relevant.
I certainly don't advocate skipping school or illiteracy. There are, however certain social issues for which I would support my kids missing an hour or two, or even a day, of school. But then I'm a product of the sixties, and the [very effective] protests of that time.

I think they could of picked a better day so that the kids didn't have to miss school. Plus the majority of retailers do most of their business on the weekends & that would make more of a dent than on a monday.

[stngymama]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

....I understand that they want to show how they impact the economy, but it is a double edge sword & may bite everyone in the @ss!

You're right, but I think that's the point! They really don't have much to lose, as their "jobs" are precarious with none of the protections citizens have.
I wonder if anyone has done a study to compare the cost/benefits of using illegals. They "take" things for "free", but also get paid considerably less for the same work, thus costing employers and consumers less. It'd be interesting and would certainly resolve many arguments. Right now, it's just opinion.

[stngymama]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

I think they could of picked a better day ..

May 1 is International Labor Day

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

You're right, but I think that's the point! They really don't have much to lose, as their "jobs" are precarious with none of the protections citizens have.
I wonder if anyone has done a study to compare the cost/benefits of using illegals. They "take" things for "free", but also get paid considerably less for the same work, thus costing employers and consumers less. It'd be interesting and would certainly resolve many arguments. Right now, it's just opinion.

I'd like to see that as well!

I know they are paid considerably less that's why in the busy season they truck in the illegals thru a temp agency to my dh's current employer so they don't have to pay my dh o/t & don't have to worry about paying them any benefits, workmans comp & or life/hazard insurance it's all on the agencies. But my dh has said he likes working with some of the temps because they do bust their butts & it is a labor intensive industry. Going thru the temps may keep the company & the agencies bottom line looking nice, but it doesn't make my dh's check any

He has also ran accross someone whom when he asked what his ss# was because they have to enter their info in to the pc to keep hrs & track pay on it he had no idea who he was that day! He couldn't remember wich ss# he was using or name because he uses a diff name everytime my dh see's him.

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

May 1 is International Labor Day

Makes sense then.

[stngymama]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

He couldn't remember wich ss# he was using or name because he uses a diff name everytime my dh see's him.

ROTFL.....but sad! What a world

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1907363

[Cheetahwoman7]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

I certainly don't advocate skipping school or illiteracy. There are, however certain social issues for which I would support my kids missing an hour or two, or even a day, of school. But then I'm a product of the sixties, and the [very effective] protests of that time.

As I see it, the parents can still have their children participate in showing their support without missing any school, by going to the later demonstration/rally/march. Again, that's in my area/city. I'm sure it's a different senario depending where one is located.

Oh, what I forgot to mention is that I teach at a grade school, K-6th grade. I feel that the lower the grade the student is in, the more missing time affects their learning, whereas a high schooler missing a day, in my opinion, wouldn't be affected as much. I guess teaching the grades I do taints my view on if the children should miss school or not.

Another thing to consider is that the schools will lose ADA (average daily attendance) which is how they are paid to give all of those FREE services to the students. Can you imagine how that will affect the budget of a school if 95% of its students missed a day? Might not seem like much for a day, but take 1000 students (just at my school) and multiply it by what the State pays (not that much, but still better than nothing) and you have the cost of supplies for a year for 2/3 of the classrooms at my school. We get $100 a YEAR per classroom to buy supplies. That's $10 a month for 32 students....hmmmm, what does that work out to? Approximately $.31 cents per student per month!

Just to let you know, I'm not against the protesting at all. I grew up in the area where I now teach. I know how many of the Hispanic workers are overworked and underpaid. My comments are mearly to point out one other aspect this protest will have an affect on.

[cicy33]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

I will also probably get jumped on but .... I work hard for my citizenship, I pay my taxes, and I speak the language. By the way, English is the official language of the United States. I don't recall dates but there was a vote many, many, many years ago and we came really close to speaking German. Just because all these people showed up speaking dozens of languages does not mean English is not our official language. I do not think that is fair that people can come here and just get all the stuff they get for free just for coming here. You want to come here and have a better life, GREAT! but, work for it. don't expect a handout. Does anyone here think that if you suddenly decided you wanted to live in Mexico that they would offer the same benefits they receive in America? We have children starving that are citizens and don't get the benefits these immigrants get. That is wrong. I can personally say that their boycott will have no effect on my life. Does not mean that it won't effect it somewhere down the line but no real personal effect. They are saying that people here will simply not cook today in the Mexican restaurants. So what? I can cook Mexican. Or I can go to another restaurant. So what if they don't purchase stuff today? I didn't buy anything from a store a couple of days last week. I am sure a million other people didn't either. And as said above. We, the citizens of this country, work hard to make a living for our families and yet, we are supposed to be like, oh, ok, take my job for 1.00 an hour because you are here illegally. At my job we are required to ask for documentation to prove either citizenship or legal status.

[Ima saver]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

Well, I won't jump on you, I agree with you.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

About that school thing, depending on the rally, it might be good for the kids to see a real world bit of action than to sit in a classroom, nothing against teachers who try their best, but howmuch are kids missing locked away with one adlt and a bunch of kids?

Now weather out of school is a good thing or not depends largely on the parents and what they are doing. (party, swearing, drinking, or debating polotics?)

[kashi]

Re: May 1 - Immigrant boycott in major cities

I fully support the boycott. Not all immigrants are here illegally. I appreciate the fact that there are immigrants cleaning the bathrooms at work, serving my lunch, and giving me a massage.

I say, good for them! I applaud people who fight for what they believe in.