A Day With Immigrants-Si Se Puede!

The fact that this occurred in San Rafael, the town I consider more my "home town" than any other, made it imperative that I BE THERE. Show my face. Be counted. It was thrilling.

Sent to every paper I could think of; unlikely to be printed anywhere but the Coastal Post:

Dear Editors:
My great grandparents came here from Italy.
They were derisively called "Wops". A lot of folks today don't know what that word means-it comes from Italian immigrants illegal status and means "Without Papers".
They suffered the same persecutions that Latino immigrants now do, except they had one advantage: they were white.
I marched from St. Raphael's church to the Civic Center side by side with thousands of people, some of whom I've seen around town for years, almost all of whom did not speak my language, English.
We could not converse.
But humanity is a universal language, the quest for a decent life with enough food, with shelter and the freedom to watch our children grow up safe and happy is one familiar to all of us regardless of the tongue or the color of one's skin.
Many make the mistake of thinking this march was to condone criminal behavior by undocemented peoples.
No, it was in response to the draconian immigration bill making it's way to the Senate that would make felons of all illegal immigrants and those that help them.
Like myself. I am a nurse at San Francisco General and I would be a felon for caring for the many people we see who are undocumented.
Many doctors and nurses have pledged to defy the law should it pass and provide health care to everyone, regardless of immigration status, as is the mission of the City and County of San Francisco.
No one would argue that immigration reform is not needed, it is. But this bill and the current climate of scapegoating immigrants for all the ills of our country is not the answer. NAFTA, CAFTA and other "Free Trade Agreements" make illegal immigration to this country inevitable. (www.DemocracyNow.org-5/1/2006)
I have never spent a better, more satisfying day in recent memory than I did yesterday.
I have the blisters on my feet to prove it.
Meg Brizzolara, RN