2008 Woodie Awards
Chris Kromm is upset because the progressive blogosphere doesn’t care about May Day. Kevin Drum agrees with Marc Cooper that the big boycott in support of a humane immigration policy is a bad idea. I think a rally’s a fine idea, even if its supported by communists, but people should remember that battles like this are won by lobbying in the halls of Congress and making backroom deals with legislators before votes, not through mobilizations.
The Wall Street Journal has a front page cover story about Princeton senior Dan-el Padilla, who not only is one of the top students on campus but also is here as an illegal immigrant. It’s definitely worth reading:
Dan-el Padilla Peralta, a 21-year-old classics major at Princeton University, has risen from a childhood in homeless shelters and blighted apartments to maintain a 3.9 grade-point average. He has won prize after prize, often taking twice the typical course load. One faculty member, writing a recommendation, predicted “he will be one of the best classicists to emerge in his generation.”
Mr. Padilla stands out at Princeton for another reason: He’s an illegal immigrant. And two weeks ago, he did something few people in his shoes ever do. He turned himself in.
Mr. Padilla recently won a two-year scholarship to Oxford University in the United Kingdom. But according to longstanding immigration law, if he leaves, he can’t return to the U.S. — his home since the age of 4 — for at least 10 years.
Like many people on campus, I found the fact that there are undocumented immigrants in the student body surprising. It was surprising because the thought never crossed my mind and only goes to show how fundamental a role such undocumented immigrants, of all stripes and colors, play in our accepted everyday surroundings and lives. Knowing Dan-el’s story is also important in the context of all the debates, protests, articles written on campus, whether in this publication or elsewhere, about the political hot potato of immigration. His story tells us these public statements and articles are on a topic that is as much of a reality to us as the student sitting next to us in class.
Or has Pat now truly gone batty?
The Minutemanman Project, which we’ve been following over the last few months, is collapsing upon itself, reports the LA Weekly.
Yuck:
For McCormick, a Utah Minuteman organizer, it’s always about illegal immigration, which he blames for the spread of new diseases, booming crime, unemployment among American citizens and crippled social welfare systems.
Read what our earlier work on the Minutemen, a story we’re continuing to follow here.
The saddest thing is that we seem to be returning to the Manzo era.
The saga of the vigilante, anti-immigrant, and essentially racist Minuteman Project is something I’ve been following this spring. So I was intrigued when I heard about a new documentary called Walking the Line that attempts to chronicle the chaos induced by the Minutemen’s extralegal activities on the US-Mexico border. I haven’t seen any of it, but it certainly looks interesting. Hope there will be a screening in my area soon.
Via Oliver Willis, it looks like the Minutemen are planning a resurgence. But they’ve already been exposed for what they really are.
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