According to an article by Jonathan Weisman and Shailagh Murray in the Wednesday, June 21, 2006 edition of the Washington Post, Republican Party leaders are planning to hold public hearings on immigration during the August recess in areas where immigration has been in the news. The purpose of these hearings, as Rep. Eric I. Cantor (R-Va.) explains, is to document the opinions of the U.S. public "about forming a credible strategy and a credible plan to secure the borders." 

Don't be fooled into believing that the Republican leadership has suddenly seen the benefits of citizen participation and really wants to know what you think. The problem is that this once they are at odds with their usual allies in the business community, who want the cheap labor undocumented immigrants provide. The GOP decision to go to the public is brilliant. Those who have enough hatred, fear and anger to take action to prevent migrant farmworkers from bringing their families to join them, those who have so little sense of justice and history that they can forget why they are here, are in fact more likely to make time to testify at such public hearings than the rest of us. We may be angry with companies like Nike or Gap when they move their factories to Mexico, increasing profits for their CEOs, but severely damaging the U.S. labor movement and the Mexican economy. But the Republican Party leadership knows that we are all busy, and, while we aren't comfortable with what is going on, we don't know what to do about it and what to say to whom, and other things sometimes seem more important and much less complicated.

The Republicans think that they want to hear, this August, what we, the people have to say about border security. Let's not follow the  progressives' time honored practice of waiting until there is damage and then scurrying to minimize it. Instead, let's use this opportunity to educate the media and the public.

If you want to help explain  why people have to leave their homes in Mexico to try to make a living in this country and what NAFTA has done for border security (and job security), or if you can help plan strategy, design or organize workshops, keep records, take pictures, write letters, stories, or poems, if you can collect newspaper articles, raise money, provide contacts, organize protests outside or help lobby inside, or if you have other ideas, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it TODAY. For more information, check the immigration page in the sidebar of this webpage.