A few years ago I predicted that a dark night was coming on the issue of immigration. Foreseeing the Cool Protestors’ cheap attacks in 140-characters, Istated that I didn’t pretend to have magical powers, just eyes, and that I had used those eyes to read the papers on the Hispanic population’s demographic movements and on the labor demand’s qualitative changes and bout their effects on the mainstream’s attitudes towards the xenophobic Right. Not satisfied with that, Idrafted a strategic plan with some tactical lines to make immigration reform possible and even a legislative proposal based on theKennedy-McCain bill of 2005 because you can’t have serious marketing without a product and politics is basically marketing. And, as marketing can’t be reduced to slogans, commercials or even sales, political activism can’t be reduced to protests, and much less to the self-destructive protests the Cool Protestors like so much. I also remember mentioning that the best moment to make immigration reform happen was going to be the beginning of the next administration, which happened to be the Obama administration, because after that the movements behind the labor demand and demography were going to work against us, turning it into an uphill battle. And even when after that the Great Recession came with an intensity I must admit I wasn’t expecting, I proposed tactical lines to make immigration reform more likely in such adverse environment foreseeing that after that juncture the possibilities could only get worse. And yet, so-called pro-immigrant leaders missedthose junctures repeatedly, willfully ignoring that without an adultplan and infrastructure you can’t be expect to be taken seriouslyin politics. Some of these so-called leaders even rejoiced in thenews that in probably 30 years Hispanics were going to be aconstituency with which no politician was going to dare messing as ifit was something that was going to happen tomorrow or as if theycould in the meanwhile insulate immigrants, with just the power oftheir good intentions, from the rage of the xenophobic Right.
Well, it happensthat that dark night is already here. And it’s going to get worse.I am writing this entry in the hope of opening the eyes of someleaders who, willing to do the right thing, dare to go against atrend that otherwise will end in the destruction of many, too manylives. The chances of success are now very small but… has the CoolProtestors’ little dance worked? They having fun with their littledance is worth the price in human pain we are beginning to see?
Ah! I am not going to answer comments. I don’t want to engage in another ridiculous battle with the Cool Protestors and their witty, sassy attacks in140-characters. But if somebody finds that my opinion could be useful in some way, email me. After having to go through so much when I tried to be part of an intelligent, effective movement, at thismoment of my live I just want to limit my participation to that but,if you write to me, I will honor your approach with an answer.
1. Politics is marketing
You know a CoolProtestor when you volunteer and he or she tells you that, above all,you have to have fun (with your activism).
If you want to havefun, join a fraternity or party with your friends. Here there aremillions of lives at stake. This should not be the realm where CoolProtestors meet to do the little dance and feel the thrill ofclashing with the police. Protests have a role, like commercials, ifthey are a part of a coherent plan. Leave the improvisation and thetemper tantrum (as well as the bubbles where Assange announces the“bombs” in the Green Party Conventions and when he finally dropsthem he expects the result will not benefit Trump, just make CrazyStein jump from 2% to 50% in the polls. But if you are at such levelof unreality, your best contribution should be going back to yourbasement and keep playing videogames. At least that way you won’tcause harm) to the Cool Protestors. Your organizers, the street-levelsellers of your message, must be informed people (not uncriticalcheerleaders, like in Obama for America), and your personalities musthelp keep a coherent leadership (unless you, like Crazy Stein,believe that fracturing the left will result in her jumping from herpermanent 2% to 50% and being inaugurated president with the bicyclesong in the background). And though in the short-term, whereelections happen, emotions normally prevail, you must have clearideas and proposals for those openings where ideas get positioned inthe marketplace of ideas (9/11, the Swift immigration raids, etc.).Slogans in 140-characters that, when details come, end up becomingmonsters, like the Volker Rule, are only possible when CoolProtestors, and not policy, become the center of attention. Learnfrom Bernie, who in recent town halls has shown how, when the debateis centered on the issues, Republicans have to retreat. Abandon theCool Protestors who, when wearing their tutus, demand to be thecenter of all attention and discussion. Be the part of the nextchapter of Indivisible, of Cenk Uygur’s Wolf PAC, or create yourown as far as there is coordination and not contradictory messagesand actions.
So let’s see our progress in these points on immigration though to have an idea where we stand: No pro-immigrant organization has a plan or at least a pool of detailed ideas for a final product (immigration reform bill).Convinced without base that politicians must engage in harsh disputes among themselves to conquer their affects, in all these years theyhave limited themselves to say whether they like or not theimmigration bill of their time. And when moderate Republicanmovements, like Carlos Gutierrez, have been created for that effect,they have just ignored them. Worse, if I say that illegal immigrantshave “jumped” the line, don’t speak English, don’t pay taxes,and live of welfare, you’ll find that these are widespread accepted“facts” even though none of them are true. In short, the currentcommunication’s strategy sucks and has not product to offer themainstream. Is it surprising then how, when it comes to rationalizingtheir hatred, the xenophobic Right has so many available tools? EvenBernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, our allies, support animmigration reform plan that puts illegal immigrants “at the backof the line” even though there isn’t “a line” on theimmigration law. There are multiple lines that may be as short as 6month or more than 20 years depending on your country of origin andfamily, and no line for those who only have their dreams andcharacter for all assets.
Worse, you have trivialized the suffering of those you should represent. While, after years during which the Homophobic Right had positioned gays aspedophiles or, at the very least, people confused about theirsexuality, and colorful gay pride parades had unwillingly contributedto the idea of gays as different people, some intelligent gay leaderspushed the media and entertainment products to present gays as peoplelike yourself, people who wanted to marry the person they loved, whowanted to have a peaceful and productive live like you, who wantedthe same chance as you to prove themselves worthy of the fewopportunities life gives to some people, who wanted to leave thefruits of their work to their loved ones and who, if dying in ahospital bed, wanted to have at least their loved ones at their sidein their last moments. On the other hand, and I am going to almostliterally quote here, pro-immigrant leaders and Hispanicpersonalities have presented Hispanics as a people joined culturallynot by ideals and dreams but by food and dances, a people who come toAmerica to work with their hands and dance tropical music at night,who “eats tacos in Mexico but pupusa in Central America,” whoneed services in Spanish, who are happy to be a permanent class ofservants because they are sending money to Mexico, too proud of theirheritage, where they want to return at the end, who are used tosuffering, etc., etc. Sometimes this has been accompanied with sassylyrics against the “Migra” in the marches sponsored by the CoolProtestors. And to that you can add the “DAPA” dinners, the wallsmade of clothe to “encircle Trump’s hatred” and, before allthat, the marches with Mexican flags that made them look like abizarre army of occupation when the right moment was triggered. Andthe xenophobic Right never missed a chance to do that. Even recently,in the latest example of their corny, bizarre activism, they convokedto a one day strike, “A day without immigrants,” in an action taken from a comedy:
Those are the facts.And, given those facts, would any of you be surprised that manypeople don’t take the pain created by Trump seriously, and probablyeven less seriously than they took the pain created by the Swiftraids during the Bush years? After all, you yourself have told themainstream that “Mexicans” are people proud of their heritage whocome here to work hard in works Americans consider beneath them,happy with their inferiority, used to suffering and always dancingtropical music. And when it comes to images, you have not shown theimages of the dead in the desert or of the lives destroyed but ofyourselves doing the little dance with your tutus because, above allthings, you must be the center of the attention and whatever humancost may result is meaningless compared to that.
And not just that, some Cool Protestors have decided that watching them doing the little dance in front of ICE buses filled with the unfortunate people being deported was more important that pretty much everything else, an end on itself, so, when Mitt Romney ran for president and foundunwelcoming ears to his message of self-deportation (another name forthe sadistic Enforcement by Attrition strategy created by the Centerof Immigration Studies), the Cool Protestors were happy tocollaborate by creating a distraction and pulling the debate from“self-deportation” to “massive deportations” and “thedeporter in chief.”
2. The price
Recently I learnedof the case of Guadalupe Olivas Valencia. Olivas Valencia, father ofthree, was deported to Tijuana. Having lost all hope, he jumped froma bridge to his death. Another well known case before his was that ofJoaquin Luna. And before that, the case presented by Keith Olbermannof an Asian immigrant who was denied medical attention until hesigned the papers he had filed to fight his deportation, what herefused and result of which he died. And those are the cases we knowof. What I can foresee though is that it’s going to get worse, notbetter. Unless his numerous excesses lead to an impeachment of thismonster this year, most probably Republicans are going to close ranksaround him to defend the midterms. If that happens, chances are thatthe Bannon faction is going to consolidate itself inside theRepublican Party, as the Tea Party did before them, and apply the Hastert rule even more harshly than the Tea Party did. With Muslimand Mexicans to use as scapegoats and with a tamed press, Trump mightend up being reelected in 2020. But even if that doesn’t happen,even if an opposition to Trump grows inside the Republican Party,that means Trump will have to please his base to keep that oppositionunder control. And that base demands only one thing: the tears ofMuslims and Mexicans. And even if Trump loses the White House, it’sin his best interest to lead the Alt Right and follow the example ofthe Tea Party because, otherwise, the ongoing chain of investigationsmight end up not only destroying his business model (based on usinghis name as a brand to get access to more advantageous financialconnections) but also putting him in jail.
The Alt Right andthe Tea Party are not adversaries with which you can cut deals onimmigration. Your only chance is to defeat them outside theRepublican Party, and even inside the Republican Party where peoplelike Carlos Gutierrez and Jeff Flake could be valuable allies.
Said this, if youstill support little clowns who want to do the little dance and bethe center of all attention, you can’t say that you are supportingimmigrants. If you want to support immigrants, support themseriously. Otherwise you are just making an excuse.
Guadalupe OlivasValencia, as Joaquin Luna, were only guilty of one thing: being bornin the wrong country and family. Otherwise, Joaquin could be the kidexcitedly sharing with you his dreams of being the architect whowould create the next big concept. And Guadalupe could be that dadplaying with his children and pets in the local park, making it abetter place in the middle of all the hatred that has come overAmerica as a dark veil. They never had a chance to prove theircharacter though. They never had a chance to prove their love. Theydidn’t even have the chance to have good representatives becausethe Cool Protestors stupidly trivialized their drama with their wallsof cloth and their days without Mexicans. So they lost all hope. Andnow they are dead. They won’t be the only ones. If you are apro-immigrant leader, don’t have fun. Fill yourself with a sense ofpurpose and begin building the serious movement we so much need.Start with those first phone calls. Create a studies circle. Studyother experiences and the forces at play. And then take action intheir memory.