And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system – to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nations. In the end, it’s our ideals, our values that built America — values that allowed us to forge a nation made up of immigrants from every corner of the globe; values that drive our citizens still.

Many people within the immigration reform movement were hoping he would ask Congress to tackle immigration this year. Instead, he gave Congress an out by not setting a timetable for action.

There is no argument that the immigration system is broken. Congress’ inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation over the past five years has resulted in a number of unintended consequences that challenge our federal system. The issue of immigration, although regulated by the federal government, has consequences for state and local municipalities.

The inaction of Congress has caused a number of these governments to pass laws and ordinances that target unauthorized workers and their families. In response, a number of federal judges have blocked laws targeting illegal immigration, ruling that most of these statutes are unconstitutional.

The problem has nothing to do with the party’s willingness to fix the system; both sides disagree on how to go about doing it. Their inaction has left this country without a clear-cut federal immigration policy, which is the root of much of the discord experienced today.

Those who were looking to Obama to address this issue were left scratching their heads when he did not set a timetable for action. With President Obama’s election, the time is ripe for a new dialogue about what the core assumptions of our public policy should be. Nevertheless, there is a reason to hesitate before celebrating.

Winning The Numbers Game
Nothing measures the imbalance of media and political power in the United States better than the decision-making by major news organizations when it comes to covering certain events. That reality was demonstrated on coverage of the march by the mainstream media.

Since Washington authorities do not provide crowd estimates, there was a glaring difference on the size of the crowd between the mainstream and the smaller alternative media. The mainstream reported “tens of thousands,” while ethnic and smaller media outlets estimated the crowd at more than 200,000. The New York Times article begins its story on the event with the following paragraph:

Tens of thousands of immigrants and activists rallied here on Sunday, calling for legislation this year to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and seeking to pressure President Obama to keep working on the contentious issue once the health care debate is behind him.

The Washington Post article on the same event began:

Tens of thousands of immigrants and their supporters from across the United States packed the Mall on Sunday in a last-ditch effort to spur Congress and the White House to overhaul the nation’s immigration system and offer its 10.8 million illegal immigrants a path to citizenship this year against increasingly long odds.

The Washington Independent began:

More than 200,000 people gathered on the National Mall today to participate in March for America, a rally advocating comprehensive immigration reform.

And in Mundo Hispánico:

Ahí, más 200 mil personas, de acuerdo con los organizadores, se congregaron para exigirle al Congreso y a la Casa Blanca que apruebe una reforma migratoria integral.

Reporting accurate numbers is the first major obstacle immigration reform activists have to overcome is to convince the White House immigration reform should be next after health care. Unfortunately, “March for America” was held on the same day as the historic House vote to ratify the Senate’s health care bill.

The lack of coverage and the slant of information by the mainstream media is nothing new. Filling the void is the anti-immigrant cable-news that seem blind to the world in which immigrants are living. Those who are listening to them are the same dangerous people who shouted racial epithets and spat at members of Congress. They are motivated by rumors and innuendo that the government is taking over their lives, and they are ready to fight to preserve the status quo.

The backlash against immigrants began gaining momentum in 2006 according to Southern Poverty Law Center. Since then, America has become a more hostile place for immigrants. Despite Ezra Klein’s claim, nativism is on the rise and like a cancer; it has worked its way into the halls of Congress.

What are the sound bites that dominate this debate? Illegal immigration, immigrants and welfare, criminal aliens, lax controls, and the government don’t seem to care.

This is not surprising. With high unemployment and sensational media reports about drug-related border violence, this has helped fuel the current rhetoric for economic protectionism and is exploiting the notion of economic insecurity, disaffection with the federal government, and changing demographics, to build the Tea Party movement.

Interestingly, during last year’s Netroots Nation panel discussion on immigration, an audience member foresaw that this country was heading down a dangerous path due to the rhetoric of armed conflict from commentators at Fox News, Teabag leaders, and politicians who manipulate them for profit and influence. Sadly, I agreed. However, we were in the minority and were told this view was too cynical.

Fast forward to now, the same view is being expressed by Laura Flanders of GRITtv. She points out the immigration debate “has the potential to be more violent” due to the xenophobic tendencies on the far Right.

Both sides, proponents and opponents of comprehensive immigration reform, have cited polling data to underscore their respective positions.

However, from a social science viewpoint, many of the opinion polls either conducted for or cited by specific organizations, such as NumbersUSA and America’s Voice, are methodologically weak. They are often illusory with respect to the specific substance of the policy issue that the questions were designed to measure. The problems include asking leading questions, vagueness of the language used, assuming knowledge of and baselines for immigration issues among respondents, and educating about immigration issues while at the same time surveying attitudes.

In fairness, it should be said at the outset that most professional pollsters do their very best to develop survey questions that measure what people actually think about various issues and problems in American society. Nevertheless, it is important to point out the pitfalls of asking survey questions and interpreting poll results will presumably lead the reader to be a bit more skeptical how public opinion polling is practiced today. The surveys used by both groups demonstrate the importance of how immigration is framed in shaping attitudes.

As for how successful was the March, the jury is still out whether it has persuaded the Obama administration and Congress will tackle immigration reform next.

This morning, Police Chief [tag]William Bratton[/tag] in a press conference stated that he disapproved of the conduct of some of his officers and he vowed there would be a thorough probe into the use of excessive force. Mayor [tag]Antonio Villaraigosa[/tag] who is in El Salvador, has asked the the Police Commission, the civilian panel overseeing the Los Angeles Police Department, to assess the use of force by officers clad in riot gear, and the Radio and Television News Association called “for an immediate and complete investigation of the violent treatment of journalists at the conclusion of Tuesday’s [tag]immigration march[/tag].

“There is evidence that officers knocked reporters to the ground, used batons on photographers and damaged cameras, possibly motivated by anger over journalists photographing efforts by officers to control the movements of marchers,” an RTNA statement said.

Brad Friedman of Brad Blog, noted that the media once again are contradicting each other on this horrific event. According to Friedman, the UPI reported that the “Los Angeles police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.”

A day of peaceful immigration rallies in major U.S. cities Tuesday was marred when Los Angeles police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

Witnesses said police wearing riot gear and wielding batons gave no warning before firing at rally participants gathered at MacArthur Park, CNN reported. Police said a protester knocked down a motorcycle officer, the news channel said.

There were no reports of serious injuries and no arrests were made.

However, LA Times has a different take on the event, which contradicts what was reported UPI:

Several people, including 15 police officers, were hurt. About 10 people were taken by ambulance to hospitals for treatment, said d’Lisa Davies, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles city Fire Department.
…
Late Tuesday, a staff member from [tag]Telemundo[/tag]’s newsroom confirmed that one reporter and three camera operators from the Spanish-language TV station had been injured and had been taken to a hospital by police.

Another TV station, Fox 11, showed video on its 10 p.m. newscast of a station camerawoman apparently being struck by a baton-wielding police officer in riot gear.

Here are three videos of the nightmare that the peaceful marchers had to endure on May 1 at MacArthur Park at the hand of the brutal LA police force (h/t to The Notorious VC at Chicano Forums, there are more videos there). This is not different from callus shooting of Ramiro Gamez Acosta, by the border by the Border Patrol.

Warning; Viewer Discretion Advised. Graphic images may be disturbing to some viewers.
Telemundo TV Crew caught in MacArthur Park clash

Footage from a local Fox TV Crew

The longer version of Fox’s raw footage of the event

Will post more if I happen to find new information.