Maryland Conservatarian

Apparently, we have some big demonstrations to look forward to on Monday (notably on the Mall in DC) and, as usual, the Post is kind of vague as to what the demonstrations are all about. The Rallying Before the Rally

"Are we going Monday, guys?" he asked in Spanish as he handed out raindrop-stained fliers promoting a major demonstration in support of immigrant rights to be held on the Mall on Monday.” (emphasis addd)

“In support of immigrants rights”? What the hell does that mean? Are we differentiating between legal and illegal immigrants? Post writer Karin Brulliard never really gets to that aspect of the story but we do learn there is apparently a lot of solidarity out there and that you are probably out of luck if you were thinking about renting a bus on Monday.

The last two paragraphs, though, highlight the ongoing ignorance about this issue (and about which Ms. Brulliard’s article has contributed nothing toward rectifying.):

“Charlie Crawford, a general manager with LVI Environmental Services, which has 250 workers doing demolition and abatement at the Pentagon, said he will release his crew early on Monday. About 90 percent are immigrants, and most have family and friends who would be affected by changes to immigration laws, he said.

"They're a big part of what we do, and I would be foolish not to respect that," Crawford said of his immigrant workers. "I just told them that's the wonderful thing about being in this country, and they should be able to do it without ramifications."

First off: Why is Charlie Crawford’s work force AT THE PENTAGON worried about legislation dealing with ILLEGAL immigrants?  And could someone please explain how any immigrant, legal or illegal, will be negatively affected by any of the proposed changes to the immigration laws? If you’re here legally, you’re here legally – there is nothing about changing someone’s status from legal to get-outta-here. If you’re here illegally, well, that means you shouldn’t be here. If anything, most proposals give you a way to become legal and no likely proposal out there worsens your status from illegal to even more illegal (although there is a proposal to make being in the country illegally a felony – currently a misdemeanor – but it’s not clear how that would affect all those already here).  

…and here’s hoping Charlie Crawford’s bosses at LVI Environmental Services soon receive some pointed questions about the makeup of their workforce at the Pentagon.