Don't worry about it L.S. hope! It's all good.

It must of felt good to be in the crowd. Wow! 1000 people. Nice turnout.

I think they said 8000. The immigration reform people in D.C. thankfully have millions of dollars to organize such events so I think even 8000 is a small number. However, they truly need help when it comes to grassroots organizing or even new media capabilities. It's close to a disaster.

Wow! 8000 people. Just think how many are going to come out when this issue becomes a bill to be passed on the floor of the senate. I do give 20 bucks here and there and that money does pay off. I remember when they asked me for money to fight that seat for Al Franken "they called a few days after Obama won" and I kicked in $20 bucks and we all thought I just waisted the money...Well, it turned out to be a great investment.

I do think that much organization is needed with Immigration on the grassroots movement.

This is what I see from being involved.

I see brillant "highly educated" people involved with the movement but sometimes I think their involvement is more of a social function. I myself think they look down upon me at times. I am not as educated as they are. I have some education but I grew up middle class and had to pay my way threw any education I had. I had to drop out because I could not work retail schedules and study. Retailers such as Macy's INC rotate schedules and when you tell them you want to take classes they tell you you can't work for them and go to school. They do not accommodate for someone who is in college unless you work part-time and part-time is not enough the bills.

Anyway, back to the subject of organization. Sometimes I think these highly educated people become caught up in the social end of their organizing that they disagree on the little details of what has to be done that they delay and prolong the grassroots movement. I noticed that they have difficulty reaching out to the Immigrant community's as well. There often is barriers such as language and they also forget that many people have to work. I did notice that when they send out a text message for a rally it comes out a day or two before the event. This is not enough lead time for most to try to get the day off from your job....etc., etc., etc.

I suppose I know what is needed to organize events because I have worked in a Retail environment for so long and have also worked with political campaigns.

With a strong grassroots movement you need to reach out to everyone with advanced notice. When I book any kind of event I usually start with up to 2 months lead time to do it. Many times vendors and executives do not get it so I pressure them about lead time rather then letting them pressure me the last minute because they failed to do what is needed to run with the ball.

Making phone calls and going door-to-door is key. Recruiting additional volunteers is key and I have reached out and said numerous times that I am willing to help on the phone with recruits and yet receive no phone call. So yes Prena I have to agree with you the grassroots movement on Immigration Reform needs much work to be were we want it.

When you think about the FACT that 1 out of 20 workers in the US are "undocumented" we have the numbers to push the bill forward if we just reached out to the people.

Quite often; more than often the job gets in the way of political functions which is really fustrating. The rich have that upper hand. They can go to school and show up to functions while the most of us have to pay the bills.

I don't know?? I want to see it happen and I want to see it happen in a big way because it makes me feel good inside to help people. Pushing lipstick "my career" in a Retail environment can become so shallow and meaningless at times but it does pay my bills and believe it or not most people find a tube of lipstick more important then fighting for a better American system. Why? I really I don't know. It never makes sense to me and I get so fustrated with how lost these people are. I would much rather be holding a sign that protests for Immigration Reform but my feelings are not the norm. Most people would rather be holding a lipstick.  :)

Nice.

It's less to do with 'highly educated' people (some of them are real dimwits, if not most), and more to do with bureaucracy. There's a real fear of how much they can/should demand, how they should 'message' things, how they should appease the President and fellow Democrats and so on.

Yes, it is hard to organize migrant workers and students, especially while you are sitting in DC. It's why some migrant workers and students should be paid to organize and recruit the rest. You have to use your reserve army. The campaign has enough money to hire and train educated DREAM Act kids and send them canvassing to key battleground states. Would it make such a move? Nah.

Yes, it would make sense to pay the DREAM act kids and send them canvassing. They Democratic party have utilized kids from Rutgers University in our county to canvass. They even asked me to canvass but I turned the money down and voluteered on the phones. I figured let the college kids get the money since I have a full-time job.

I noticed we do not have all that many bi-lingual people out there canvassing and this has been a big problem in the past. There are so many Hispanics out there that need to be registered to vote and we need these people registered and active all over...especially in those key battleground states.

I for myself have noticed the Immigration message was not even talked about in my county much...but people are starting to talk about it and most people want the Immigration Reform bill to pass for various different reasons.

These kids need to canvass because when you talk to someone for 5 minutes they and show them the facts they are on the pro-side and we people have a nice Dream kid show up at their door the whole general picture changes and all those stereotypes they are feed with go away.

They need to start sending a stronger message and organize through those educated kids. I've yet to be around an educated Dream kid fighting for reform. I have helped out with a Reformed Church and a civil rights group that utilized the church. Unfortunately that group had issues with each other and broke up. They were all highly educated but did take up way too much time approving little issues that seemed like a waste of time. So I suppose I am making my assumption based on a bad experience. I thought it was sad that all the personal stuff became more powerful then solutions to help people but this is not uncommon with groups of people. In a grassroots effort I suppose there is always someone in the group that wants to dominate the rest and then the whole ship can sink when that happens. I actually became a member of this group when they were all fighting so I am going to have to find a brand new group to work with going forward.

By the way I have to say the Reformed church and the pastors and administration there were amazing. They have done so much for the detainees and people in the community. I really want to show up at the services to that church when I get more time on my hands because I think they do such wonderful things to help people.

(and more to do with bureaucracy)

And now my wheels are turning?? I never really thought about this one. Just like any large group that has lots and lots of money...you have to wonder where is the money going and what are they doing with it?? and who is being lobbyied?? I am totally out of the loop when it comes to these groups but I am sure they do not differ from any of the other political groups nationwide.

I am sure a lot more DREAM kids would come out and work, if they had insitutional support and funding. Just recently immigrant youth in Colorado brought out 1300 people to an immigration rally and forced a Congressperson to distance himself from FAIR. We do good work. I am doing a presentation to the SF Gov Immigrant Rights Commission on Nov 9--more on this later. It's a matter of outreach and support. I wouldn't be a blogger, let alone an organizer if other bloggers like Citizen Orange had never recruited me and Dave hadn't be supportive.

You know about the HRC? They have plenty of money but not the best reputation for doing impactful work in the LGBT community. I am sure our DC friends mean well, but they are still, terribly out of touch.

Churches are great. It's the homophobia that discourages me from really approaching them.

This Reformed church in Highland Park NJ I found is different. They recruited all kinds of people to help on the Immigration detention issue. Most of the people I hung out with their were Jewish that I met with in the church. It didn't really matter who you were or what you believed in. They were willing to work with whatever they had to help people.

I told the Pastor I was raised Italian/Catholic and went to church every Sunday until I was 18 years old and then stopped going when I lived on my own. I would only go during holidays and told him I didn't really feel active or that sense of connection with my church all these years. He told me that many people have told him the exact same thing. It is the good this Reformed church has done that has made me recently reconsider attending church on occasion but for the most part its hard to attend because of that retail job. The Pastors are a husband and wife and they aren't the typical Pastors. These two are definitely on a mission. They have converted 2 other churchs to take in orphans when they are 18 years old and thrown on the streets. Once these orphans reach 18 they are thrown out without guidance on how to survive on the streets. So the Pastor and wife have helped them get on their feet and make sure they are prepared to support themselves. Also they have helped familys that have lost a parent through the broken immigration system.

One of the members was detained and when he was jailed in the Middlesex county jail the members of the church surrounded the jail 24/7 "taking shifts" and recited prayer and hyms. At one point they shifted this detainee to Tacoma Washington and the church members continued to surround the Middlesex County jail 24/7 with the same prayer and hyms and then a wonderful thing happened...Tacoma Washington released the detainee.

I have met him "the detainee" and his wife and kids. They are wonderful people and they are very active in the church. This particuliar church is not homophobic...judgemental or anything but I know what you mean because there are alot of weird churchs in our country that are nothing like this one. This church accepts everyone so far as to what I have seen and their sermons pray with messages of diversity. If only other churches followed their footsteps nationwide people would become interested in church. The pastor even wrote an Immigration folk song and played it on his acoustic guitar at a vigil. This couple has a 60s...70s peaceful loving way about them and that is the message of the church. They try to tell me we must move things in a peaceful way.

lol...I have always had a problem doing things quitely and peaceful..."I was taught the rebel like approach growing up in an Italian family" but I do enjoy being around these people and they are inspireing and I do think their church is doing great things. If the world could just follow them???

Interesting. My parents are Hindu and my mom helps out at the temple. She is a devout -- Anyway, haven't really seen or read about immigration coming up as a major issue that the temples deal with -- most Asians are simply too ashamed to ask for help.

Ah, Stein is running for Governor and you ar a friend?

Nice to 'meet' you.

Blood brothers, gracias.  I'm moved.  thanks.

Awesome! Best of luck to your bro and the campaign :)

Hey Andrew,

I am not an attorney like Dave so I am sure he understands the system better. What I do have going for me is the experience of being undocumented and navigating the system. But he is a very good friend of mine. Dave has a lot more time nowadays and he is writing over at http://citizenorange.com/orange so I do encourage people to keep following his work.

Anyway, I will do my best to meet expectations around here.

Lol, I agree. There's multiple factors that encourage immigration through authorized or unauthorized channels. Sometimes it is the mere fact that authorized channels are unavailable. Other times it is because of so called immigration-reduction barriers (such as the 3/10 year bar) that discourages undocumented people from leaving the country even when they want to! And then when we count in wars, horrendous economic policies and people seeking refuge, a lot has to change to really discourage migration.

I haven't seen a country which has yet to really take this on and formulate a long-term, progressive solution. I don't think it is something that can happen in only one place, given the global nature of migration. We are a lot behind in achieving our equivalent of universal health care for immigration