Across the nation the rallies broke protest records. The Oregonian Editorial Board commented about feeling the “seismic shifts” and editorialized [1] on how “Marchers showed muscle before lifting a foot”. The Statesman Journal [2] reported signs saying “The Pilgrims Didn’t Have Papers,” “We Are Workers, Not Criminals,” “Legalize, Not Criminalize,” and “We March, We vote”.
Popular radio host and immigration reform activist Victoria Taft summed it up this way:
“I liken what’s happened on the streets of Oregon and throughout the country as being tantamount to the acts of petulant children who stole something from the store and then demanded they be given the item AND an apology from the store owner. This rampant sense of entitlement won’t play with people have worked hard, played by the rules, and who think we should have a higher regard for our nation’s security and sovereignty than we’ve shown before. We have brave men and women fighting in Iraq for our security. We should do no less than demand secure borders, if nothing else than to honor them. “
Oregonian and legal immigrant Leah Silaev said this to KATU [3] “I am so angry to see these people say it’s because of us that this country is moving, You know what? You didn’t build this country and it isn’t going to fall apart when you walk out of your job.”
What are your thoughts at this historic political juncture?