Just got back from the international arrivals terminal at O’Hare myself - several people from my firm were there (my main boss and some attorneys from the civil rights practice group), but I was on my own time. Wouldn’t have it any other way. It was my choice; Tom Scud and I had no exciting plans for the evening, and figured we were just going to spend the evening glued to social media reports about it anyway, so we might as well go there and do some good. So we hopped on the bus and the train to add to the swelling crowds. There were several thousand people there, and we didn’t leave until the last arriving person was released from detention.
It was our 4th protest activity in the past week. It’s going to be a long 4 years. I’m seeing lots of friends and colleagues get pissed off and go to demonstrations who have never outwardly show any inclination whatsoever to give a damn about politics. That is somewhat heartening; I just hope it sticks over the long haul.
Well, let’s just say a number of clients who have been procrastinating on naturalizing are suddenly feeling quite motivated. I think we’re going to be damn busy. I even had one client who is of Muslim Indian/Pakistani parents (depending on what point in time you draw the border0, but was born and raised in the UK and has never held citizenship anywhere else, ask if he should be nervous about all his international travel. I told him no, but that the current administration is proving its tendency to do completely unprecedented things of dubious legality on little or no notice.
Why couldn’t I just have been a barista or something? When I majored in Spanish as an undergrad, I had this crazy idea that I was going to be a literary translator when I grew up…
I guess it’s time for the First Amendment rights as to religion to be trashed.
But it’s not a first. The US trashed their Bill of Rights when they introduced Nude-O-Scans at their airports. The Fourth Amendment has been gone bye-bye for a long time; now the TSA has the right to look at your private parts without a warrant.
Funny how many Americans seem to think violating these constitutional provisions is OK, but the Second Amendment is inviolate.
Pick and choose constitutional provisions; yeah, that’s the way to run a country.
Thank you, Eva Luna, for all your work, and for helpfully keeping us informed from time to time with your observations from the front lines (so to speak!).
You’re quite welcome. I hope it inspires others to do the same. Also, I think I should mention that I will try my best to be around here to answer questions about immigration-related events these days, but as you can imagine, I’m going to be kind of busy and when I have time off that isn’t occupied by political activities that aren’t directly job-related, I may want to do, you know, something else once in a while
Yours in solidarity with the Huddled Masses, Eva Luna
