As a follow up to my post about American Apparel having little choice but to comply with the Obama administration’s order forcing employers to fire undocumented workers, I want to call attention to Tim Rutten’s opinion column in today’s LA Times.

Rutten speaks to the questionable humanity of the new procedure to deal with illegal immigration that will do nothing to provide the underlying necessity, an overhaul of immigration policy. In fact, as the new procedure eliminates the raids and deportations of the past, it will add to an ongoing one: unscrupulous companies that will hire, underpay, overwork and mistreat displaced workers to save a buck.

The administration seems to be choosing the lesser of two evils here, allowing undocumented workers to remain in the US, assumedly so they can act on getting  legal, rather than deportation. In the interim, they will have to deal with finding a  way to survive and support their families.

Rutten quotes one of the fired American Apparel’s workers here in Los Angeles who says he will “go back to one of those sweatshops where I’m going to have to get paid under the table.”

There will still be those of the Neanderthal “too bad–should have stayed in Mexico” mindset who will remain unmoved, but if they take the time to read Rutten’s column, at least they can’t say they never were confronted by the concept of compassion and its glaring necessity as a component of reform.

American Apparel will fire “about 1800 workers in coming days– more than a quarter of its workforce” in Los Angeles, according to an article that appeared on the NY Times site minutes ago.

The firings are a result of the Obama administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration by forcing companies to fire undocumented workers instead of staging workplace raids.

According to the article, the investigation of American Apparel began 17 months ago under President George W. Bush, but has become regarded by the the Obama administration as a “showcase” for its work to reduce illegal immigration.

Two documentaries examining immigrant experiences, both here in the US as well as in the originating countries for each subject, played last night at the DocuWeeks film festival at the Arclight Hollywood. And if you take for granted how you got here, each of these films are stark reminders of the challenges faced somewhere along the way by the people of a nation primarily descended from immigrants (let alone the problems we collectively created for Native Americans.)

Ingelore is the story of Ingelore Herz Honigstein, a deaf Jewish woman born in Germany in 1924. She comes to grips with her disability over the next 14 years as the Third Reich rises up around her, practically unnoticed by a girl who already has far too much to accommodate and overcome.

Director Frank Stiefel’s moving film about his mother, who was present at the screening, is propelled by her own words describing her experiences at the hands of embarrassed parents, ostracizing classmates, plundering Nazis and uncaring US Consulate officials. As she tells her story of overcoming her limitations and escaping Germany for the US, I got a sense she still marvels at her own survival. (more…)

Just got word via texts and emails that the cold chill of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raided the Angel Toy Factory downtown and possibly another nearby location earlier today.  What of it, Obama?

The details aren’t clear just yet – any one of you readers have more information? – but everyone seems to agree that a number of workers were arrested and are being detained at least one local detention center.  A rally apparently is forming in the area – I’ll update if I receive more details.  In the meantime, if you happen to get caught in an immigration raid, know your rights: handy guides here and here.  Think you don’t need to know becauase you’re a red blooded Amer-i-can?  Think again.

An immigration reform rally in Los Angeles and more than 40 other locations nationwide on Monday addressed immigration rights for gay couples, although that information didn’t make it into this piece in the LA Times about the event.

And if you want to see the anti-gay marriage crowd’s feigning that civil unions provide all of the benefits of marriage fall away, take a look at this article on Politico about gay partner language when it comes to immigration reform. A bill is being introduced in the US Congress would include the term “permanent partner” to sections of immigration law that pertain to married couples.

All of the right wing’s subterfuge about “civil unions are enough, just don’t call it marriage” flies out the window.

From Politico:

The chasm inside the immigrant rights community has led the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — a major partner in the drive for expanded immigrant rights — to withdraw its support from a House bill to be filed Thursday that would speed up reunification of immigrants with their families.

Including the same-sex provision in the family reunification bill “would erode the institution of marriage and family by according marriagelike immigration benefits to same-sex relationships, a position that is contrary to the very nature of marriage, which pre-dates the church and the state,” the bishops said in a letter to Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.).

“The last thing the immigration debate needs is another politically divisive issue,” said Kevin Appleby, the bishops’ director of migration and refugee policy.

Another major ally, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, called the efforts to slip gay rights into the immigration debate a “slap in the face to those of us who have fought for years for immigration reform.”

Honda represents California’s 15th congressional district in Santa Clara County, the location of Cupertino, Apple Computer’s headquarters city. He’s been a long time advocate for the gay/bi/trans community.

Two funny things happened to me right after I passed the bar exam and was officially licensed to practice: everyone suddenly needed a contract written or negotiated, and everyone either had, or knew someone who had, an immigration problem.  I could help with the former; with the latter, I was a bit out of my league.

Immigration law is often cited as second only to tax law as the most complicated and difficult areas of law to navigate.  This is with good reason: the laws controlling who can, and cannot be, present in our country is politically and racially motivated, often contradictory, and highly complex, even to those perfectly fluent in English.  Adding to the density is that the xenophobic immigration laws passed after 9/11 created additional, burdensome barriers to entry and harsh detention policies for those whose status were unconfirmed.  Whether you need to figure out how to obtain citizenship in this country, how to bring your non-U.S. spouse nationalized over here (please, for the love of God, unless you absolutely must enter into a lavender marriage, no more questions on how to enter into sham union with some guy you barely know, just so you can stay in their country), or how to sponsor a family member’s journey, it will be an uphill battle.  Following the jump is a list of legal organizations that will provide free or low-cost help with the process.  As always, check with the organization to make sure you qualify for their assistance.

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The current swine flu pandemic is starting to bring about closures throughout the nation. Texas has postponed all high school sporting events. In California, three private schools have already closed as a precautionary measure.

So what about May Day?

According to their website, A.N.S.W.E.R.L.A. is still hosting their annually mass march and rally in Downtown Los Angeles this Friday to “stop war & end racism” and demand “full rights for all immigrants.”

Having identified Patient Zero, we know that current strain of the flu originated in Mexico. While it may be a painful, politically-charged question to ask, is such a large gathering at this time a good idea?

Better yet, is any large gathering a good idea? Should we be talking about postponing Major League Baseball games? What do we do about large gatherings of people on trains or buses? Should there be flu screenings at LAX?

Of course, there is a tendency to say that we are overreacting. We hope we are. But, some are saying the United States isn’t reacting enough. According to the Associated Press, Malaysian health workers in face masks are taking the temperatures of passengers touching down from Los Angeles. FROM LOS ANGELES.

Now does the pig have your attention?

Photo from amitrunchal’s flickrstream

Shepard Fairey has designed a series of screen prints that will  be sold to raise money for materials for May Day marches and immigration reform organizations.

Collaborating  with Ernesto Yerena, an Obey associate, and with the support of Zack De La Rocha of Producciones Cimarron, an East LA-based independent multimedia organization dedicated to helping immigrants form a supportive community and lobby for humane and sensible legislative solutions, Fairey made two images based on Yerena’s photographs of the historic May Day march in 2006.

Editions of 450 screen prints measuring 18″x24″ will go on sale for $45 each on Thursday, April 30th at noon at Cimarrones.org.

Both Obey.com and Cimarrones.org have free downloadable versions of each poster available “to spread the word and post the images in windows, on street poles, offices, and wherever you think the message will reach people.”

Remember the May Day Melee?  In a visible display of What Happens When LAPD Gets Scared of Large Gatherings, the police on duty monitoring the 2007 May Day rally in MacArthur Park launched an out of control, freaked out display of force in response to “agitators” who allegedly threw bottles at them.  As a result, nine separate lawsuits were filed against the city.  The LA City Council voted today to settle all nine for $12.85 million.   That is a lot of money.  In even worse news, it still has to deal with 27 other lawsuits stemming from the incident.  In even worser news, this settlement comes right after the City Council approved $20.5 million to settle a Rampart-related case brought by officers who claimed they were falsely arrested and otherwise mistreated.

In case you’re one of those types of people who think that immigration rally-goers deserve whatever punishment the riot-geared cops dole out, lest we forget the clip that forever erased all feelings of annoyance I’ve ever had towards one Ms. Christina Gonzalez of Fox 11, circa John Beard:

American Apparel is too goddamn expensive.

I remember when American Apparel first started up and they were all up in that “fair wages, fair day’s work” thang. Then the whole thing transitioned into cracked-out seemingly-underage models posing with that pouty, poufy “I just got hit in the face by a brick” look, and seems like people forgot a lot of the labor issues. I hear a lot about how AA is no longer such an industry leader in terms of fair labor practices, and now that I’m looking for reasonably priced tees, I’m quite stymied.

You see, inspired by recent crafty things like Felt Club & Unique LA, I decided to get back to handpainting tees like I did a long-ass time ago. But I need shirts. Shirts I can AFFORD. American Apparel is not affordable–not in any volume, at least. There are these shirts from No Sweat, but they’re still too pricy for me, unless I plan on selling these shirts for a fricken’ mint.

Now, I used to hear about there being one day a week when you could go down to the AA plant on Alameda and root through their slightly-wonky seconds: you know, the color was a little off, or a seam wasn’t perfectly straight. And these were discounted. Dear lazyweb, does that day still exist?

Or are there, somewhere out there, low-cost sweat-free shirts, just waiting for me to discover them?

Halp, Los Angeles! Halp! I ask here because I know there are a lot of other crafty ladies out there who’ve asked the same question, and also because I want sweat-free operations to have a chance to sound off in a public forum if they can offer me a good solution.