Late last year the United States House of Representatives passed the Sensenbrenner-King bill on immigration, authored by the two Republican congressmen. If approved by the Senate and sanctioned by George Bush, it should transform the 11-12 million undocumented immigrants to the US-including more than one million Brazilians-and those who assist them in any way into felons.

Late last year the United States House of Representatives passed the Sensenbrenner-King bill on immigration, authored by the two Republican congressmen. If approved by the Senate and sanctioned by George Bush, it should transform the 11-12 million undocumented immigrants to the US-including more than one million Brazilians-and those who assist them in any way into felons.

Harassment of immigrants has escalated at the judiciary level. Take two years ago, for example, when a labor court dismissed a tort filed by a Mexican worker on the grounds that the plaintiff was not in the country legally, disregarding the fact that his boss had ostensibly failed to pay the worker’s wages properly.

The GOP initiative is just another offspring of the post 9/11 xenophobia. Its purpose is to return Latinos to their countries of origin and only accept immigrants as “guest workers”.

The prospect of a final showdown in the Senate prompted the Latino immigrant community to organize huge rallies with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who have been coloring the streets of Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and many other cities, against the bill. Such demonstrations are the largest in the country since the civil rights’ campaign era and the protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s.

There was an attempt by the Senate to submit an alternative proposal that would classify immigrants into three groups. Those domiciled in the US for five years plus would be granted a permanent visa provided they were employed, had no criminal records and collected overdue taxes. The second group, three to five years of residency, would receive a temporary work visa providing they returned to their countries of origin to apply for it. Those with fewer than three years would return to their countries and enroll in a guest worker program to which they would be called to take part in contingent upon vacancies.

This proposal would allow up to 60% of the immigrants to stay and another 20% to 30% to return with temporary visas, while 10% would be repatriated to their countries of origin with a prospect of returning to the US one day. Yet the bill failed in the Senate, which took a two-week recess, while “La Marcha” demonstrations continue with immigrant workers calling for a solution to their situation.

As legendary Cezar Chavez, deceased president of United Farm Workers would say back in the 1960s and 1970s when he was organizing and mobilizing immigrant farm workers against all odds: “Sí se puede”! (Yes, it is possible!) Today, the Latin-American community holds the greatest political clout in the country of all the various other ethnic communities, including African-Americans, Asians and Native Americans. Larger demonstrations were confirmed for May Day. (Read more: “All eyes on May Day – A real day without Mexicans?”)