Immigration reform: Turn around, go back down, back the way you came

Tomorrow, 5.1.06, is the scheduled immigration reform boycott:

Thanks to the success of previous rallies plus media attention, planning for Monday's events, collectively called Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes - A Day Without Immigrants - is widespread.

I am ambivalent about the effectiveness of this, a pretty harsh course to take. Public perception and actual conditions for some folks may suffer. Schools will lose ADA monies by not having students in seats, for example. The only hurt there is to the students.

And Kevin Drum, a pretty smart guy, adds this:

I'm cautious by temperament, so I don't really trust my own reaction to the boycott. Still, there's no question that backlash is a real concern, and a militantly confrontational strategy strikes me as pretty risky right now. More importantly, though, I figure that if Marc, who shares neither my caution nor my inexperience at political protest, thinks the boycott is a bad idea, then there's a good chance it's a bad idea. So for now, that's where I stand.

From the ever-vigilant Mom, AKA Ruth, we have an opposing viewpoint making its way around the internets (not her feelings, just some winger email):

WASHINGTON (AFP) Immigrants' rights advocates, elated by the resounding success of last Monday's "National Day of Action," which drew the backing of hundreds of thousands of protesters across the United States, now are planning a national boycott which they hope will have an even greater resonance.
Organizers are planning the May 1 "Great American Boycott," urging illegal immigrants -- who cannot vote and who have only limited political power -- to flex their economic muscle.
Protesters are being urged to refrain from shopping, and to stay away from school and work.

You should take a moment to let that sink in.

This is a movement orchestrated by people who entered the US illegally,and then want to scream about their "rights." WHAT RIGHTS? YOU DON'T EVEN BELONG HERE!

Let's take a look at some of the many benefits that illegal aliens have blessed our great country with: Street gangs, graffitti, drugs, skyrocketing healthcare, depreciation of property value, illiteracy. The list could go on. What they actually have to offer (cheap labor) pales to what they have given our country to deal with. I'll take expensive vegetables over expensive healthcare any day!

And now, like terrorists, they are going to attack our economy -- the one entity that makes our nation stand out from all the others. The backbone of our nation. The country they came to like locusts so they could reap the benefits is now the focus of their boycott. You've seen it on TV: Marching on our American streets waving their Mexican flags, boldly showing that they can be more racist than who they accuse of, and yet the obvious is totally oblivious to them......

IF YOU'VE GOT IT SO BAD HERE, THEN LEAVE!!!

To all the real Americans, you can do one small thing on May 1st, 2006. It won't be racist, nor will it be violent. It will not be boastful, arrogant, selfish, nor distasteful. It will not be any of those things that our "guests" have already displayed. What it will do is nullify a movement.

All you have to do is buy something on May 1st. Make up for what they will try to take away. It doesn't have to be a new car or house (unless you were already planning on getting one). It simply needs to be a day of trading.

Hold off grocery buying until May 1st.
Take your wife out to eat that night.
Get the kids pizza, hamburgers, whatever!
Make several trips to the convenience store.
Buy your meals at work.
Fill up your tank.
Shop for clothes, furniture, outdoor equipment.
If it needs to be bought, BUY IT MAY 1st!

Those are just a few suggestions. We're not asking you to spend your inheritance that day, but just to spend more than you normally would. Even if it's only a few dollars, this will help soften the blow that the Mexicans will try to inflict on our economy that day. It sounds trivial at first, but if this idea gets around, what the Mexicans set out to do will fail.

NOW COMES THE HARD PART:
This email will not self-destruct if you don't send it to someone.
It will not cause bad luck, nor will it make you impotent.
It will not do some trick or show a cute little animation if you send it to "X" amount of people.
You will not get paid for doing it.

It will not spread the message though, if it just gets deleted.
Forward at will.....

Nice. Probably comes from the immigrant-focused VDare folks my friend tbogg (I call him t) mentions here:

Damn those African illegals stowing away on the slave ships and taking jobs away from Americans!

Next up: the meteorologists at Stormfront on that crazy hip-hop music....