PHOTO/ADRIAN GARCIA
Editors Note: This is excerpts from an interview with Gloria Meneses Sandoval, Secretary of Immigration, for the Green Shadow Cabinet. It appeared in our sister publication, the Tribuno del Pueblo.
Tribuno del Pueblo: Could you explain to our audience what the Green Shadow Cabinet is?
Gloria Meneses Sandoval: It is an idea borrowed from Mexican and some European counterparts to show resistance and opposition to the established and monied interests who have bought, stolen, or swindled their way into elected office. By providing timely responses to current events we can raise the bar for just, sustainable solutions to the crises we face in the U.S. This exposes the self-serving intentions of the ruling parties, as well as showing that normal, everyday people like me can propose solutions that are humane, just, and cost-effective, unlike the austerity and repression that the established parties offer.
TP: What is the importance of a Green Shadow Cabinet on Immigration?
GMS: In the face of all the anti-immigrant rhetoric and hysteria, as well as all of the belt-tightening that the average American is being told is necessary, we offer a balanced and humane way to look at the phenomena of immigration, and show how in the end we are all in the same boat together. Ultimately, we have to educate ourselves as to the reasons people immigrate in the first place, and how this fits into what makes America what it is today.
TP: What specifically does the Green Shadow Cabinet on Immigration call for?
GMS: First of all it calls for an immediate moratorium on deportations. We cannot be talking of just and humane immigration reform while the current administration is deporting more people than all the combined Republican presidents ever did, as we speak. We need humane, just reform, preserving family unity, decriminalizing human beings, and providing a path to citizenship, in a way that is affordable.
