Did you know there's a growing "Immigrant" Rights Movement? Of course, most Americans will refer to that "movement" as "foreign citizens who are here illegally marching in our streets making a show of force and demanding rights to which they aren't entitled", but many news/propaganda organizations seem to prefer the first term. And, not just because it's shorter but - of course - because it's highly misleading.

There are currently hundreds of articles in Google News that use the titular phrase. While many of the sources are far-left - and equate the "movement" with basically a socialistic revolution - some of them are more mainstream.

The phrase appears to have been in use for a long time but, of course, until recently we've never had hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals marching in our streets and thus it's never been applied to that specific situation.

The timeline supplied by the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights might indicate that the phrase has been used for decades, as does the bibliography here. And, Refuse & Resist prints a 2002 letter refering to the phrase.

Returning to the present:

Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times offers "Bush Enters Anthem Fight on Language": "...the new Spanish version of the national anthem that was released on Friday as part of the growing immigrants' rights movement."

"Documented Immigrants Demand Vote in New York City" has a quote from Ron Hayduk: "If the immigrants' rights movement is today's civil rights movement... then noncitizen voting is today's suffrage movement."

Richard Fausset/Los Angeles Times offers "A new 'rights movement' builds slowly in South" (aka "Nervously, Latinos Protest in the South"): "The immigrant rights "movement," such that it is, is in its infancy in the South."

Marilyn Bechtel/People's Weekly World provides "S.F. march fills Market Street": "We are immigrants, day laborers, youth, students, women and men, and we all demand — legalization now!" said hunger striker Renee Saucedo, who heads the city's Day Labor Program. "We are so joyous to be ending our fast here with you," Saucedo said. "Together we are a powerful movement, not only here but all over this country," she added, emphasizing that the immigrant rights movement "is just getting started."

Katie Wilson/McMinnville (OR) News Register offers "Latino outpouring hits close to home": "...[rallies] are being held as part of a national immigration rights movement born out of opposition to a stalled House bill that would make felons out of an estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country without legal papers."

From the Socialist Worker Online editorial "Dawn of a new movement": "With the full Senate out to restrict rights in one form or another, it's all the more important for the new immigrant rights movement to put forward its own agenda."

Ed Morales/The Nation offers "The Media Is the Mensaje": "In Chicago, next door to anti-immigrant-bill sponsor James Sensenbrenner's home state of Wisconsin, the weekly La Raza has been central to a well-organized, vibrant immigrants' rights movement in a state that pioneered the use of Mexico's matricula consular as valid identification for the undocumented. A former La Raza reporter, Jorge Mujica, left the paper to become one of the main organizers of the movement there. The current editor in chief, Jorge Mederos, says the paper's front page has been devoted to the issue for several weeks." (See also "Links between the Democratic Party and the Mexican government" and "Senator Dick Durbin supports illegal aliens marching in our streets").

Joshua Hoyt, director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights quoted here: "We don't have a leader like Martin Luther King or Cesar Chavez, but this is now a national immigrant rights movement." (Note: he's linked to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.)

Wendy Suares/WLBT Jackson MS offers "Hundreds Rally For Justice For Immigrants": "Protests all across the country were held Monday in what's turning into a national Immigrants Rights movement. Mississippi's state capitol was no exception. Immigrants and their advocates gathered in Jackson in support of immigration reform and justice." (At least she's upfront about her biases.)

AP via KVOA offers "Strength of planned immigrant work boycott called into question" which, oddly enough, uses a somewhat accurate term: "a boycott would show the strength of the illegal-immigrant rights movement and could lead to favorable changes for illegal immigrants." Whether that was in the original AP article or they modified it is unknown.