Marcha Por La Dignidad Mall Rally Days after Veterans Denied Access

Days after the Obama administration set up barricades to keep World War II veterans from accessing a memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C., the open borders movement was allowed to hold a concert and rally demanding rights for illegal immigrants.

 One outraged federal lawmaker, Texas Congressman Steve Stockman, summed it up best on social media, writing that; “Obama closed the National Mall to WWII vets. You can visit it tomorrow, but only if you’re in the illegal alien rally.” Stockman referred to veterans who were not permitted to visit the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall during the first day of the government shutdown. Judicial Watch has filed a public records request with the Department of the Interior for information related to blocking public access to national monuments in Washington D.C.

JW is also investigating how the illegal immigrant groups received a government permit to hold their event when the area is supposedly closed over the shutdown. The rally was promoted in English and Spanish as the “March for Immigrant Dignity and Respect” (“Marcha Por La Dignidad y el Respeto de Los Inmigrantes.”). It was hosted by a number of groups including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and a variety of other community organizations as well as Mexican airline company Aero Mexico.  

It appears that the Obama administration unscrupulously gave the organizers of the immigrant rally special treatment. Even the mainstream media was forced to acknowledge this with one national newspaper writing this: “After seeing a group of veterans forced to move aside barriers to access the World War II Memorial last week, some are upset over what they see as the Obama administration giving preferential treatment to a group pushing for one his biggest legislative priorities.”

While the administration makes exceptions in budget matters for its allies in the open borders movement, it’s freezing payments of death benefits to the families of soldiers killed in combat while serving their country. Confirming that the money is being needlessly withheld by the administration, House Speaker John Boehner called it “disgraceful.” In fact, Congress passed—and the president signed—a bill last week precisely so there would be no disruption in these kinds of Pentagon payments.

The Obama administration’s selective shutdown is also affecting government transparency because public records requests have been put on hold. Last week JW reported that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) will be ignored over budget issues, which means the government will essentially operate in secrecy. Most federal agencies won’t even accept FOIA requests and everything will get backed up. Among those that have officially announced they won’t process FOIA requests during the shutdown are the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).