Saint Paul, MN – El 1ro de mayo, el día internacional de los trabajadores, alrededor de dos mil personas marcharon dos millas y media desde la mansión del gobernador hasta el capitolio estatal. La marcha tuvo cuatro demandas: licencias de conducir para todos, derechos para los trabajadores, una reforma migratoria justa, y no más deportaciones.

Casi todo el movimiento inmigrante en Minnesota está unido con la demanda para las licencias de conducir para todos. Una propuesta de ley para las licencias esta cerca de ser aprobada en el capitolio de Minnesota pero la session legislativa ya casi va a terminar y la propuesta está bloqueada por el Portavoz de la Casa de Representantes Paul Thissen. Eso dio una urgencia y un enfoque a la marcha del 1ro de mayo y se escuchó la demanda por las licencias de conducir en toda la marcha. Cuando la marcha llegó al capitolio, después de varios oradores, los manifestantes entraron al capitolio llenando la Rotunda con gritos exigiendo que aprueben las licencias para todos en esta sesión legislativa. Los inmigrantes sienten muy fuerte la demanda para las licencias porque el gobierno ha deportado más de dos millones de personas desde 2009 y muchos de ellos fueron detenidos sólo por manejar sin licencia.

Los manifestantes no sólo exigieron las licencias, también exigieron ‘no más deportaciones’. Debido a la realidad de tantas deportaciones, es un asunto que ha tocado casi todas las familias de inmigrantes y sus comunidades. En la marcha el Comite por los derechos de los Inmigrantes (MIRAC) organizó un bloque en la marcha con el tema de ‘No más deportaciones’ para amplificar esta demanda con mantas, banderas, posteres, volantes y consignas exigiendo ‘ni una más deportación’.

La marcha en St. Paul fue liderada por la organización Mesa Latina juntos con el Comite por los derechos de los inmigrantes (MIRAC) y alrededor de 30 organizaciones más incluyendo sindicatos como AFSCME Local 3800 y Local 34, UNITE HERE Local 17, y organizaciones como el Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), MORENA-Minnesota, Centro Campesino, Occupy Homes, los departamentos de Estudios Chicanos en la Universidad de Minnesota y en St. Cloud State University, y muchos más. Muchos estudiantes llegaron también de la Universidad de Minnesota, St. Olaf, St. Benedict y de bachilleratos como Washburn, Harding y otros.

La marcha en St. Paul no fue la única acción en las Ciudades Gemelas en el 1ro de mayo. Una organización con base en las iglesias, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, bloqueo tráfico en el centro de Minneapolis para exigir acción para parar las deportaciones y para una reforma migratoria.

Y también este sabado 3 de mayo Freedom Road Socialist Organization esta organizando una cena y celebracion del dia de los trabajadores con presentaciones de varias luchas de trabajadores en Minnesota. El evento empieza a las 5:00 p.m. en 4200 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis.

#SaintPaulMN #Labor #MayDay #internationalWorkersDay #May1 #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #LicensesForAll

Saint Paul, MN – On May 1, International Workers Day, around 2000 people marched two and a half miles from the Governor’s Mansion to the State Capitol. The march raised four demands: drivers licenses for all, workers rights, just immigration reform, and no more deportations.

Most of the immigrant rights movement in Minnesota is united behind the push for drivers licenses for all. A drivers licenses bill at the capitol is near passage, but the legislative session is almost over and the bill is being blocked by Speaker of the House Representative Paul Thissen. That gave an urgency and focus to the May 1 march to the capitol.

The demand for drivers licenses rang out strongly throughout the march. The demonstration arrived at the capitol and , after several speakers, the marchers streamed into the capitol building and filled the rotunda with booming chants, demanding that the legislature approve the bill for drivers licenses for all this session. The demand for drivers licenses resonates deeply because 2 million people have been deported since 2009. A large number of them are first detained for driving without a license.

The demand for “no more deportations” was also prominent at the march. Because so many people are being deported, it is an issue that has touched almost all immigrant families and their communities. The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) organized a No More Deportations contingent to press this demand with banners, flags, posters, flyers and chants.

The St. Paul march was led by immigrant rights organization Mesa Latina along with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and around 30 other organizations including unions such as AFSCME Locals 3800 and Local 34, UNITE HERE Local 17 and organizations including Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), MORENA-Minnesota, Centro Campesino, Occupy Homes, Chicano Studies departments at the University of Minnesota and at Saint Cloud State University and many others. Many students came to the march from the University of Minnesota, Saint Olaf, Saint Benedicts, and high schools including Washburn, Harding and others.

The march in Saint Paul wasn’t the only May Day action in the Twin Cities. A church-based immigrant rights group, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, blocked traffic in downtown Minneapolis to demand action on deportations and immigration reform.

On May 3, Freedom Road Socialist Organization is hosting a May Day Dinner and Celebration featuring speakers from important local working class struggles. The celebration is at 5:00 p.m. at 4200 Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis.

#SaintPaulMN #Labor #MayDay #internationalWorkersDay #May1 #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #LicensesForAll

Tampa, FL – Braving rain and traffic, people from across the Tampa Bay area rallied outside City Hall, demanding “Driver’s licenses for all undocumented!” Over 30 protesters held up umbrellas, signs and a banner reading, “Licencias ahora, licenses now!”

Led by Raíces en Tampa, a community group, the protesters are organizing to pass a Tampa City Council resolution in support of licenses for the undocumented. Last month, they organized a call-in day to City Council members. Now they are out in the neighborhoods gathering signatures for a statewide petition. Today’s event urged city council members to attend. Unfortunately, city council members were attending a banquet.

Ana Lamb, one of the protesters, said, “Is this what tax dollars go to? Fancy banquets instead of licenses?”

Right now, there are an estimated 1 million undocumented immigrants in the state of Florida and over 11 million in the U.S. Most states, like Florida, do not allow the undocumented to have licenses. Still, many drive to jobs, school, hospitals, houses of worship and other places. This puts many at risk for fines, arrest, detention and deportation. In fact, most deportations result from being pulled over without a license. In the U.S. there are approximately 1100 deportations each day. President Obama has amassed over 2 million deportations during his term.

Jared Hamil, with Raíces en Tampa, spoke to the crowd, “We want an end to deportations now. We want the politicians in Tallahassee and those here in Tampa like Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the city council to support ‘Driver’s Licenses for All’ in Florida. We need Governor Rick Scott, who vetoed a bill last year that would’ve given DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] recipients their driver’s licenses, to stand with us, or get out of the way! The politicians must act and give us ‘Licenses for all!’”

LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), Student-Farmworker Alliance, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) all joined the protest. People from the neighboring cities of Largo, Clearwater and Saint Petersburg drove in to attend. Several police cars were present as police watched from across the street. When protesters came to the doors of City Hall, they taped a giant letter, signed by all the protesters and addressed to the politicians of Tampa, urging them to support licenses for the undocumented.

At the close of the rally, Marisol Marquez of Raíces en Tampa announced, “We need everyone to join this cause!” Marquez continued, “We want people in their own cities to take up this issue. We want them to organize for driver’s licenses and an end to deportations! Our first step is licenses, our big goal is legalization for all.”

Sign the statewide petition – https://www.change.org/petitions/support-licenses-for-all-undocumented-immigrants-in-florida

Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/dl4allflorida

#TampaFL #immigrantRights #LicensesForAll #legalizationForAll #driversLicences #RaicesEnTampa

Los Angeles, CA – The Centro CSO (Community Service Organization) and the Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC) held a town hall meeting on August 18 in East Los Angeles to mobilize the community to support the statewide campaign, Licenses for All – to push a law demanding driver’s licenses for undocumented migrants and immigrants.

California Assembly member Gil Cedillo planned on introducing this new bill in August. Gil Cedillo decided to not introduce a new bill since the federal program Deferred Action will allow those eligible to apply for a driver’s licenses and a broader bill would not be supported by Governor Jerry Brown this year. Gil Cedillo plans that another assembly member from Southern California will introduce a broader bill in 2013, since Cedillo is leaving the assembly because of California’s term limit law.

The Centro CSO and SCIC has for years monitored and denounced the Los Angeles Police Department’s DUI and driver’s license checkpoints, as well as the 30-day car impounds, as a money-making scheme at the expense of undocumented people, since they target the Mexican and Central American communities. The police department has introduced minor changes, but L.A. County Sheriff L. Baca’s department continues to do 30-day impounds. Baca also supports the ICE program ‘Secure Communities’ (SCOMM), which leads to many detentions and deportations.

The meeting agreed to unite and attend a protest on Sept. 12, at 10:00 am at the East L.A. Sheriff’s station to demand Sheriff Baca to stop the 30-day car impound and that he stop his cooperation with the ICE program SCOMM.

Many of the local residents of East L.A. voiced their concerns and protests about police using racial profiling for traffic stops, leading to 30-day car impounds. They also talked about the police predatory traffic patrols in the community that lead to mass car impounds.

The town hall meeting featured Gil Saucedo of the National Lawyers Guild, who gave a Know Your Rights review; Veronica Ramirez, a local organizer and mother, who urged the people to join the campaign; David Cid, a local resident and teacher, who talked about the fight for equality; and Carlos Montes, who spoke about the need for people to join an organization like CSO to continue the struggle for full legalization.

The organizations will once again demand an immediate moratorium on car impounds for drivers who are not allowed to legally obtain driver’s licenses due to their immigration status. The organizers called for the community to unite and mobilize a campaign to support the passage of this new law and to call on Governor Jerry Brown to sign it into law. The only real solution to this problem is for California to once again issue driver’s licenses to undocumented people and stop the predatory racist car impounds in Mexican and Central American communities.

For more information, call 626-532-7164, or go to facebook.com/centrocso or to www.csosite.org

#LosAngelesCA #immigrantRights #CentroCSO #SouthernCaliforniaImmigrationCoalition #CarlosMontes #LicensesForAll