Hillside, IL – Over 750 immigrant rights activists met here on August 11-13 at a historic national convention. This was the largest and most important meeting of the new immigrant rights movement to date. The attendees were largely Mexican-American, with Central and South Americans and other nationalities too. The convention brought together leaders of the wave of “mega-marches” from all over the country. Those marches brought millions of immigrant workers into the streets to defeat the anti-immigrant Sensenbrenner Bill (HR 4437) and to demand legalization and full equality for undocumented immigrants. According to Los Angeles-based immigrant rights and trade union activist Carlos Montes, “The energy, unity and diversity of the convention was motivating and a call to action for immigrant rights.”

Convention participants included leaders of the Los Angeles march of over 1 million people, and leaders of the mass mobilizations from Chicago, New York, Arizona, Georgia, San Francisco, Utah, Minnesota, Vermont, North Carolina, and many more places in between. The protest wave shook the United States from March 10 through May 1st with some of the largest political marches in U.S. history.

This convention was organized by the Chicago-based March 10th Movement, which organized the first mega-march of 200,000 people. The goals of the convention included consolidating the movement nationally and planning for the next mobilizations. According to José Artemio Arreola, a leader of the March 10th Movement and a key convention organizer, “The convention was definitely a success. We were only expecting about 200 people and in total 761 people registered. We had over 500 more people than we had expected. There were many important points of agreement among the participants.”

The convention formed a national network, the National Alliance for Immigrant Rights (NAIR). Students formed a student network and the convention united around mobilizing for September 4 Labor Day marches. Most significantly, a call for a National Day of Action on September 30th targets Congress before it adjourns on October 6. The Day of Action opposes all anti-immigrant legislation and continues to demand legalization for all. The Convention participants hope this gives direction to the demands of the masses of immigrants.

Republican legislators are holding immigrant-bashing public hearings around the U.S. this summer, to build support for passing “enforcement-only” legislation at the end of the session. Their legislation would further militarize the border and dramatically increase deportations.

According to Carlos Montes, who is on the national leadership body of the newly-formed organization, “September 30 is the last chance we have [during this session] of pressuring Congress to pass real immigration reform, so the convention united behind a national day of action on September 30.” The day of action will be important to try to stave off a possible anti-immigrant attack at the end of the legislative session.

José Artemio Arreola agreed on the importance of the new organization and the upcoming actions: “We created the new National Alliance for Immigrant Rights and now we'll continue to work with that structure. We united on two national actions – the Labor Day mobilizations, and a September 30th day of action because we don't want Congress to vote for something repressive. It's better if they don't pass anything. We are demanding legalization for all and saying no to criminalization. We are demanding a moratorium on deportations.”

The convention called for an immediate moratorium on immigration raids and deportations, such as the deportation of Elvira Arellano from Chicago, and of 25 immigrants arrested in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The convention made everyone more aware of the serious attacks that are happening at the state and local level in places like Arizona and Georgia, where severe anti-immigrant laws have passed. The convention also agreed to join a national boycott against Kimberly Clarke, a company in which Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has large investments.

On Saturday night at the convention, Fight Back! Newspaper hosted an event which was attended by over 100 activists. This event emphasized the importance of building the alliance between the labor movement and the immigrant rights movement, while also drawing connections to the anti-war movement. Carlos Montes, José Artemio Arreola, Tony Caldera and Anh Pham spoke at the Fight Back! gathering. Montes was a cofounder of the Brown Berets in the 1960s and is a long-time immigrant rights and union leader in Los Angeles. José Artemio Arreola is a trade union activist and a leader in Chicago's March 10th Movement. Caldera is a rank and file Teamster and a leader in the 743 New Leadership Slate, which is fighting to oust the corrupt leadership of Chicago's Teamsters Local 743. Anh Pham is a Vietnamese immigrant and anti-war activist in Minnesota who connected her experience emigrating with her family from Vietnam following the defeat of the U.S. there, to her support for the immigrant rights movement.

The immigrant rights movement has quickly become a powerful force of oppressed nationalities within the U.S. fighting for full equality—including legalization, the equality of languages, and against discrimination and criminalization of immigrants. The convention helped consolidate the movement politically and organizationally.

William Martinez, a member of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition who attended the convention said, “I thought the convention was excellent, with people from so many states that came together. You could see the importance that each state has, and more importantly to understand the main point, which is that we are all struggling for one cause, which is legalization for all. There are people involved who have struggled for many years and there are also young people involved. The struggle for immigrant rights is something that is uniting people to bring about change in this country.”

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The convention is backed by a broad array of immigrants’ rights, labor and oppressed nationality organizations. Fight Back! newspaper is among the endorsers.

The period ahead is important for the immigrants’ rights movement. Congress is scheduled to leave Washington in October. Any push for legislation allowing for legalization will have to take place before they go. Conversely, it is possible that right-wingers will try to push through racist, anti-immigrant measures in the final days of this Congressional session.

A leaflet that can be used to build the National Immigrant Rights Strategy Convention is available in English and in Spanish below.

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The bell she referred to was a replica of the one that rang to start the Mexican revolution nearly 200 years ago. It was carried on the back of a pick-up truck through the streets in the middle of the crowd. Connie and Victor Parra, members of Local 73 Service Employees International Union (SEIU), brought it to Union Park that morning. “My mother was the head of the Mexican Independence Day committee in Chicago 20 years ago. The government of Mexico gave her the bell in recognition of her efforts on behalf of our community,” explained Mrs. Parra.

The ringing of the bell was accompanied through the march by chants of, “Que queremos? Amnistia! Cuando? Ahora!” [“What do we want? Amnesty! When do we want it? Now!”]

Debate in Washington

Father Marcos, another organizer for the march, said he knew of children in his parish that were alone at home, with no food in the house, because their parents had both been deported.

Congressman Luis Gutierrez addressed the rally, condemning the raids on immigrants that are being carried out by the Department of Homeland Security, through its Immigration and Customs Enforcement arm. “President Bush can't have it both ways. He can't claim to favor legalization for the undocumented immigrants on the one hand, and then carry out raids, deporting workers and breaking up families.”

Gutierrez wants Bush to cease until the Congress completes its debate on the different legislation that has been adopted by the House and the Senate. The House bill, called the Sensenbrenner Bill or HR4437, was the vicious attack that started the protest movement this spring. It would make all undocumented workers criminals, as well as anyone who aids them. The Senate bill is less severe, but it falls far short of the demands of the mass movement that seeks amnesty for all undocumented workers.

Next Steps

Jose Artemio Arreola, a co-chair of the March 10th Movement, was present at the rally as well. The coalition of local organizations has recently announced plans for a national conference to be held in Chicago Aug. 11-13. This conference will be devoted to continuing the struggle. “We don't support any of the bills in Washington,” commented Arreola, “but we want the politicians to listen to us. We will tell them what the people need: No deportations, no guest worker program and legalization for all. After we have that, we need a visa procedure that grants immigrant workers full labor rights.”

Already there are plans underway for another massive mobilization in Chicago for the week around Labor Day, the U.S. holiday for workers. “From International Workers Day to U.S. Labor Day, immigrant workers continue to demand full equality,” concluded Arreola.

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