Cientos de miles de trabajadores inmigrantes y sus aliados marcharon en ciudades alrededor de los Estados Unidos el 1ro de mayo, el día internacional de los trabajadores. Las demandas principales de las protestas fueron legalización inmediata para todos los inmigrantes indocumentados y un fín inmediato a la ola de redadas y deportaciones que sufren los mexicanos, latinoamericanos y todos los trabajadores inmigrantes.

En Chicago, 250,000 personas marcharon en la protesta más grande del país. Doris Ramirez de la Coalición 10 de Marzo de Chicago dijo, “¡Si se pudo! El mensage de la marcha fue claro – el pueblo salió a la calle para exigir el fin a las redadas de ICE, el fin de la separación de familias, y legalización para todos AHORA.” En Chicago las protestas fueron más grandes debido a una redada el martes, 24 de abril en La Villitia. Como respuesta a esta redada, que involucró más de 30 agentes federales armados con rifles de asalto en un centro comercial del vecindario, y el surgimiento de enojo que el ataque causó, el movimiento puso al lado sus diferencias políticas y se unió para parar las redadas y las deportaciones. El ataque fue tan malo, la respuesta de la gente fue de tanto enojo y la unidad tan amplia que hasta el alcalde Daley de Chicago habló en la protesta, a pesar de que una semana antes no estaba programado que participara.

En Los Ángeles hubieron dos protestas. En una de las marchas organizada por la Coalición 25 de Marzo, hasta 100,000 personas protestaron en la manifestación más grande desde la protesta histórica del 1ro de mayo de 2006. Carlos Montes, un líder histórico en el movimiento de los chicanos para la liberación y también un líder en el Movimiento Nacional 1ro de Mayo para los Derechos de Trabajadores e Inmigrantes dice, “Cien mil inmigrantes tomaron las calles del centro de Los Ángeles para exigir la legalización y un fin a las redadas.”

La otra protesta en Los Ángeles, realizada en la tarde y organizada por Somos América, fue atacada por policías antimotines, quienes violentamente sacaron a miles de personas del Parque MacArthur, atacando a la multitud (incluyendo a periodistas) con batones, gas lacrimógeno y balas de goma. Fue un incidente de brutalidad policíaca sin provocación en contra de una manifestación pacífica. La Coalición 25 de Marzo hizo una conferencia de prensa el 2 de mayo para denunciar la brutalidad policíaca y anunciar el próximo paso que el movimiento va a tomar como respuesta a este incidente.

Frente a un paro anunciado para el 1ro de mayo por camioneros y el sindicato Internacional de Longshore y Warehouse en las puertas de California, los oficiales del Los Ángeles Port Authority anunciaron que iban a cerrar las puertas el 1ro de mayo para un día ‘feriado.’ Esa fue una victoria importante que reconoció el poder de los trabajadores inmigrantes e hizo real el impacto económico de las protestas del 1ro de mayo.

Miles también marcharon en el resto de California, incluyendo más de 10,000 en San Francisco. Hubieron también marchas en otras ciudades incluyendo San Jose, Oakland, Davis, Sacramento, Fresno, Santa Cruz y Watsonville. Más al norte de la costa oeste, más de 5,000 personas marcharon en Seattle. Se realizaron también docenas de marchas a través del sureste del país, incluyendo Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Tucson, Denver, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin y Las Vegas.

Alrededor de 800 personas marcharon en Raleigh, Carolina del Norte, y cientos de inmigrantes y sus aliados marcharon en varias ciudades en el oeste de Carolina del Norte bajo el slogan “comunidades seguras sin temor – que dejen de separar familias a través de las deportaciones.”

En Nueva York miles protestaron por los derechos de los trabajadores e inmigrantes en Union Square. También hubieron marchas en Boston y muchas otras ciudades del noreste del país.

En Milwaukee, organizadores y medios de comunicación reportaron que alrededor de 80,000 personas marcharon. Eso es un numero más alto que el 1ro de mayo del año pasado. En Minneapolis, organizadores reportaron que entre 2000 y 3000 marcharon a través del corazón de la comunidad latino inmigrante en Lake Street. La multitud creció cuando algunos negocios latinos en el camino de la marcha cerraron a las 4:00 p.m. y varias personas se unieron a la marcha. Como en Milwaukee, Minneapolis fue una de las ciudades donde la marcha del 1ro de mayo este año fue más grande que el año pasado. William Martinez de la Coalición de Acción por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes (MIRAC), dijo, “Otra vez la comunidad hizo sentir su presencia saliendo a la calle para exigir sus derechos.” También se realizaron marchas en otras ciudades del medio oriente del país como Detroit, Racine y Madison.

Muchos de los reportes en los medios sobre el 1ro de mayo reportaron que las marchas de este año fueron más pequeñas que el año pasado. Es verdad que una cantidad de personas sin precedentes – millones de personas – marcharon el año pasado para derrotar la ley Sensenbrenner. Muchos organizadores del movimiento para los derechos de los inmigrantes alrededor del país se dieron cuenta que este año mucha gente no percibió la misma amenaza legislativa inmediata como sintieron el año pasado con la ley Sensenbreener, y muchos trabajadores inmigrantes se sienten amenazados por la ola de redadas y deportaciones alrededor del país.

Pero algunas ciudades tuvieron marchas más grandes este 1ro de mayo que el año pasado. Y según dicen organizadores para los derechos de los inmigrantes, la historia clave es que cientos de miles de personas marcharon el 1ro de mayo en ciudades alrededor de los Estados Unidos por segundo año consecutivo – cosa que no se podría haber imaginado hace un par de años. Erika Zurawski, miembro de la Coalición de Acción por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes (MIRAC) dice, “Las marchas del 1ro de mayo son verdaderamente un movimiento de la base – trabajadores inmigrantes saliendo se las sombras y poniendo sus demandas en la agenda, exigiendo la legalización para todos, la igualdad completa, y un fin a las redadas y deportaciones. Las marchas del 1ro de mayo de este año fueron una muestra exitosa del poder de los inmigrantes y trabajadores.”

#EstadosUnidos #News #ChicanoLatino #SensenbrennerBill #May1March #March10thCoaltion

Como respuesta al movimiento popular más grande en muchos años, la administración Bush ha aumentado las redadas por el ICE en las sedes de trabajo y en las comunidades y al mismo tiempo condujo reuniones secretas con senadores republicanos y demócratas para proponer un ‘gran compromiso’ que se llama Acta de Reforma Migratoria 2007.

Pero el Acta de Reforma Migratoria no es la ley que los latinos y otros inmigrantes, sus familias y comunidades necesitan. La propuesta de ley no ofrece residencia legal a los indocumentados, sino que les convierte en trabajadores huéspedes. La propuesta “visa Z” para los indocumentados requiere empleo de tiempo completo (con algunas excepciones para estudiar, mal estado de salud y desastres naturales) y un inmigrante perdería su visa si pierde su trabajo. Es más, sus esposas y niños también perderían sus visas en este caso – es decir que solo pueden quedarse en los Estados Unidos si el jefe de familia sigue trabajando a tiempo completo. El nuevo Sistema Electrónico de Verificación de Empleo haría fácil que el gobierno se entere si la gente con visa Z está de hecho trabajando a tiempo completo.

El Acta de Reforma Migratoria también cambiaría los requisitos para obtener la residencia permanente legal. Hoy en día la mayoría de inmigrantes obtienen la residencia permanente a través de un familiar que es ciudadano estadounidense o residente permanente legal. Bajo la nueva propuesta de ley, el empleo, el nivel de educación y la habilidad de hablar ingles serían más importantes que la reunificación familiar para obtener la visa de residencia permanente. Eso haría mucho más difícil que los indocumentados obtengan la residencia legal. Actualmente hay más de 3 millones de niños quienes son ciudadanos estadounidenses los cuales a su vez tienen por lo menos un padre indocumentado. Estos padres serían elegibles para la residencia permanente cuando crezcan sus niños, pero, bajo la nueva propuesta de ley tendrían que esperar por lo menos 8 años y entonces el número de padres que podrían obtener la residencia legal estaría limitado a 40,000 al año!

La propuesta de ley también tiene otros puntos malos: la parte de legalización sólo tomaría efecto si la administración certifica al congreso que las fronteras están bajo control; hay multas muy altas de hasta miles de dólares para cada persona indocumentada; las personas con visa Z tendrían que aprobar exámenes de inglés y de cívica estadounidense para mantener sus visas; hay un programa temporal de trabajadores huéspedes; hay más militarización de la frontera entre México y los Estados Unidos y más criminalización de inmigrantes; hay una reducción del número de visas para la residentes permanentes legales; los indocumentados tendrían que regresar a sus países para hacer la aplicación para la residencia legal, etc.

En el pasado, la administración Bush ha aumentado las redadas y deportaciones cuando hay propuestas de ley sobre la inmigración en el congreso. Estas redadas golpean más fuerte a los trabajadores y comunidades latinas y reflejan el sentimiento racista detrás de muchas de las fuerzas anti-inmigrante de hoy en día. Estas redadas y deportaciones están dividiendo familias y son parte de un esfuerzo de sangre fría por parte de la administración Bush para fomentar apoyo hacia su propuesta para un programa de trabajadores huéspedes temporales.

Ahora es el momento para exigir la igualdad completa para los indocumentados. En las próximas semanas y meses, el congreso estará debatiendo la reforma migratoria. Tenemos que aumentar la presión al congreso para que sepan que queremos medidas que promueven la legalización. El tiempo ha llegado para romper las cadenas de discriminación y opresión.

¡Alto a las redadas y deportaciones!

¡Residencia legal, no visas de trabajador huésped!

¡Mantengamos y expandamos las visas de residencia permanente legal para la reunificación familiar!

#EstadosUnidos #Editorial #ICE #ChicanoLatino #SensenbrennerBill #LaMigra #ActaDeReformaMigratoria

Chicago, IL – Más que 200.000 personas marcharon hoy, el 10 de Marzo, por el centro de Chicago. Gritaban, “Sí, se puede!” significando que sí podemos derrotar la legislación migratoria de Sensenbrenner.

Esta legislación, HR 4437, fue aprobado en Diciembre por la Cámara de Representantes, y parece lista para pasar rápidamente por el Senado. Si sea aprobada, criminalizaría a las organizaciones e individuos que ayudan a los inmigrantes sin papeles. En otras palabras, si su sindicato o organización de servicios sociales ayude a una persona sin papeles, estarías culpable de “traficar los extranjeros,” y podrías irse al cárcel.

Bajo la ley actual, ser un trabajador sin documentos en los Estados Unidos es un crimen civil. Esta legislación lo convertiría en un acto criminal. Establecería un bloque permanente en contra todas las personas no documentados – incluso 1,6 millones de niños. Resultaría en la separación de familias.

“Somos Todos America”

La mayor parte de los manifestantes venían de la comunidad inmigrante Mexicana de Chicago y los suburbios alrededores. También participaban Coreanos, Polacas, Irlandeses, Árabes y otras comunidades inmigrantes. Juntos, formaban la marcha más grande de cualquier tipo en toda la historia de Chicago.

Más que eso, todos los presentes tenían que perder un día de trabajo o escuela. Uno de los organizadores principales, Jose Artemio Arreola, dijo al periódico Lucha y Resiste que, “Más que 100 fábricas dieron un día libre a sus trabajadores, porque tantos trabajadores les decían que iban a participar en la Huelga General.”

Refiriendo a la consigna del día, Arreola seguía, “Queremos que el mensaje llegue a todo el país: Somos Todos América.” Arreola, junto con Omar López, iniciaron la Coalición Contra HR4437, que hizo una llamada por una Huelga General solamente hace cinco semanas. Arreola espera que la demonstración profunda de apoyo producido por el evento histórico, provocará a las otras ciudades a realizar manifestaciones y huelgas generales también. “Si hay resistencia por todos lados, los Senadores escucharán y votarán en contra de esta legislación.”

En Los Ángeles ya están planeando dos fines de semana de lucha. Latinos Contra la Guerra en el Este de Los Ángeles está reclamando los derechos del inmigrante en una acción por el aniversario de la guerra en Irak, el 17 de Marzo. Además, el 25 de Marzo habrá una manifestación en contra HR4437, y el 26 de Marzo los derechos del inmigrante serán el enfoque de la Misa de Trabajo de Chávez anual por las iglesias en la área.

#ChicagoIL #Labor #News #ChicanoLatino #SensenbrennerBill #LosDerechosDeInmigrantes #LatinosContraLaGuerra

Hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers and their supporters marched in cities around the U.S. on May 1, International Workers Day. The marchers' main demands were for immediate legalization for all undocumented immigrants and an immediate end to the wave of raids and deportations targeting Mexican, Latin American, and other immigrant workers.

In Chicago 250,000 people marched in the largest protest in the country. Doris Ramirez of Chicago's March 10th Coalition said, “Si se pudo! The message from the march was loud and clear – the people came out to demand an end to the ICE raids, an end to the separation of families and legalization for all, NOW.” In Chicago people were galvanized by an immigration raid on Tuesday, April 24th in Little Village (La Villita). In response to that raid, which included over 30 federal agents armed with assault rifles in a neighborhood shopping mall and the outpouring of anger that this attack called forth, the movement set aside political differences and united to stop raids and deportations. The attack was so bad, the response was so angry, and the unity was so broad that even Chicago's Mayor Daley spoke at the rally – he was not scheduled to speak one week before.

In Los Angeles, there were two protests. In a march organized by the March 25 Coalition, as many as 100,000 people protested in the largest demonstration there since last year's historic May Day protest. According to Carlos Montes, a long-time leader in the Chicano liberation movement and a leader in the National May 1st Movement for Worker and Immigrant Rights, “a hundred thousand immigrants were energized when they took to the streets of downtown LA to demand legalization and an end to the raids.”

A second rally organized by Somos America in the afternoon was attacked by police in riot gear violently ejecting thousands of people from MacArthur Park, attacking the crowd and even journalists with batons, tear gas and rubber bullets. This was an unprovoked display of police brutality against peaceful marchers. The March 25 Coalition held a press conference on May 2 to denounce the police brutality and announce the next steps the movement will take in response.

In the face of an announced May 1 work stoppage by truck drivers and International Longshore & Warehouse Union members at California ports, the Los Angeles Port Authority preemptively said they would close the ports for a May 1 “holiday.” This was an important victory that recognized immigrant workers' power and ensured that the May 1 day of action would have a serious economic impact.

Thousands also marched in the rest of California, including over 10,000 in San Francisco. There were marches in other cities including San Jose, Oakland, Davis, Sacramento, Fresno, Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Further up the West Coast, more than 5,000 people marched in Seattle. There were dozens of marches throughout the Southwest, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Tucson, Denver, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and Las Vegas.

About 800 people marched in Raleigh, North Carolina, and hundreds of immigrant rights supporters in a dozen towns across western North Carolina marched under the slogan of “safe communities without fear – stop separating families through deportation.”

In New York City thousands rallied for workers and immigrant rights in Union Square. There were also marches in Boston and many other northeastern cities.

In Milwaukee, organizers and the media reported a turnout of around 80,000 people there, surpassing the size of last year's May Day march. In Minneapolis, organizers reported that two to three thousand people marched through the heart of the Latino immigrant community on Lake Street. The crowd grew as some key local businesses on the march route closed at 4:00 and passers-by joined in, swelling the crowd. Like Milwaukee, Minneapolis was one of the cities where this year's march was at least as big if not bigger than last year's May Day rally. William Martinez of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAC) said, “once again the community made their presence known in coming out to struggle and demand their rights.” There were also marches in other Midwestern cities such as Detroit, Racine and Madison.

Most of the media reports about May 1 said the marches were smaller than last year. It's true that unprecedented numbers, millions of people, marched last year to defeat the Sensenbrenner Bill. Many immigrant rights organizers around the country noted that this year people didn't perceive the same immediate legislative threat as they did last year with the Sensenbrenner bill, and many immigrant workers feel threatened by the wave of raids and deportations going on around the country.

But at least a few cities had larger marches this May Day than last year. And according to immigrant rights organizers, the real story is that hundreds of thousands of people marched on May Day in cities across the United States for the second year in a row – something that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. According to Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAC) member Erika Zurawski, “The May Day marches are truly a grassroots movement – immigrant workers came out of the shadows and put their demands on the agenda, demanding legalization for all, full equality, and an end to the raids and deportations. This year's May Day marches were a successful display of immigrant and workers' power.”

#UnitedStates #News #ChicanoLatino #SensenbrennerBill #May1March #March10thCoaltion

In response to the largest mass movement in many years, the Bush administration has stepped up raids by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on workplaces and communities and at the same time held secret talks with Democratic and Republican senators to propose a ‘grand compromise’ called the Immigration Reform Act of 2007.

However the Immigration Reform Act is not the bill that Latino and other immigrants, their families and their communities need. The bill does not offer legal residency to the undocumented, but instead makes them guest workers. The proposed Z-visas for the undocumented require full-time employment (with some exceptions for school, health and natural disasters) so that an immigrant would lose their visa if they lost their job. Further, their spouses and children would also lose their visas in this event – so they can only stay in the United States as long as the head of household is working full time. The new Electronic Employment Verification System would make it easy for the government to find out if Z-visa holders are in fact working full time.

The Immigration Reform Act also changes the requirements to become a legal permanent resident. Today most immigrants get permanent residency by having a family member who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. The new law would make employment, education and English-speaking more important than family ties in getting a legal permanent resident visa. This could actually make it harder for many of the undocumented to get legal residency. Today there are more than three million children who are U.S citizens with at least one undocumented parent. These parents would be eligible for legal residency as their children grow up. But under the new law they would all have to wait at least eight years and then the number of parents who could get legal residency would be limited to only 40,000 a year!

The law has a number of other bad points: the legalization parts would not go into effect unless the administration certifies to Congress that the borders are controlled, there are very high fees and fines – in the thousands of dollars – for each undocumented, the Z-visa holders would have to pass English and U.S. civics tests to keep their visas, there is a temporary guest worker program, more militarization of the U.S-Mexico border and criminalization of immigrants, an overall cut in the number of visa for legal permanent residents, the undocumented would have to return to their home countries to apply for legal residency, etc.

In the past the Bush administration has stepped up their raids and deportations when immigration bills are in Congress. These raids hit Latino workers and communities the hardest and reflected the racist sentiment that is behind much of the anti-immigrant forces today. These raids and deportations are dividing families and are part of a cold-hearted effort by the Bush administration to whip up support for his temporary guest worker proposal.

Now is the moment to insist on full equality for the undocumented. In the weeks and months ahead, Congress will be debating immigration reform. We need to turn up the heat and let them know that we want measures that move things in the direction of legalization . The time has come to break the chains of discrimination and oppression.

Stop the raids and deportations!

Legal residency, not guest worker visas!

Maintain and expand family reunification visas for legal permanent residency!

#UnitedStates #Editorial #ChicanoLatino #SensenbrennerBill #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #ImmigrationReformAct

The protest began with a rally at a shopping center in East San Jose, home to tens of thousands of Latino and Asian immigrants. Rally speakers included a Catholic priest, a Latino state assemblyman, community activists and a group of youthful singers and musicians. The march started small, with only a couple of thousand people, but grew to 10,000 or more by the end as people joined in along the way. Stores could be seen with posters announcing the rally and community organizers had handed out flyers to galvanize a grassroots turnout for that day.

While the San Jose march was one of the largest in the entire United States, unions, along with many immigrant rights organizations and Asian American community groups in San Jose did not endorse or mobilize for the event. While a broad united front for immigrant rights was seen inside the Latino community that day, trade unionists, immigrant rights activists and Asian American community organizers need to do more to educate and mobilize their organizations to join the Latino community to form a more powerful movement for immigrant rights.

#SanJoséCA #SanJoseCA #News #ChicanoLatino #immigrantRights #LaborDay #SensenbrennerBill

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.”

#ChicagoIL #News #ChicanoLatino #immigrantRights #SensenbrennerBill #March10Movement

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.

#ChicagoIL #News #ChicanoLatino #immigrantRights #JoseArtemioArreola #SensenbrennerBill #EmmaLozano #March10Movement

As the 30 members and supporters of the caravan from the Minutemen Project gathered on a sidewalk alongside of Highpoint Road, over 80 workers, students and youth rallied on the other side to let them know they are not welcome in North Carolina. The Minutemen were unable to get a permit to hold a rally downtown. Anti-minutemen protesters held signs and chanted, “No racists, no borders, no Minutemen supporters!” and, “Hey Minutemen what do you say, how many immigrants did you kill today?” as the Minutemen yelled, “Go back to Europe!” and waved American flags. When a young teacher from the Greensboro area yelled, “Hey, how many of you are in the [Ku Klux] Klan?” to the pro-Minutemen rally, it is noteworthy that at least four individuals on the other side of the street brazenly raised their hands.

The rally lasted about an hour, culminating in a confrontation between anti-Minutemen demonstrators and Minutemen supporters who had parked their cars in the lot where the pro-immigrants’ rights demonstrators were rallied. The police broke up this brief confrontation, but it was clear to all that the immigrants’ rights struggle will not be without its sharp battles.

#GreensboroNC #News #immigrantRights #antiimmigrantAttacks #SensenbrennerBill #Minutemen

On April 10, more than 35,000 people marched through San Jose to protest against House Resolution 4437. The bill would criminalize the undocumented, build 700 miles of walls along the U.S.-Mexico border and force local and state police to help enforce immigration laws. As the overwhelmingly Chicano and Latino crowd assembled, cars, trucks and semis drove by honking and waving Mexican flags. Marching through the barrio of east San Jose to the city hall downtown, the marchers chanted “Si Se Puede!” (Yes, we can!) and “Se ve, se siente, la raza esta presente!” (We’re seen, we’re felt, La Raza (Latinos) are here!). Contingents of students from high schools marched in with signs and banners and many youth were handing out cards advertising May 1 as a day to walk out of school, to not go to work and to boycott business.

#SanJoseCA #News #ChicanoLatino #immigrantRights #HR4437 #SensenbrennerBill