On the steps of City Hall yesterday over a hundred representatives of New York's various ethnic communities gathered to show their support for the upcoming rally for immigration reform in Washington D.C. on the 21st of March. According to estimates by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), the rally's liaison for the New York area, over 10,000 people from New York State have already signed up to attend the demonstration.
On the day of the rally over 200 buses will be deployed to transport protestors to and from New York State alone. Among those attending will be several dozen representatives of NYC Chinese community groups, including the CPC Planning Council, the New York City and Westchester County chapters of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), the Asian American Federation, and various workers' unions.
Yesterday's NYC rally was intended to draw attention to the upcoming Washington event and to be a wake-up call for President Obama and Congress. Speakers at the rally regularly leveled their cannons at the Obama administration, criticizing it for being all talk and no action, and for violating its election promises. City Councilmember Margaret Chin stressed that for the Obama administration to fulfill its oft-repeated promise of "Change," it must quickly settle on a plan for immigration reform, as the millions of immigrants who are separated from their loved ones because of the current system can wait no longer.
Throughout the past year the Obama administration has stepped up efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, repatriating 380,000, 60 percent more than in the Bush era, implying that every day over 1,000 immigrant households are split, says Chung Wha Hong, executive director of New York Immigration Coalition. U.S. immigrant communities are already fed up with the Obama administration's ineffectual and unacceptable approach, and in the next election they will speak with their ballots, says Hong.
Elizabeth Ouyang, president of the NYC chapter of Organization of Chinese Americans, says that over 20 of their representatives will join the New York bus fleet on its way to Washington for the upcoming rally. She says that the recent pardon of the Chinese youth Qing Hong Wu shows that the current policy is ossified, has no consideration for human nature, and cannot give immigrants the justice they deserve. Those who attend the rally will give a voice to Chinese immigrants both documented and undocumented by calling on the government to institute immigration reform.
A survey published last month shows that the ICE deported 380,790 immigrants in fiscal year 2009 and 369,221 in fiscal year 2008; during the Bush years, the average number was roughly 240,000. These numbers show that deportation efforts have increased under the Obama administration. According to the survey, last year 865 immigrants from mainland China were deported, among which 137 had criminal records and 728 did not. Deported immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong numbered 69 and 24, respectively.
Demonstrators attending the rally on March 21 will gather on the west lawn of the Capitol between 2 and 5 p.m.; buses from New York will depart at 6 a.m. that morning and return at 10:30 p.m. that evening. Those interested in attending the rally should email March21@thenyic.org or call (212) 627-2227 ext. 234 for more details. Demonstrators are asked to wear white shirts on the day of the rally.
