Forty years after the civil rights movement and the March on Washington that it brought about, another freedom ride is preparing to invade the capital for a historic event. The “Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride” will depart by bus on September 20 from nine cities scattered throughout the United States, and will arrive in Washington to make politicians aware of immigrants’ problems.
Leaving from Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Chicago, Houston, Miami, and Boston, the rallies will pass through about seventy cities in the course of the journey. The caravan of buses will unwind from coast to coast, stopping along the way in state capitals in order to also bring immigrant issues to the attention of local legislators.
Plans for this gigantic demonstration were described yesterday to New York’s ethnic press by Brian McLaughlin, President of the NYC Central Labor Council, who invited all organizations that help immigrants to give their support to the Freedom Ride next fall. The AFL-CIO, major international unions, civil rights organizations, religious institutions, the Catholic church with Cardinal Edward Egan at its head, and preeminent elected local representatives have already given their support. The activists expect to reach Washington in early October, where there will be meetings in Congress. Meanwhile, on October 3rd they will be at Liberty Park in New Jersey, and for the following days they have announced an enormous demonstration in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, where thousands of people are expected to participate.
McLaughlin explained that after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, immigrants’ problems were put on hold by politicians, and the opportunity to make urgent and necessary reforms was missed. “Instead of reforms,” he said, “immigrants have become targets of some of the most repressive legislation in recent history. INS raids upon workplaces and homes, punitive detentions for indefinite periods of time, the the constant threat of being issued a deportation order and, often, losing a job, are what characterize immigrant life in the United States today.”
McLaughlin is certain that reforming the laws pertaining to immigrants will be the battle of the future. According to data released during the press conference yesterday, 11 million immigrants are undocumented, and among all those who found a job last year, one in five was an immigrant, with or without work papers. According to those present at the conference, immigrants help the nation’s economy and they pay taxes.
Nevertheless, undocumented immigrants do not enjoy the same rights as those who have their papers in order, and often they become the victims of discrimination, abuses, and maltreatment in the workplace. Ever since immigration laws were modified and made more restrictive in the name of national security, the procedures required to attain permanent resident status have become a major ordeal for those who venture down the corridors at the INS.
Often, immigrants turn to the appropriate authorities seeking to legalize their situations, but are instead issued deportation orders to be sent back to their country of origin, often leaving behind spouses and children who were born here.
Vicente Mayorga of the Ecuadorian Immigration Fund asserted, “Many people have come here fleeing from political persecution, or death by starvation. Immigrants are not terrorists. We are hard-working people and we pay taxes. We have the right to become residents and to be an integral part of society. We are the working class, and the workers will be victorious.”
Three years ago the AFL-CIO approved a historic resolution that asked the government to take back sanctions placed on employers who hired undocumented workers, and had also made an amnesty seem favorable for immigrants who are already in the United States.
The current initiative can consider itself historical. American labor unions, who until now were typically against granting jobs to immigrants on the grounds that this would be harmful for American workers, has made the step of the century. The new reality of the American workplace are the immigrants who will be the new and vital sap of these same unions.
