NEW YORK
Immigrant rights protest unites the issues
By
Heather Cottin
New York
Published Oct 25, 2006 9:16 PM
“We beat back
Sensenbrenner, now for round two of the struggle,” said Walter Pacheco
from the New York-based Ecuadorian group, Pachamama, as 2,000 rallied for
immigrant rights at Union Square on Oct. 21.
People of all ages take to the streets for immigrant rights Oct. 21.
Photo: Roberto Mercado
|
Organized by New York United for
Immigrant Rights, a coalition of over 60 groups, the protesters called for
legalization, family reunification, and an end to raids, deportations and deaths
at the border. They rejected all congressional anti-immigrant
legislation.
Activists from the South
Asian, African American, Caribbean, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Asian
Pacific Islander communities spoke of the relationship of their struggles to
economic and social crises in the developing countries and immigration.
In the bright fall sunshine,
eight-year-old Joshua James told how he felt when, three years ago, “Daddy
was taken to jail in his bathrobe and deported to Jamaica. The government says
it is for families,” said Josh. “But I miss my daddy and the
government took him away.”
New
York City Councilperson John Liu questioned a government which says it is in
favor of family values while conducting an immigration policy which destroys
families, leaving children like Josh orphaned by deportation
raids.
La Guardia Community College
student Álvaro López described how immigration policy targets
youth. City University of New York charges undocumented students twice the
tuition of foreign students with
papers.
Monique Dols, an organizer of
the recent Columbia University protest against Jim Gilchrist, the leader of the
xenophobic Minutemen, said: “We were viciously attacked by the Minutemen
and their supporters and are now vilified by the corporate media. We
didn’t create the violence; we exposed the racists’ violence.”
“We need to protest in schools,
universities, with Black and white, Latin@s, Asians, Africans, unifying to
oppose racism,” said Rádamas Pérez, representing the
Dominican community in Washington Heights,
N.Y.
Bobby Khan, a Pakistani activist,
said: “Since 9/11, the U.S. government has repressed us, arresting people
in their mosques [as terrorists]. Last week there was a mass deportation of 40
men to Pakistan. We are victims of a lie, arrested, held in prisons without
charges, and tortured.”
Hilda,
from Esperanza del Barrio, a group of street vendors in East Harlem, said no one
is illegal. “We live in fear of the migra [the Border Patrol]. But we are
really the victims of a global economy that forced us here. I ask you: where
would the U.S. be without the labor of my brothers and sisters?”
“How can there be a concept like
‘illegal workers?’” asked DRUM representative Rishi Singh.
“Here is what is illegal: 4,000 have died in the desert trying to cross to
the U.S.! $337 billion for an illegal war in Iraq!”
New York City Councilperson Charles
Barron said: “This is a city of immigrants, and unless you are an
Indigenous person, you are an immigrant to this city. They stole us from Africa
to build this nation, making profits for the capitalists that we never shared.
This is your story too. Immigrants must unite and support Black issues. We
should bring the troops home, and use the money to provide jobs in New York City
and across the U.S.”
Lamis Deek
from Al-Awda spoke passionately about the poverty, unemployment, homelessness
and violence Palestinians face. “Just days ago, an Israeli company got a
contract to build a ‘border security’ fence between the U.S. and
Mexico. The U.S. took the most fertile land from Mexico, and the Zionist
Israelis did the same with the Palestinian land. ... That government is right
now planning an attack on Gaza. Like you, we struggle so we can live
free.”
Protesters carried a
“wall” representing those who died at the border wall as they
marched towards Times Square, chanting “Sí se puede” (yes, we
can).
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE