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Activist raising funds, eyebrows

Concerts to aid migrant reform

Elvia DÃÂ*az
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 22, 2005 12:00 AM

Immigrant advocate Elias Bermudez has raised more than $43,000 to pay for a series of concerts he says will promote federal immigration reform.

Bermudez, a Phoenix activist, has been on Spanish-language radio asking for donations for the event with Mexican superstar singers. He hopes it will draw tens of thousands of people to the Glendale Arena in separate shows in October.

He was planning to complete the arrangements with the arena today. He's billing the event as a rally to push for a federal law to legalize the status of millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. The ultimate goal, he said, is to raise $1 million from concertgoers and business donations to air national immigration-reform television ads.

But Bermudez's new venture is raising eyebrows among some Latinos who question his motives and the fund-raising strategy of collecting money from immigrants, many of them undocumented, by telling them help is on the way.

Though his critics said they have no reason to believe Bermudez will use the money other than to pay for the event and TV ads, they said he personally stands to benefit in the long run from the publicity generated among the Spanish-speaking community.

Bermudez is the executive director of Centro de Ayuda, or the Help Center, a Phoenix business that assists immigrants in filling out immigration and tax documents.

"Everyone is making money and benefiting, except the migrants," said Salvador Reza, the head of the Macehualli day-labor center in northeast Phoenix.

He believes Bermudez may be selling undocumented immigrants false hopes.

"Migrants are desperate and want to do something, so they will give money if they think it will help legalize their status," Reza said.

Bermudez said he is aware of the growing criticism of the event but shrugged it off, saying he won't keep any money for himself. He acknowledged that he will benefit if the federal government approves any type of immigration reform because he will have new clients seeking his help to fill out immigration papers.

"We're still fighting each other for the spotlight," said Bermudez, expressing frustration about the criticism.

Bermudez this year emerged as one of the most vocal advocates for undocumented immigrants, organizing economic boycotts to protest legislative bills designed to fight illegal immigration and to push for federal immigration reform. But his previous run-in with the law has cast a shadow of suspicion. He was sentenced in 1996 to 18 months in prison for laundering drug money. He maintains his innocence but said he can't erase that aspect of his life.

"I can't stop the critics," Bermudez said. "But they are not going to stop me from trying to help immigrants."

Bermudez believes that the people who gather at the shows will send a message to Congress, which likely will debate immigration proposals by Arizona lawmakers and others.

Bermudez said he supports a proposal by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., designed to give undocumented immigrants who live in the United States the chance to earn permanent residency over an extended period. The proposal also would open the door for more people in Mexico to apply for visas to work in the United States.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and fellow GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas are pushing their own plan, which includes a guest-worker program and calls for 10,000 additional Border Patrol agents on the Mexican and Canadian borders.

Abel Ledezma, a 29-year-old Qwest Communications technician, said he donated $1,000 to Bermudez's cause because he thinks it will help mobilize immigrants, living here legally or illegally, to speak up about the need for immigration reform.

"It's not about making money or just listening to music," said Ledezma, a Mexican native who is here legally. "It's about sending a message to Congress about the need to stop border deaths."

Alfredo Gutierrez, a former state lawmaker and a critic of the recent anti-illegal immigration measures in Arizona, welcomes any push for immigration reform.

"As long they (Bermudez and his allies) use the money appropriately, and there is no reason to believe they won't, we welcome them to the struggle," Gutierrez said.