Thread: Chicago: Latino Socialists strategize to make their demands

(lead article)
Chicago conference plans
actions for legalization

Militant/Martha Contreras
Workshop on “Youth Involvement in Leading Immigrant Rights Strugglesâ€

The conference was organized around three demands: legalization of all immigrants, residency with civil and labor rights, and a halt to raids, deportations, and other acts of intimidation.

Keep dreaming! I don't believe this is going to happen anytime soon!

[quote]In the middle of an economic crisis that threatens the jobs, homes, and health of families, undocumented immigrants are being made the scapegoat by politicians and commentators,â€

[quote]At Wheatland Tube, a Chicago manufacturer of tubing and conduit, workers belonging to the United Steelworkers union have prevented the company from firing 63 workers with supposed discrepancies in their Social Security numbers, according to Héctor Gómez, a worker at the plant. “For two years the company has been trying to fire these workers,â€

Speakers were Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. president Róger Calero, Green Party candidate for U.S. Congress in Illinois District 4 Omar López, and Shaun Harkin from the International Socialist Organization.

I sure hope when these Commies march they wave the Communist and Mexican flags.

I've been printing copies of my Selective Service registration warning in Spanish, that I can hand out as such rallies and marches. It is one more thing that we can do. This is a serious federal law that nearly all younger adult male illegals are in violation of. There is no telling when the government will enforce it (probably never) but I think it gives them another thing to be concerned about. But I don't live in Chicago; our rallies are smaller. If anybody wants to make copies I will PM it to you.

Vol. 72/No. 15 April 14, 2008

D.C. coalition calls march for May Day
(front page)

BY SETH DELLINGER
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 29—The first meeting of the D.C. May 1st Coalition was held here today at St. Stephen’s Church to plan a May 1 rally and march from Malcolm X Park in Washington. The action will demand legalization for all undocumented immigrants and an end to immigration raids and deportations.

The coalition here was initiated by Mexicanos sin Fronteras (Mexicans Without Borders). This group led large mobilizations in Prince William County, Virginia, last year against a resolution granting local cops the powers of federal immigration agents. Thousands of workers participated in mass meetings, marches, a week-long economic boycott of non-immigrant businesses, and a one-day county-wide work stoppage. The law went into effect March 3.

In addition to Washington, D.C., May Day rallies have been called in Boston; Chicago; Detroit; Houston; Los Angeles; New York City; Miami; San Francisco; San Jose, California; Seattle; and St. Paul, Minnesota. Workers are discussing plans to skip work that day in a number of cities.

Since July, the Prince William County jail has held prisoners who do not have legal residency and turned them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Nearly 700 have been turned over. The new law allows cops to question people about their status. In the first month, the county police chief reported that 89 people were questioned, mostly at traffic stops and after calling the cops for service. Of those, 41 have been arrested.

Ricardo Juárez, a leader of Mexicanos Sin Fronteras, said the new laws have convinced some workers to move out of the area. Workers in the region are already hit hard by the downturn in the construction industry.

“We cannot say these people are leaving,â€

Illegal immigration has everything to do with the economy. I am sick of their new word "Scapegoating". There is no scapegoating only facts which are way to long to get into, like the cost of Schools, heath care, crime etc. and out right breaking out laws to come here illegaly.

Not to mention give illegals amnesty and just imagine the cost to Americans, they will be eligible for Social Secuity, and all benefits meant for American citizens, including welfare and unemployment in an economey where people are loseing thousands of jobs every day, the politicans would add this burden on Americans without a second thought. No way Jose!!!

Yes, please march and get plenty of MSM exposure.

Yes, show us Americans who have lost jobs to illegals and who may be losing their homes, you want more!

Show us Americans where our tax dollars go. Wave them flags, scream, bring your number into the spotlight.

Go for it!

[quote]We have the right to be recognized as residents, to have papers, and to choose citizenship. Fundamentally we have the right to dignity.â€

The new law allows cops to question people about their status. In the first month, the county police chief reported that 89 people were questioned, mostly at traffic stops and after calling the cops for service.

Does the use of the word 'cops' seem disrespectful in this context?

Is it a 'code word'?

Distrust and caution are the parents of security.
Benjamin Franklin