Thread: Hundreds march from East Boston to Everett

Hundreds march for immigrants' rights
They advocate for workers, call for legal residency
Wendy Maeda/Globe StaffDemonstrators marched from East Boston to Glendale Park in Everett, where they held a rally for immigrants' rights. Wendy Maeda/Globe StaffDemonstrators marched from East Boston to Glendale Park in Everett, where they held a rally for immigrants' rights. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)
By Maria Sacchetti
Globe Staff / May 2, 2009


EVERETT - Hundreds of people marched from East Boston to Everett under threatening skies yesterday to demonstrate for workers' rights and to call for legal residency for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

The annual May Day march was repeated across Massachusetts and the nation, in large part to back President Obama's pledge to pursue immigration reform this year. Obama is facing stiff opposition from groups that say the United States cannot afford increased immigration, legal or illegal, because of the economic crisis and high unemployment rates.

But the 400 people who turned out yesterday, holding signs that read "Citizenship yes! Deportation no!" and "Amnesty now!" said immigrants will be a key part of the nation's economic recovery.

Some were advocates for immigrants, community leaders, and politicians, such as Sam Yoon, a Korean immigrant and Boston City Council member who is running for mayor. Still others were illegal immigrants hoping for legal residency.

Nancy Caballero, a legal immigrant from Peru, said she rushed to the march after working her shift cleaning houses to support those who do not have legal papers.

"I know a lot of people who don't have them," said Caballero, of Winthrop. "I arrived without them, and thank God I have them now."

For others, the march was deeply personal.

Estela, a housewife from Colombia who would not give her last name because she is here illegally, held signs calling for the government to allow undocumented children to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities. Two of Estela's four children are here illegally and cannot pay the in-state rate.

She wants her oldest to go to college, she said, but he doesn't believe he can afford it.

"He is losing faith," she said.

Rosa, a 45-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico City who also declined to give her last name, said she came to America 16 years ago illegally because, as a single mother, it was the only way she could give her boys an education. Now one is a doctor and another is a lawyer.

She has not seen them for seven years. As enforcement increased, she had to curtail her visits home.

"We want a reform, not just for me, but so that all of us can come out of the shadows," said Rosa, who cleans office buildings at night in Boston. "We want them to see us, to know that we deserve to work."

Others said legal immigrants and US citizens are also being exploited on the job.

Darian Chen, a 26-year-old naturalized US citizen from China, said he was laid off in March after he protested long hours and poor working conditions at the private bus company where he worked as a driver.

"There was no overtime pay and we were working as many as 18 hours a day," he said.

Antonio Amaya, executive director of La Comunidad Inc., an Everett nonprofit that organized the march with grass-roots groups such as the Chelsea Collaborative and the Centro Presente under the Boston May Day Coalition, said the rally aimed to galvanize advocates for the fight ahead.

"For the last five years we've been fighting for immigration reform," said Amaya at the rally. "Let's send a message to the Obama administration and to Congress . . . that we want immigration reform to happen now."
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... ts_rights/

Rosa, a 45-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico City who also declined to give her last name, said she came to America 16 years ago illegally because, as a single mother, it was the only way she could give her boys an education. Now one is a doctor and another is a lawyer.

This is a legitimate greviance but not a reason for amnestying illegal aliens.

EVERETT - Hundreds of people marched from East Boston to Everett under threatening skies yesterday to demonstrate for workers' rights and to call for legal residency for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

This represents a decline in turn out.

Others said legal immigrants and US citizens are also being exploited on the job.

Darian Chen, a 26-year-old naturalized US citizen from China, said he was laid off in March after he protested long hours and poor working conditions at the private bus company where he worked as a driver.

"There was no overtime pay and we were working as many as 18 hours a day," he said.

Absolutely True but why? The law of supply and demand, that's why! HS economics was years ago for me but I still remember that simple principle.

Originally Posted by Richard

EVERETT - Hundreds of people marched from East Boston to Everett under threatening skies yesterday to demonstrate for workers' rights and to call for legal residency for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

This represents a decline in turn out.

YUP!

Turnout is slim for May Day immigration rallies
2:00 a.m. May 2, 2009

Demonstrators for immigrant worker rights gathered yesterday in Los Angeles. There was no big march as in past years, as groups chose??? (that's a lie! They couldn't get the turnout!) to hold several smaller rallies. (David McNew / Getty Images) - AP Immigrants turned out for May Day demonstrations across the country in much smaller numbers than last year, with marchers pointing to uneasiness about the flu scare and job worries in the recession to explain why many people stayed home.
Organizers had called for marches and rallies as a show of support for immigration overhaul legislation that President Barack Obama has said he will offer before the end of the year. But in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and New York, among other cities, turnout was sharply lower than expected as immigrants, many of them from Mexico, said they did not feel the time was right for marching in the street.
Mexican immigrants and businesses in the nation have not seen major negative effects from the rapidly spreading flu, despite wide publicity that the illness first erupted in Mexico and has spread from there.
Mexican immigrants around the country said the fallout from the swine flu had arrived in more subtle ways, from remarks that struck them as prejudicial, to friends who declined dinner invitations without giving a reason.
In Boston, Jay Severin, a conservative radio talk show host on WTKK-FM who is known for outrageous banter, was suspended indefinitely from his afternoon show after he referred to Mexican immigrants in insulting terms, executives at the station said yesterday. In comments about the flu epidemic in recent days, Severin had called Mexicans “primitives,â€

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