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Immigrants increasingly step into activist role

JULIANA BARBASSA
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - When Maria Elena Hernandez left Honduras for California, she didn't speak English, didn't have work papers, and her fear of being caught by Immigration tied her stomach in knots.

Eight months later, she was marching up the steps of the Capitol to ask some of the state's top elected officials for better working conditions.

Energized by the recent marches for immigration reform and supported by growing participation in a network of civic organizations, immigrants are increasingly emerging as actors in America's civic and political life.

"It makes me feel like this is my country, like I don't have to give way to anyone else," said Alex Palencia, a Guatemalan day laborer who was waiting for work along a windy freeway in San Francisco.

That spirit of activism is behind the national immigration marches this week, with people expected to take the streets in San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and other cities.

Even undocumented immigrants like Hernandez who can't vote and have reason to fear the spotlight are stepping from the shadows and doing what they can to influence those in power, and those who can cast ballots. They're talking to elected officials, educating fellow immigrants on issues that affect them, and enjoying the feeling of having a public voice.

"I feel good, like what I'm saying will be heard," Hernandez said in Spanish after telling legislators what it's like to be an overworked and underpaid nanny.

Teresa Molina, another childcare worker, sat next to her on the Capitol steps and nodded in agreement.

"We work so much we sometimes don't know what's going on around us, but there comes a time when you want to say something," Molina said. "We've gotten to that point."

Across the country, there's been a quiet but consistent growth in migrant-led groups, from neighborhood organizations to schools, churches, immigrants' right groups and unions, according to a recent report by the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

This may be helping newcomers play a more visible role in shaping policy discussions, the study's authors said.

"There seems to be a movement from civic engagement to political engagement," said Jonathan Fox, an author of the study and professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

It's still too early to tell if the protesters' promise that "Today we march, tomorrow we vote" will be fulfilled, but in the meantime, they're finding many ways to be active members of society, said Xochitl Bada, co-author of the study.

"We shouldn't see political participation only in terms of voting," Bada said.

When millions of immigrants marched in the spring, it was a visible manifestation of their increasing engagement in the fabric of American life, the authors said.

There's still a lot of fear among immigrants, undocumented or not, who know that stepping into the spotlight can have harsh consequences, including deportation.

There were reports of workers losing their jobs after participating in the May boycott, designed to show immigrants' economic clout. Their increased visibility has also stirred angry rhetoric at hearings held by House representatives on their immigration reform proposals, and fueled the popularity of groups like the Minutemen Project, created to patrol the border and report illegal crossings.

But for those who planned to march in San Francisco Monday, participating in something larger than themselves gives them a feeling of safety and belonging.

"Folks are seeing there's power in numbers," said Victor Hwang, an attorney with Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach.

Many undocumented Asian immigrants who had long stayed quiet took action after seeing other immigrants step out, walking alongside those from Latin America and elsewhere at the spring marches.

And their demands are being heard, at least in some corners.

California Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez called the rise of immigrant activism "one of the more exciting transformations I've seen in my time in the Legislature."

After hearing from Hernandez, Molina and others, she has sponsored a bill that would give child care workers the ability to earn overtime pay.

"It would be great if everyone appreciated democracy the way these women do," Montanez said.

Araceli Lara, an immigrant from El Salvador who has been here for 18 years and now volunteers for a San Francisco Bay Area immigrants' rights coalition helping inform people about the upcoming Labor Day march, agreed.

She's been distributing flyers on street corners and buses, talking to people in residential hotels, at her church, and at the soup kitchen where she works.

"The more of us there are, the more they'll listen," she said.