Thread: "Immigrants rally to demand fair treatment"

Immigrants rally to demand fair treatment

Thursday, February 28th 2008, 4:00 AM

Seven hundred New Yorkers - most of them immigrants - gathered in Flushing on Saturday to send a powerful message: "We demand to be treated with dignity and fairness, and we will not be ignored or intimidated."

Men and women, young and old, they came, many with children in tow, from Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens to pack the Ganesh Temple auditorium in Flushing. The crowd was impressive for its size and for its determination to be heard.

"We are here today ... to work together to make New York a city responsive to the needs of the people who work and live here," Ana MarÃ*a Archila, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, told the crowd.

With more than 4,000 members, Make the Road New York was created last year with the merger of the Latin American Integration Center and Make the Road by Walking, two grass-roots community organizations.

"I would like to welcome the elected officials, our allies in the labor movement and the community organizations - and all of you," Archila said to the enthusiastic approval of the audience.

No less enthusiastic were the 10 elected officials who attended the event and embraced the community's demands. All of them promised to help.

It would have been difficult for Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Bronx), City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Controller Bill Thompson, state Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights), Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) and the other members of the Council and the state Senate present at the meeting to do otherwise. The community's demands were nothing if not fair, and went a long way toward defining the priorities of immigrant New Yorkers.

Increased educational and economic opportunity, comprehensive immigration reform, healthy and affordable housing, equal access to government benefits and services and the expansion of civil rights across our communities for immigrants, workers, students and gay people - this is what the people gathered at the Ganesh temple were asking for.

To stress even more the urgent need for those demands to be met, several community members shared moving personal stories of mistreatment and discrimination. One of them was Alejandro Carreras, who came from Ecuador six years ago and joined Make the Road by Walking two years ago.

"Due to my immigration status, it has been difficult for me to find a dignified job in this country," he told the audience. "I have to do very hard jobs, but I have no choice because I have to support my family and myself."

Carreras went on to recount a terrible experience of exploitation and abuse by an employer who took advantage of his undocumented status.

"Some time ago, I worked with a cement contractor. I worked for him two weeks, under the sun. And when the job was finished, he did not pay me one single cent," he said.

Then he added something that many others in the audience already had learned the hard way.

"Unfortunately," Carreras said, "these experiences are all too frequent. Thousands of workers in New York have had similar experiences," he said.

And, addressing the elected officials directly, he added, "That's why I am asking you to help pass stronger laws in New York to protect immigrant workers."

aruiz@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/que ... atmen.html

"Due to my immigration status, it has been difficult for me to find a dignified job in this country," he told the audience. "I have to do very hard jobs, but I have no choice because I have to support my family and myself."

Is this another instance of calling illegal aliens a title that should be place on our legal immigrants!!!

Thier demands have already been tried and failed in Russia between 1917-1989

Out of these 700 HOW MANY ARE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS?

Increased educational and economic opportunity, comprehensive immigration reform, healthy and affordable housing, equal access to government benefits and services and the expansion of civil rights across our communities for immigrants, workers, students and gay people - this is what the people gathered at the Ganesh temple were asking for.

If any are legal immigrants: WELCOME TO AMERICA, IMMIGRANTS HAVE ALWAYS HAD THESE PROBLEMS AND NOW TODAY SO DO MANY AMERICANS. YOU DO NOT GET ADVANTAGE OVER THE REST OF US BY YOUR MARCHING AND DEMANDING.

If any are illegal immigrants: GO HOME! YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE. YOU ARE ILLEGAL ALIENS!

"We demand to be treated with dignity and fairness, and we will not be ignored or intimidated."

Boy, tell you what..if I was in a place where I was treated badly, I don't think I would be stickin around to try and change it..I would leave there, especially if it was a place I wasn't supposed to be at!

Due to my immigration status, it has been difficult for me to find a dignified job in this country," he told the audience. "I have to do very hard jobs, but I have no choice because I have to support my family and myself."

If I had my way it would not be hard for you to find a job, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to find ANY job, due to "your immigration status."

The community's demands were nothing if not fair, and went a long way toward defining the priorities of immigrant New Yorkers.

Increased educational and economic opportunity
comprehensive immigration reform
healthy and affordable housing
equal access to government benefits and services
expansion of civil rights across our communities for immigrants, workers, students and gay people

- this is what the people gathered at the Ganesh temple were asking for.

"The community's DEMANDS were nothing if not fair"

Using that 'D' word again

To citizens, these 'DEMANDS' are nothing but UNFAIR.

Where was ICE? This was another opportunity to grab a bunch of the criminals that was waisted!

Seven hundred New Yorkers - most of them immigrants - gathered in Flushing on Saturday to send a powerful message: "We demand to be treated with dignity and fairness, and we will not be ignored or intimidated."

To the immigrants who are here legally, welcome.

To the illegal aliens:

You will be treated with dignity and fairness when you obey and follow our laws. You will not be ignored, you will be deported.

No less enthusiastic were the 10 elected officials who attended the event and embraced the community's demands. All of them promised to help.

It would have been difficult for Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Bronx)

Nydia is my rep. and she is not of the Bronx but Brooklyn. The only way she remains in office is due to the gerrymandering of my district. I doubt she will win reelection again because the Chinese have taken over much of the district and even a new gerrymander probably won't save her.

Sadly her replacement will still kowtow to Illegals as the legal immigrants in this district have so many friends and family that are illegal.

Why do I still live in this district you might ask? For family reasons of my own I remain part of what is probably 5% of the population here (in this district) that is American, born of Americans.

I will always love Brooklyn but it is no longer the Brooklyn I fell in love with.