Immigration rights activists pull into Charlotte for DNC
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Immigration rights activists pull into Charlotte for DNC
By Lindsay Ruebens
lruebens@charlotteobserver.com
By Lindsay Ruebens The Charlotte Observer
Posted: Saturday, Sep. 01, 2012
Modified: Sunday, Sep. 02, 2012
CHARLOTTE, N.C. One is a stay-at-home mom of three. Another is a construction worker. One is a student who hopes to attend graduate school for math and economics.
All of them risked deportation to demand greater rights for undocumented immigrants.
They, along with 22 others, arrived in Charlotte Saturday evening on the “Undocubus.”
The bus riders are part of a group of some four dozen riders who will converge on uptown Sunday for the March on Wall Street South.
The group left Phoenix in July in a small caravan led by a 1972 tour bus emblazoned with the words “Sin Papeles Sin Miedo” and “No Papers, No Fear.”
Leticia Ramirez, 27, has been arrested and released in Arizona. The mother of three who decorates cake on the side said she rode the bus to tell other undocumented workers to know their rights and how to protect themselves. She also said the bus ride has been liberating. “Since I got out of the shadows, I don’t feel afraid of what might happen,” she said.
As the bus pulled up to El Siloe church off of Eastway Drive, bus riders waved out the windows, cheering and fist-pumping as they were greeted outside by about 30 people holding signs and cheering them in welcome.
“No papers!” they yelled. Others responded, “No fear!”
The group’s five-week ride has already led to arrests: Four of the group were arrested in Knoxville, Tenn., last week after disrupting a political meeting, but they were subsequently released.
Aside from the presence of the Democratic National Convention, Mecklenburg County represents an attractive place to protest for several reasons.
The county has a growing Hispanic population, and the county was one the earliest participants in the 287 (g) program, which means the sheriff’s office screens all arrestees for their citizenship status.
Those found to be in the country illegally can be referred to federal authorities for deportation.
Jim Pendergraph, who served as Mecklenburg County Sheriff for 13 years and is now a county commissioner, was the first to bring 287 (g) to the east coast in 2006.
“I think it’s outrageous that they’re thumbing their nose at federal and United States law by parading themselves around the country and advertising that they’re illegal aliens in the country, and no one is taking action against them,” Pendergraph said.
He said he’s heard that local law enforcement was told not to arrest people on the Undocubus.
“Actually, I’ve spoken to people from Homeland Security, and that’s what people have told them, is hands off,” he said.
Since May 2006, 20,710 inmates at Mecklenburg County Jail have been identified as undocumented immigrants.
“Our numbers have actually decreased over the years, and we believe that is due to a positive working relationship with both the immigrant community and media,” said Julia Rush, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, in an email.
Immigration has also become a more prominent national issue, since President Barack Obama issued an order staying deportations for many undocumented immigrants who came here as children.
Staff writer Ely Portillo contributed.
Copyright 2012 The Charlotte Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Immigration rights activists pull into Charlotte for DNC | CharlotteObserver.com
Arizonans aboard Undocu-bus fault Obama on illegal immigration
by Natasha Khan, Cronkite News Service
Posted on September 3, 2012 at 2:56 PM
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/756251/thu...C-large570.jpg
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Fernando Lopez, an illegal immigrant from Phoenix, rode more than 2,000 miles through 11 states on a 40-year-old bus that broke down twice to deliver a message to the Democratic National Convention:
President Barack Obama hasn't done enough to help the millions of people in the United States illegally, people he said could benefit the country if given a route to citizenship.
"We have had enough," said Lopez, one of seven illegal immigrants from Arizona who traveled here aboard the so-called Undocu-bus. About 40 bus riders took part in a mass demonstration Sunday that brought together members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, gay rights groups and immigrant-rights organizations.
Lopez took to the podium at Charlotte's Frazier Park in front of a crowd of hundreds to chant, "No papers, no fear."
The crowd responded in a cacophonous, "Obama escuchas estamos en la lucha!" which means "Obama, listen: We are here to fight!"
The platform at the Democratic National convention will be announced Tuesday. There has been media speculation about whether or not it will include a stance on the DREAM Act, a piece of federal legislation that, if passed, would grant many undocumented youths permanent residency.
The Undocu-bus riders from Arizona wore brightly painted cardboard monarch butterflies, the group's symbol because it migrates throughout North America. They wore shirts that said, "We are reconstruction workers" and held signs that read "Undocumented, Unafraid and Unashamed."
Some Arizona riders said they were upset over increased deportations under Obama and criticized the president's new two-year deferral program that grants some undocumented youth work permits, saying it was his way of stalling on comprehensive immigration reform.
Among their complaints: Not all young people are eligible, such as those lacking birth certificates and high school diplomas.
"I don't think it's fair," said Maria Cruz, an illegal immigrant and mother of three from Phoenix. "I'm waiting for him to give freedom to all youth."
Cruz, wearing a homemade felt butterfly pin and orange cardboard butterfly wings, said she was inspired to ride the bus after her children were arrested protesting against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"That gave me the courage and strength to fight for dignity," she said.
Arpaio is currently the subject of a Department of Justice investigation and numerous civil lawsuits accusing him of racial profiling.
Cruz also said that illegal immigrants are not a burden on society.
"We pay taxes … we don't take anything for free and everyone benefits from our labor," she said.
Miguel Guerra, a rider who said he was arrested for civil disobedience before the bus took off in Phoenix, rode the bus to tell undocumented people "not to be afraid" and to get a "clear answer" from Obama on immigration.
"What side are you on, Obama?" he said.
While the message of the day was for the Obama administration to make a decision on immigration, Leticia Ramirez, a rider from Phoenix, had another concern.
"What if Romney wins?" she said.
She said she doesn't agree with Obama's current immigration policy but that he is capable of doing more to help the undocumented community.
"I have the confidence that I am headed back home to Arizona to see my kids, but I want Obama to stop separating families," she said.
One Old Vet
Arizonans aboard Undocu-bus fault Obama on illegal immigration | azfamily.com Phoenix
