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Pomona day laborers to take part in cross-country relay race

By Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

POMONA - Day laborers Alfredo Saucedo of Pomona and Gilberto Bernal of Los Angeles are getting ready to trade in their work tools for running shoes.
On Saturday the two men will begin what is expected to be a two-month-long, cross-country relay run known as the "Day Laborer Run for Peace and Dignity."

"I, personally, am nervous (about the run) because it's a big responsibility and I don't want to let my friends down," Bernal said in Spanish Wednesday morning as he sat outside the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, also known as the Pomona Day Labor Center.

The two laborers volunteered to be part of the run, which will take a team of 12 runners from Santa Monica to Georgia before heading north and ending in New York.

Mike Nava, director of the center, said the run is part of an effort to bring something laborers and immigrants alike seek.

"They want dignity, respect and justice, like everybody else," Nava said.

The event is being coordinated by the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which represents 30 community-based organizations that work with day laborers on various matters, according to a statement from the organization.

Chris Newman, legal programs coordinator with the network, said the relay team consists of men and women from cities including Oakland, Phoenix and New York.

Some runners are laborers and others are volunteers who support their cause, Newman said.

The runners are expected to arrive in Pomona about 4 p.m. on Sunday, where they'll be welcomed at the Day Labor Center on Mission Boulevard near the 71 Freeway with food and music, Nava said.

After spending the night in Pomona, the runners are expected to meet at 8 a.m. Monday at Pomona City Hall, where they'll call for city leaders to support a local resolution opposing a federal immigration reform bill introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., Nava said. The relay team will then continue the run, stopping in Rancho Cucamonga for the night, Nava said.

All along the run the team will make stops at corners or centers where day laborers gather, he said.

Donations are being accepted at the Day Labor Center to help pay for the runners' financial obligations such as rent and other needs while they participate in the event, Nava said.

Contributions can be dropped off at the center or mailed to the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, 1682 W. Mission Blvd., P.O. Box 2496, Pomona, CA 91766.

Saucedo and Bernal, who works out of the Day Labor Center but commutes from Los Angeles, said they'd like to show people that they and other undocumented immigrants aren't terrorists.

"We come here to earn our daily bread and to earn money to send to our families," Saucedo said.

The men said they hope that by taking part in the relay they will help bring about an environment that is more welcoming to immigrants regardless of their immigration status.


Monica Rodriguez can be reached by e-mail at m_rodriguez@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9336.