Thread: UFW co-founder urges local Dems to push for immigration

UFW co-founder urges local Democrats to push for immigration reform
By Donna Jones
Sentinel Staff Writer
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archiv ... 6local.htm

Famed union organizer Dolores Huerta wants to turn up the heat on Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, for his tough stance on immigration enforcement.

And she's not all that happy with Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, who agreed to a Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger-negotiated gambling contract that will bring millions into California's coffers but restricts the rights of workers to unionize at tribal casinos.

Thursday, she urged local political activists to take note and take action.

"If there's someone out there not supporting us, we've got to take them out," she said, speaking before a standing-room-only crowd of local Democrats at the Green Valley Grill.

The event, a fundraiser for the Pajaro Valley Cesar Chavez Democratic Club, drew elected leaders, party and union activists, and students from across Santa Cruz County.

Huerta is small in size, legendary in stature. Historic video clips screened at the event showed her organizing grape pickers in Delano in the 1960s and standing with Bobby Kennedy a few minutes before he was assassinated in 1968 in Los Angeles during his presidential run. A 1970 photograph of Huerta and Coretta Scott King, taken in Salinas by local activist Bob Fitch, was auctioned off.

At 77, Huerta doesn't seem headed to retirement anytime soon. She mentioned a recent swing through Iowa, where she campaigned for Hillary Clinton.

"For a new generation activists, she has demonstrated that with will and heart, si se puede [yes we can]," said UC Santa Cruz student Neidi Dominguez, introducing Huerta.

Thursday, Huerta focused her attention on immigration reform, urging the crowd to keep up the pressure on Congress. She praised the Watsonville City Council for establishing the city as a haven for the undocumented earlier this year and the AFL-CIO for taking on the Department of Homeland Security's plan to crack down on businesses that hire undocumented workers. The labor organization is part of a coalition that filed a lawsuit to block the plan Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco.

Huerta said more has to be done to educate the public about immigration, and the contributions of immigrants, past and present. She said immigration foes talk about the burden of undocumented workers on public agencies, but ignore the billions of dollars they pay into Social Security, money they'll never see.

"We have an aging population," Huerta said. "We need young workers to feed into the Social Security system"

But instead, the government is attacking immigrants, she said. Thousands have been deported, families have been separated and 62 have died in detention.

"Think of all the inhumanity still happening to the undocumented," she said. "We're going to start fighting back"

Huerta said it's time to move from mass immigration marches to more targeted efforts. "I'm inviting everybody to march in Bilbray's district," she said.

Contact Donna Jones at djones@santacruzsentinel.com.

"If there's someone out there not supporting us, we've got to take them out," she said, speaking before a standing-room-only crowd of local Democrats at the Green Valley Grill.

We agree, and that's exactly what we are going to do with people like you who want to destroy this country with your illegals.