Thread: UFW: Celebrate Cesar Chavez Day by pushing Obama for AGJobs

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http://action.ufw.org/page/speakout/cecagjobs

Ask Pres. Obama to celebrate Cesar’s birthday by making AgJobs move ahead


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We have a very exciting announcement to share with you. President Barack Obama has asked UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, UFW Co-Founder Dolores Huerta and members of the Chavez family to join him at the White House, today, March 31, on what would have been Chavez’ 83rd birthday.



President Obama wanted to recognize the contributions Cesar Chavez made to this nation and celebrate his rich legacy of empowering others. As part of this historic meeting, UFW president Arturo Rodriguez plans to present 10 letters from farm workers throughout the country telling their stories and asking the President to ensure immigration reform happens this year.



Please join these farm workers by sending President Obama a letter today and asking him to ensure immigration reform passes this year.

It is time for a solution and we believe the bipartisan AgJobs bill is the solution for the nation’s farm workers. We are just a few Republican senators away from having the votes to move this landmark legislation to President Obama’s desk. We already have Republican support in the House. This critical AgJobs bill would allow immigrant farm workers to earn the right to stay in this country by continuing to work in agriculture.



We know President Obama has been taking leadership on this issue. At the March 21st Immigration Reform rally, he released a video statement to the quarter of a million people assembled that said “I’ve always been your partner as we work to fix your broken immigration system and that’s a commitment I am reaffirming today.â€

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Excerpts from the letters:

Two of my brothers, my brother-in-law and 5 cousins were lost in the AZ desert. I have spent the last 3 years looking for them...not knowing what happened to them is worse than death. Although I am documented, we must work to fix the immigration system so that this doesn't happen to other families.
--Francisco Elena, Oregon

I am a mother of two children and have worked in strawberry, cucumber and grape fields for the past 15 years. While my children are all US Citizens, I remain undocumented. Every day I work hard to pick fruits and vegetables to provide food for this nation. Every day before I go to work I kiss my children. I think about my children all day long, worrying that I might not see them anymore because I might be arrested by ICE. The only error I committed was to want to work.
--Lorena Martinez, Oregon

Mr. President, please help us obtain an immigration reform because we cannot continue living in fear forever. We always work hard for this country and pay our taxes. We are not criminals or terrorists. We are workers who want to take care of their families. Please help!
--Geraldo Pineda, New York

No matter how poor I am I have the dream of going to my home land, but I cannot go because if I go I won't be able to cross back. I work hard and under many abuses and humiliations from the boss because I have no papers.
--Maria Cervantes, CA

This just came out this afternoon. What a way to get most of America to lose their lunch.

Two of my brothers, my brother-in-law and 5 cousins were lost in the AZ desert. I have spent the last 3 years looking for them...not knowing what happened to them is worse than death. Although I am documented, we must work to fix the immigration system so that this doesn't happen to other families.
--Francisco Elena, Oregon

Then, why make the trip?

We should be phasing out human labor in agriculture. A lot of other vocation have been phased out through technological advance. I haven't seen telephone operators marching in the streets....

It is worse than that, Francisco Elena was probably the person who paid for the coyote.

Yes, let's all celebrate Cesar Chavez day by calling ICE. These people have a real short memory. Chavez called immigration to have illegals deported since they were taking jobs from union members.

On Cesar Chavez's Birthday

Response from Chavez Family & UFW President Following White House Meeting with President Obama

United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez and Paul F. Chavez, Cesar Chavez's middle son and president of the Cesar Chavez Foundation, issued these statements following a meeting at the White House with President Obama and members of the Chavez family plus Rodriguez and UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta on what would have been the farm labor and civil rights leader's 83rd birthday.

From Arturo S. Rodriguez, President, United Farm Workers of America:

We thank President Obama for honoring Cesar Chavez on this important day for millions of Americans. We thank the President for his concern for the farm workers who feed our nation every day, and for his strong support of immigration reform. No other change is more urgently needed, and would be more lasting. We will share with President Obama 10 letters written to him by farm workers from across the country, telling him about the realities and challenges of their lives.

Cesar Chavez has been honored in hundreds of communities across the nation. His birthday is an official holiday in 11 states. But the best way to honor Cesar is by helping the farm workers to whom he dedicated his life, and by using our lives to serve others less fortunate than us.

From Paul F. Chavez, President, Cesar Chavez Foundation:

We thank President Obama for having the Chavez family and farm worker movement join him today. We recognize how his dedication to community and public service parallels my father's. Cesar Chavez's message was not just for farm workers or Latinos; it was universal: By helping ordinary people do extraordinary things, he inspired farm workers and millions of others from all walks of life who never worked on a farm to believe in themselves, to do things they would never have thought possible.

It was epitomized by the words from my father's 1972 fast in Arizona, "Si Se Puede!" ("Yes We Can"), which have been adopted by activists worldwide.

But my dad was also convinced we have a moral duty to give ourselves selflessly for others in a cause that's bigger than we are. He said, "Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and our own."

That's how a man with an eighth grade education who adopted a life of self-imposed poverty nonviolently challenged, and overcame, one of the richest industries in California and in the process inspired millions to social and political activism.


- end

The Chavez family currently has a political consultancy which has a seven figure income and an equally large net worth.

Richard wrote:
"This just came out this afternoon. What a way to get most of America to lose their lunch."

And unfortunately it's not too late for dinner for those of us who just read it!

samwalker wrote:

Instead of using lots of taxpayer's money over deployment and immigration, I think it's appropriate to celebrate the true meaning of independence through legalizing it. Why are we trying to connect our worlds when after all we're building walls to keep all of us apart?

The "true meaning of independence" starts with an independent and sovereign nation, free from invasion by other nations. We, the American people who own this country, are NOT trying to connect our worlds, quite the opposite. The globalists, the ethnocentric power-mongers, the Mexican government, and the pro-NAU elitists are trying to connect our worlds. The American citizens are NOT.