“May Day” event clls for immigrant rights
by A. David Dahmer
Around 700 people chanted “Si, se puede!” as they marched from Brittingham Park to the City-County Building downtown, demanding immigration reform and immigrants’ rights May 1.
“We were very diverse and very youthful this year,” said Alex Gillis, organizer for the Immigrant Workers Union (IWU), adding he was happy with the turnout. “We knew [the turnout] was going to be less than last year. There are still doubts, fear, and confusion in our community.”
The march was part of “May Day” events that took place throughout the country as part of a larger national movement sponsored by the National Alliance of Immigrant Rights.
Gillis said that 200,000 people were deported nationally last year — up from 150,000 the year before. Many of these incidents happened in the South, but there is increased concern on the local scene, too.
“In the last nine months, there have been more than 2,000 local legislative initiatives in the Midwest [against immigrants] — that’s 2,000 ideas to make our life worse,” Gillis said. “Fortunately, most of these legislations are being stopped, because they are unconstitutional or they don’t have the support of the public.”
Even more locally, there is concern about Dane County Sheriff Mahoney’s harassment of immigrant workers and their families. Speakers at the rally expressed support for the main demands of immigration reform and to stopping Mahoney’s alleged violations of immigration authority. Gillis said the sheriff is violating a County Board resolution by asking for documentation of citizenship when certain individuals are arrested in Dane County.
“We’re seeing more raids and more stops,” Gillis said. “You can go to any Latino neighborhood — on Allied Drive, Fitchburg, Monona, or Park Street — and see it. We’re not talking about hardened criminals; we’re talking about hard-working people, who have two or three jobs and families, trying to make ends meet.”
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