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The
second May Day in a row in the U.S.
dedicated to immigrant workers' rights couldn't match the first in
the size of demonstrations. And work stoppages were few and far
between, in contrast to last year's general strike of immigrant
workers. But the number of events held around the country shows the
potential for the movement to take off again when circumstances
change.
Once
again, Chicago
earned pride of place with the country's biggest rally, between
150,000 and 250,000. Last year's march of 500,000 on March 10 shocked
the nation with its size, inspiring the million-strong turnout in Los
Angeles on March 25. This in turn inspired the
nationwide cumulative total of 2 million protesters on April 10,
2006, followed by the May Day general strike.
The
key force behind the 2007 rally, the March 10th Movement, called for
no guest-worker programs, full legalization for all, and an end to
raids and deportations.
Chicago
appears to have achieved a broader coalition of immigrant and labor
groups than other cities—a coalition that successfully mobilized the
mass outrage against the previous week's brutal raid. Exactly a week
before, 60 agents with bullet-proof vests, machine guns and M-16s
locked down a mall, forced everyone inside up against a wall or to
the floor and handcuffed them—all in alleged pursuit of a handful of
fake ID sellers.
Organizers
immediately brought out hundreds of community members to block
surrounding streets. Noting that the intent of the raid was to scare
people away from May Day, they urged instead a more massive turnout.
But
in the rest of the country, where there was more time for fear caused
by recent raids to seep in, the cumulative impact was smaller
rallies. There had been raids in the weeks before last year's May
Day, but the self-confidence built up during the series of protests
described above turned the fear into outrage, as in Chicago
this year.
This
year, the only significant pre-May Day action was one of 50,000 on
April 7 in Los Angeles,
fueled by anger at the announcement of Bush's new "Z" visa
plan. The plan would limit immigrants to a succession of three-year
work permits, each costing $3500.
There
would be no chance at citizenship, and even to become permanent
residents, workers would have to return to their home country, apply
for re-entry, and pay $10,000. It would also virtually eliminate the
ability to bring spouses and children.
In
Los Angeles
this May Day about 35,000 marched. In the early evening cops savagely
attacked the still sizable crowd. Claiming it was now an
"unlawful assembly," the cops used tear gas, clubs and
rubber bullets against entire families.
In
one of the few examples of workplace shutdowns, the port
of Los Angeles
closed, anticipating that independent truckers wouldn't show up.
Hundreds of L.A.
students walked out, and a student organizer told Pacifica Radio that
students "will be the leadership of this new movement."
In
Detroit
dozens of students were arrested and brutalized by cops during a
walkout that also protested the closure of dozens of schools and a ban
on affirmative action. Total turnout in Detroit
was at least 15,000.
New York
was a case study in the divide between liberal and radical forces in
the movement. Liberals in New
York, as elsewhere, have been pushing a
lobbying effort for the STRIVE act instead of mobilizing.
STRIVE
(Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy),
introduced by Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)
and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), would dramatically increase the number
of agents and arms for the Border Patrol and ICE and create more
detention facilities. It would increase penalties for violating
immigration laws and mandate collaboration of local police with ICE.
No
adjustment of legal status could occur until after years of much
harsher enforcement, and even then only tiny numbers would have the
"right" to maybe get permanent residency after years more
of waiting and paying thousands in fines and back taxes. It would
also create a "new" (i.e. "guest") worker program
for at most 400,000 workers, who would be subject to deportation if
fired and have almost no rights.
Yet
STRIVE is backed by liberal immigrant groups and unions like SEIU,
UNITE-HERE, and the UFW. The Hispanic Caucus met with Bush in April
to urge him to support it (the first time Bush has deigned to meet
with them). The AFL-CIO, in contrast, maintains its opposition to
guest-worker programs—but did little to mobilize for May Day.
Forces
backing STRIVE in New York
organized a rally in Washington
Square, at which SEIU 32BJ's Hector
Figueroa told the crowd, "They've got to improve STRIVE so we
can endorse it." Yet SEIU has in fact been promoting the bill
all along, both in its own name and through the Coalition for
Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
In
contrast, El Diario quoted Edison Severino of Laborers Local 78, saying, "We
have to unite against the Democrats" who control Congress but
won't help immigrants.
The
day before May Day another CCIR member group, the New York
Immigration Coalition, hosted a speech by STRIVE sponsor Gutierrez.
On May Day, NYIC distributed signs calling for an "earned path
to citizenship"—as if immigrant workers hadn't already earned
that right many times over! And immigrant women's activists have
asked how such bills—which demand proof of employment and taxes paid—would
affect housewives, grandparents, the disabled,
and domestic workers who work "under the table."
Nonetheless,
the liberals were forced by pressure from their members to march
uptown to join the main Union Square rally of several thousand
organized by a coalition of radical groups including the
International Action Center. Feeder marches came from Chinatown, the
Bronx, Queens, and elsewhere. A key
organizer of these feeder marches, Immigrant Communities in Action,
issued a press release on May Day denouncing STRIVE.
About
5000 people, including hundreds of students, marched in Tucson
against raids and deportations, against guest worker programs and the
war in Iraq.
Liberal Democrats were noticeably absent. A key group in the May 1 Coalition,
an alliance of mostly young activists, is Derechos
Humanos, whose leader, Isabel Garcia, says
STRIVE "will continue the devastation of our community."
But
the Border Action Network in Tucson
boycotted May Day; they whined that STRIVE
opponents were hurting chances of getting something—anything—passed
this year. The march also heard from participants in a tour of the
border by Black Americans for Justice to Immigrants. Thousands also
marched in Phoenix.
Organizers
stated that 60,000 to 80,000 marched in Milwaukee
on May 1, and over 10,000 rallied in Madison,
where the Dane
County Board
approved a resolution recognizing May Day as "International
Workers' Day" and encouraging employers not to punish workers
who took the day off.
About
7000 each marched in San Francisco, Oakland,
and Santa Rosa, and there were
rallies in at least a dozen other California
cities. About 500 high school students walked out in Watsonville.
The ILWU stopped work at West Coast ports.
At
UC Davis the Sunday before, students sat down outside a Department of
Homeland Security meeting. Davis
students are organizing in support of the immigrant workforce on
campus. On April 28 in Danbury,
Conn., there was a
protest at a forum called by anti-immigrant groups at which an ICE
spokesperson spoke.
Hundreds
marched throughout Massachusetts,
outraged over the March raid of a New
Bedford plant. Some 10,000 marched both in Denver
and Detroit.
In Oregon, rallies of 3000 occurred
in Salem and Portland.
In Florida, rallies were held in Miami,
Tampa, Orlando,
and West Palm Beach.
In
the weeks before May Day, raids occurred in several states, once
again separating children, even breast-feeding infants, from their
parents. These raids increasingly sweep up every Latino in the vicinity.
Calls to end the raids are often coupled with efforts to build local
sanctuary movements—although cities declaring sanctuary have not
stopped ICE from operating in their midst.
Opposition
to raids must be deepened at local levels and coordinated nationally.
This can be part of building a class-struggle leadership for the
movement, which can confront both government repression and liberal
betrayals.
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