05/01/08:Madisonians Rally for Immigrant Rights - Immigrant Workers Union
Madisonians Rally for Immigrant Rights
The Progressive
By Matthew Rothschild, May 1, 2008
It was a beautiful day for a protest.
On May Day, 400 residents of Madison, Wisconsin, rallied for immigrant rights under a sunny sky.
The diverse crowd, mostly young and Latino, gathered at a park and then marched to the state capitol and from there to the city-county building.
The focus of the rally was on Sheriff Dave Mahoney, who has instituted a controversial practice of asking the citizenship status of anyone who is arrested and then reporting those who are here illegally to the immigration authorities.
“Sheriff Mahoney, I know my rights, and my status is none of your business,” one sign said.
“Ningun ser humano es illegal,” said another.
“Work is not a crime,” said a third.
“We carry the economy on our backs,” said yet another.
Several people held signs that said, “No More Raids! Amnesty Now!”
One person held a sign in Arabic.
“We are here to stand up for the rights of immigrants, and to show our disgust with the sheriff of Dane County,” said Jorge Carrera, one of the leaders of the Union of Immigrant Workers, which organized the rally. “They see we are Latino. They stop us, and they intimidate us.”
The rally also had a universal message of justice.
Willie Williams, a Vietnam War vet, addressed the crowd and said, “No one is illegal.” He traced the problems immigrants are facing to Christopher Columbus. Williams called him the real illegal immigrant. And Williams connected the fight for immigrant rights with movement to end the war in Iraq.
As one sign put it, “Un mundo sin fronteras, dignidad y justicia para todos.”
The Progressive
By Matthew Rothschild, May 1, 2008
It was a beautiful day for a protest.
On May Day, 400 residents of Madison, Wisconsin, rallied for immigrant rights under a sunny sky.
The diverse crowd, mostly young and Latino, gathered at a park and then marched to the state capitol and from there to the city-county building.
The focus of the rally was on Sheriff Dave Mahoney, who has instituted a controversial practice of asking the citizenship status of anyone who is arrested and then reporting those who are here illegally to the immigration authorities.
“Sheriff Mahoney, I know my rights, and my status is none of your business,” one sign said.
“Ningun ser humano es illegal,” said another.
“Work is not a crime,” said a third.
“We carry the economy on our backs,” said yet another.
Several people held signs that said, “No More Raids! Amnesty Now!”
One person held a sign in Arabic.
“We are here to stand up for the rights of immigrants, and to show our disgust with the sheriff of Dane County,” said Jorge Carrera, one of the leaders of the Union of Immigrant Workers, which organized the rally. “They see we are Latino. They stop us, and they intimidate us.”
The rally also had a universal message of justice.
Willie Williams, a Vietnam War vet, addressed the crowd and said, “No one is illegal.” He traced the problems immigrants are facing to Christopher Columbus. Williams called him the real illegal immigrant. And Williams connected the fight for immigrant rights with movement to end the war in Iraq.
As one sign put it, “Un mundo sin fronteras, dignidad y justicia para todos.”
Submitted by wnpj on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 10:21am.