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September 23, 2003

News from the Freedom Ride

A sampling of news from around the nation

Minnesotans joining Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride
Miguel Olvera-Rucoba is a legal immigrant. But the meatpacker from South St. Paul knows plenty of people who work here illegally, living in constant fear of deportation....During the next two weeks, Olvera-Rucoba will take time off from his job at Dakota Premium to take up the cause of the nation's estimated 10 million undocumented workers.

Freedom's Journey
Cruz Hernandez seems an unlikely agitator. The 65-year-old Peruvian speaks softly, her face framed by snow-white hair, her eyes turning sad when she talks about the children and grandchildren who remain in her homeland...on Sept. 29, Cruz Hernandez, a madre gallina (mother hen) longing for her brood, will become Cruz Hernandez, Freedom Rider -- one of 800 immigrants who will board 18 buses in 10 cities, including Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Houston, and fan out across the United States as part of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride.

Freedom riders’ calling for immigration policy change
Jasbir Bhangoo, 37, of Tucson, an immigrant from Canada whose parents are from India, said he was making t‘he trip to send a message to Congress and the Bush administration. "U.S. policies are not consistent with the reality of immigration," he said. "Americans believe immigration is simply a labor issue when it benefits the entire U.S. economy."

Denver City Council supports Freedom Ride rally
The Denver City Council made a stand for immigrant workers on Monday, voting 11-1 to support a resolution recognizing the Immigrant Workers' Freedom Ride rally Friday at St. Joseph's Church at West Sixth Avenue and Galapago Street in Denver.

City Council Endorses Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride
The Los Angeles City Council Friday unanimously endorsed the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, a nationwide bus tour advocating immigration law reforms.
"Your right to respect, your right to opportunity and to live the American dream, fundamentally is not set by how many generations your family has been here," City Council President Alex Padilla told about two dozen Freedom Ride supporters and members of the media gathered in the City Council press room.

Rally to support foreign workers
Advocates in North Texas said now is the time to re-ignite the immigrant worker debate because they have united a diverse group -- auto workers, African-Americans, Muslim immigrants and the Catholic Diocese of Dallas -- on the need to revisit the issue...Dallas City Councilman Steve Salazar held a news conference Friday in Dallas to promote the upcoming event. He also reminded the community that the city is a "safety zone" for immigrants. Under a 1997 Dallas city resolution, the city doesn't deny services to people on the basis of their immigration status.

Rally for immigrant rights planned for Flushing park
Borough labor leaders and workers are hoping to organize more than 250,000 people for a rally Oct. 4 in Flushing Meadows Corona Park to raise awareness of the issues affecting immigrant workers...“Oct. 4 is going to be an exciting opportunity,” Brian McLaughlin, president of the New York City Central Labor Council, said at an initial rally Sept. 9 at Shea Stadium. “This is the time when the concerns, the fears of immigrants, have to be listened to.”

Posted by Nathan at September 23, 2003 07:43 PM

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