The meeting was chaired by Pamela Vossenas on behalf of the Róger Defense Committee. Vossenas is a national board member of the National Writers Union. John Studer, coordinator of the defense committee, reported that Calero is scheduled for a "hearing in removal proceedings" on March 25 at the immigration court in Houston. Between now and then, supporters of the defense effort have a big job to widen the support for the fight and keep up the pressure on the government to drop the case.

"We don’t have any illusion that this fight will be fast or easy," Studer said. But the immense interest and response to Calero’s tour in the Midwest shows what’s possible. In Chicago, he reported, 111 people, many of them workers who heard about the case on the news, turned out for a meeting at a church in the mostly Latino community of Pilsen.

New tools are available to get out the word about the case--an updated brochure, petition, and endorser cards. The brochure and petition are now available in English, and the translation to Spanish is under way. The defense committee is looking for volunteers to translate these and other materials into French, Arabic, Urdu, Creole, Chinese, and other languages. The endorser cards can be used to register formal support from individuals and organizations, and includes an invitation to contribute funds.

In addition to winning endorsers and sending letters and petitions demanding the INS drop its deportation effort, the Róger Calero Defense Committee has launched an effort to raise $50,000 by the end of January. This money is needed to cover legal costs, producing materials, and other expenses. So far about $13,000 has been contributed. "Raising this kind of money can seem like a big challenge," Studer noted. "The key thing is for supporters of the case in each area to sit down together, draw up lists of those who may be interested in the case and able to contribute financially, and start working at it systematically"

Some of those attending the January 5 meeting here volunteered to come up with lists and make fund-raising calls. Others discussed outreach to supporters of civil liberties, defenders of immigrant rights, unionists, journalists, and others. A special focus of the work in this area is building a tour for Calero the last week in January, which will culminate with a February 1 public meeting at St. Mary’s Church in Harlem.