Vol. 71/No. 17      April 30, 2007

“I want to tell President Bush to stop the raids and deportations so my mother and other families can stay here in the United States,” Arellano said in Spanish. Rev. Walter Coleman and his wife, Emma Lozano, traveled with “Saulito,” as he is called, to promote the campaign to oppose raids and deportations.

Saul’s mother, Elvira Arellano, is a Mexican-born worker who refused to report for deportation. A former airplane cleaner, she has lived in the United States since 1997. FBI agents arrested her at her home in December 2002 as part of a raid against workers at Chicago’s O’Hare airport for allegedly using false Social Security numbers to obtain employment. Since August she has taken sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago with Saúl, a U.S. citizen.

“Elvira Arellano and her son are responding to the 4 million children who, every day when they come home, don’t know if their families are going to be there,” Coleman said. Anthony Dutrow, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for Houston City Council, spoke from the floor during the discussion period. “We are for the immediate and unconditional legalization of all undocumented immigrants just as we marched with millions last spring demanding, ‘Legalization now!’” Dutrow said. “Our party stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Elvira Arellano and those resisting deportation. This is a powerful example of resistance that points the way forward in the face of government assault.” In Dallas, several thousand people rallied in support of rights for immigrant workers in the downtown area that same afternoon chanting “Sí, se puede! Yes, we can!”

Police officials estimated that 5,000 turned out. The League of United Latin American Citizens and other groups that organized the rally put the number at 7,000. Some in the crowd and among the speakers said they came to protest a proposal in Farmers Branch, a Dallas suburb, that, if adopted by city voters in May, would make it a crime for landlords to rent to undocumented immigrants.

A march for justice for immigrant workers is planned for Houston on April 28 at 2:00 p.m., starting at Harrisburg and Wayside and marching to Mason Park.
 
 
Related articles:
Workers in Minnesota protest immigration raid
Workers in Minnesota protest immigration raid
Miami: Protesters demand asylum for Haitian refugees
Iowa ‘identity theft’ trial: no justice for workers in capitalist court  
 
 
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