The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 72/No. 5      February 4, 2008

 
Indiana events press fight for
driver’s licenses for immigrants
(front page)
 
BY BETSY FARLEY  
INDIANAPOLIS, January 19—About 150 workers turned out for a meeting here today to discuss how to respond to recent government moves that threaten immigrant workers in Indiana. The meeting, held at Iglesia de San Patricio (St. Patrick’s Church), was called by the Immigrant Association of Indiana.

“We are here to discuss how to protect our rights in the face of these unjust laws and how we can organize,” Raymundo Reyes, a leader of the association, told those in attendance.

In November the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) sent letters to 206,000 people whose driver’s licenses supposedly did not match a federal Social Security database. The state has set a deadline of January 31 to correct mismatched information such as Social Security numbers or names. Those who do not provide the information will lose their licenses.

A BMV official told the media that 24 percent of the letters were sent to people who had driver’s licenses but no Social Security number on file. At least 50,000 undocumented Latin American immigrants live in Indiana, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

A state anti-immigrant bill has been proposed by Sen. Mike Delph with bipartisan support. It would require employers to use the federal government’s E-Verify system when hiring workers. Employers found guilty of hiring workers lacking proper papers would be placed on three years’ probation. If they hired undocumented workers again during that period, they would lose their business license.

The legislation would also make it a misdemeanor for anyone to transport, conceal, or harbor an undocumented worker; a second such offense would be a felony. It would require state police to train local cops “to target illegal immigrants in communities determined as ‘problem areas,’” the Indianapolis Star reported.

The organizing meeting here mapped plans for a protest at the state capitol January 23, when hearings on the bill are scheduled.

“We have to reach out to allies like African Americans who have decades of experience fighting discrimination,” said Jorge Aguilar, a leader of the Immigrant Association. Aguilar urged participation in the January 21 Martin Luther King Day activities here in Indianapolis.  
 
Midwest immigrant rights meeting
Earlier in the day, 35 immigrant rights activists from Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio participated in a Midwest meeting, also called by the Immigrant Association of Indiana.

Representatives came from a range of organizations, including the Farm Labor Organizing Committee from Toledo, Chicago Workers Collaborative, and the Mexican Civic Association of Indiana.

“Winning amnesty is the first step,” said Alberto Martínez, a construction worker from Madison, Wisconsin. “Whether legal or illegal, workers can’t survive with the wages we get. The struggle by immigrants doesn’t end with legalization.”

Martínez said he has been working two jobs since he was laid off from his job as a result of the slowdown in the construction industry.

Róger Calero, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. president, spoke at a session on the role of the unions and the churches in the immigrant rights movement. “The struggle for legalization is intertwined with the struggles for wages, benefits, and better working conditions. Legalization is a demand that is in the interests of the working class as a whole,” said Calero.

He noted that immigrant workers have taken part in strikes and organizing drives shoulder to shoulder with other workers, strengthening the unity and fighting capacity of the working class.

Olga Bautista, of the Southeast Chicago Community for Immigrant Rights, described how her group organized 2,000 people to join last year’s large May Day march in Chicago. Jesusa Rodríguez, from St. Adalbert Church in South Bend, Indiana, reported that a group of 35 to 50 people have begun meeting every week after church to organize to oppose the attacks on immigrants in Indiana.

The conference called for a May 1 Midwest regional demonstration for legalization of all immigrants, to be held in Chicago.
 
 
Related articles:
Stop deportations! Legalization now!
Socialist presidential candidate tours Chicago, attends Indiana immigrant rights conference
Seattle protest: Stop the deportation of Cambodians!
Legalization of all immigrants now!
Arizona: workers protest anti-immigrant attacks  
 
 
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