Vol. 73/No. 4      February 2, 2009

Mory is a three-decade resident of the United States. He was released on parole from Hudson County Jail on January 2, after four-and-a-half years of detention. He still faces the threat of deportation.

The organizers of the Militant Labor Forum moved the program from the regular Friday night slot to Sunday afternoon, because the conditions for Mory’s release include a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. He is also forced to wear an electronic ankle bracelet. Mory has applied for a renewal of his work permit, which expired while he was in prison, but is still not able to work.

Immigration cops began their efforts to deport Mory in the late 1990s, based on a misdemeanor conviction more than a decade earlier. He was jailed for a year, then released, then arrested again in 2004. At that time Mory was president of Local 13742 of the United Steelworkers of America and a machine operator at a plastics factory in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“Thanks to the Militant newspaper, and to the lessons in the books and pamphlets published by Pathfinder, I was not discouraged and was able to continue to struggle,” Mory said. “I was able to share with other prisoners not only my experiences as a unionist but what I was learning about the world from the Militant, the books, and from visits by members of the Socialist Workers Party.”

Mory was joined on the platform by Michael Taber, who spoke representing the Socialist Workers Party. “Moisés is an example of working-class struggle and resistance,” Taber said. “They couldn’t break him. He resisted every attempt to pressure him to give up. He fought every act of injustice against his rights. And he helped other detainees to do the same.”

Mory explained that while in prison he tried hard to maintain friendly relations with fellow detainees from all over the world. “This was hard to do because the whole system was organized to keep people divided and separate,” he said. Detainees came from Algeria, China, Korea, Lebanon, Palestine, Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, Grenada, Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere. “In one prison I was in, in Alabama, we were successful in beginning to unite, which was a surprise to the officials,” he said.

Participants stayed around for a dinner and further discussion. Mory was invited to speak to immigrant workers in Morristown, New Jersey. He will also be speaking at the Militant Labor Forum in New York on January 25.  
 
 
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