Vol. 73/No. 15      April 20, 2009

Padilla, 21, is a student at Harold Washington and a leader of the Organization of Latin American Students. He said that if he is still in the country on May 1, when protests are planned in support of legalization of all undocumented workers, “I will be marching. I’m on the committee that is organizing students for the march,” he said.

Thirty students from some six college campuses attended a meeting of the Chicago May Day Students, held at DePaul University on March 30. They discussed building a big student contingent in the May Day march in Chicago.

“I believe that the march is part of something bigger and in that sense we can learn something from history,” Padilla continued. “We need to put on more pressure and keep participating actively in this fight.” He added, “I don’t want to give up. I’ve tried to do something with my life and I’ve struggled a lot.”

On January 19 Padilla was pulled over by the Chicago police for a traffic violation and taken to the Cook County jail. He described how the public defender assigned to his case walked out of the room when he learned Padilla was born in Mexico. Ten minutes later an agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrived and interrogated Padilla about his immigration status.

Padilla was then transferred to a detention center. He was soon released, but forced to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to track his movements at all times. He faces a hearing in early April that could lead to his deportation to Mexico.

During the discussion at the meeting Olga Cunningham said, “Segregation is happening today. These are unjust laws. You are limited because of your status. This is supposed to be the land of the free, but it makes you question, are we free? This is not just for Mexicans. It is not right and we should do something about it.”

Several other people in the audience talked about the importance of marching on May 1 this year. Tania Unzueta said, “Chicago passed a law that says that you cannot be an employee of the city and act as immigration police. What happened to Rigo[berto] is a violation of this law. It is important we organize for May 1 this year. We’re fighting for people’s lives.”

The Chicago city council passed an ordinance in March 2006 that prohibited any city official from acting as immigration police, shortly after more than 100,000 people marched here protesting the criminalizing of immigrants.

Carmela Garcia is a student at Northeastern Illinois University and attended the meeting with several fellow students. “May Day is for everyone,” she said. “In this economic crisis everyone is being affected. Let’s march on May Day.”
 
 
Related articles:
Legalization now! No raids, deportations!
L.A. workers build May Day actions
Illinois students protest Border Patrol
Farm workers march for immigrant rights
All out for May Day actions  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home