BY BETSY McDONALD
CHANDLER, Arizona - Close to 400 outraged residents of the Phoenix area marched 12 miles in searing Arizona heat September 13 to protest recent roundups of undocumented workers in nearby Chandler and the Yaqui Native American village of Guadalupe.

Between July 27 and July 31, Chandler police, working with the U.S. Border Patrol, conducted a massive sweep of hotels, small manufacturing plants, residential areas, and downtown streets. In the process of arresting and deporting over 400 people, they stopped thousands simply because of their skin color, demanding to see proof of residency.

Roy Hoy, a hotel worker at the march, told the Militant this was his first protest action. He had been at work at the Wyndham Garden Hotel when the Immigration and Nationalization Service (INS) came in and took six women housekeepers and one dishwasher. Then the INS went on to Ryoby Outdoor Products, a lawn furniture manufacturer, and rounded up 80 more workers.

Chicanos and Latinos and other workers like Roy were aroused to defend the rights of undocumented workers along with their own civil rights.

They formed the Chandler Coalition for Civil and Human Rights. The Coalition filed a $35 million lawsuit against the city. Along with Tonatierra, a Phoenix civil rights group, they planned the march from Guadalupe to Chandler.

City officials of Guadalupe responded by calling in the Maricopa County sheriff's deputies and INS agents against the day laborers who gather in Guadalupe looking for employment. The week before the march, the INS rounded up and deported 50 Mexican nationals. They stopped prospective employers and warned them about the illegality of hiring undocumented immigrants.

The Yaquis, offended by their city's action, held a mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church before the march and a number of Yaquis in ceremonial dress danced in the procession.

Speakers at the rally voiced concern and called to alert other communities to prevent government officials and law enforcement officers from cooperating in sweeps like those against undocumented workers in Chandler and Guadalupe.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home