NEW YORK--On May 1, when working people around the world celebrate International Workers Day, 300 demonstrators here marched and rallied to demand amnesty for all immigrants. Similar actions took place in several other cities.
The Organizing Committee for Workers Rights (OCWR) and the Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty organized the action, which began at Union Square. Participants marched to the Garment District carrying banners and handmade signs demanding justice and amnesty for immigrants. After a short rally they marched on to the offices of the International Monetary Fund.
The action took place the day after the expiration of a deadline for those immigrants with relatives or employers as sponsors to apply for residency in the United States without having to return to their country of origin.
Some religious groups, immigrant rights organizations, and Democratic and Republican party politicians have requested an extension of the deadline for the many people unable to meet it. The Spanish-language New York daily Hoy reported May 2 that President George Bush has asked Congress to approve an extension.
Louie Felix, originally from Manila in the Philippines, was among a contingent from the Filipino Workers Center that joined the march in the Garment District. He said the current immigration law "only favors those undocumented who have relatives or employers who can petition for them--it is not for everybody." Others present in the march shared Felix's opinion. "It is deceiving, it's a fraud," said Germán Flores, a 39 year-old construction worker, who thinks a general amnesty is needed.
Among the marchers were some youth who learned about the action through acquaintances or fliers. "We are all friends in support of the cause," said 14-year-old East Side middle school student Lilith Dollard.
In Newark, New Jersey, more than 500 demonstrators demanded justice for immigrant workers at the steps of the federal building, and then marched to the Performing Arts Center to back a union organizing drive by janitors at the facility.
In Boston, 1,500 people marched and rallied to demand a general amnesty for all immigrant workers. Signs in English and Spanish explained, "No Human Being is Illegal." Multicolored signs produced by the AFL-CIO demanded "Amnesty" in four different languages.
Hundreds of union members wore union T-shirts and caps, The rally was addressed by AFL-CIO president, John Sweeney and Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson. Sweeney declared, "The only thing fair, the only thing just, is a general amnesty."
Ted Leonard, a meatpacking worker in Boston, contributed to this article.