"News stories about the Bush administration considering granting residency to 3 million Mexican immigrants has sparked debate in Haitian and Latino communities here. Herbert Gamez, and eight others who immigrated from El Salvador, joined the rally with a Salvadoran flag. "We have a lot of economic problems in our country," said Gamez. "After the earthquakes, when things were really hard, it was even more difficult for us to get permission from the U.S. to come here. I hope Mexicans do get more rights. We need to fight for all immigrants."

"We are not against the idea of Mexicans getting residence," said Jurol St. Vil, a Haitian immigrant living in Miami since 1994. "We're here to demand residency for everybody."

Michael Italie, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of Miami, addressed the rally, supporting the call for full rights for all immigrants coming to the United States. He explained that the attacks on immigrant rights "come in the context of more working-class struggles, from the Palestinian people fighting against the murderous Israeli war drive, to the thousands of auto workers on strike in South Africa and Mexico, to the fight for a union among garment and laundry workers here in Florida."

Italie concluded, "Because the capitalists are trying to divide and weaken us in our struggles, workers must demand equal rights for immigrants in order to unite to build our unions and defeat the capitalist system that exploits us all."  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home