The meeting in this city near Tampa was a highlight of his speaking tour, Calero told the Militant. "It reminded me of the public meetings and fund-raising events in Minnesota and Chicago, where there was a representation of the labor movement in the room," he said. "The farm workers in Plant City really put their stamp on this meeting."

Calero’s nine-city national tour has been organized to win broad support in the fight to stop the efforts of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to deport him.

The Florida leg of the tour included a public meeting in Miami and a visit to the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees picket line at the Point Blank garment plant in the city (see article on page 9).

The Plant City meeting was sponsored by the local Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and the Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA), a Florida charity providing day-care, English classes, and other services to farm workers. The event attracted nearly 50 people, many of whom work in the surrounding strawberry fields.

The local FLOC organizer, Leticia Zavala, produced a flyer to promote the meeting in farm labor camps and among participants at several English classes. It invited workers "to join the struggle against immigration policies that violate human rights." The local RCMA director agreed to have the meeting at the day-care center, while both organizations provided refreshments and gave greetings and statements of support for Calero’s fight.

Calero, an editor for Perspectiva Mundial and a staff writer for the Militant, was arrested December 3 by INS agents at the Houston airport as he arrived from a reporting trip to Cuba and Mexico. Immigration officials detained him on the grounds of his conviction in 1988 on a charge of selling an ounce of marijuana to an undercover cop. The INS had waived the conviction in 1990 when they granted Calero permanent residency and in 2000 when they renewed his green card.

A national campaign has been organized by the Róger Calero Defense Committee, which includes the speaking tour of cities across the country.

Fernando Cuevas, Sr.; Fernando Cuevas, Jr., and Rudy Valentin, all organizers for the North/Central Florida Carpenters Regional Council, participated in the meeting here. Cuevas, Sr., and Valentin both came forward to express solidarity with Calero and spoke of their efforts to defend immigrant rights. Cuevas, Sr., also encouraged participants to pitch in their financial contributions for Calero’s defense starting off the basket with his. Workers at the meeting contributed $101.

Calero, speaking in both Spanish and English, described how his case was similar to thousands of others. "Millions of local, state, and federal court records are being dumped into INS computers, and they are using virtually any offense, no matter how old, as a basis to detain and deport immigrant workers," he said.

Calero’s talk highlighted the fact that the deportation and stepped up harassment of immigrants following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon was an acceleration of the course already set by the capitalist ruling class to chip away at the rights of working people.

During the discussion, one worker asked if it made any difference whether protest letters were written in Spanish or English. Calero encouraged everyone to "use whatever is best for your expression." He said that he had met some women strikers at a tortilla factory in Chicago who had decided to write a letter together.

Calero emphasized the importance of this public pressure. "The fact that I’m here is a victory in itself and reflects the dozens and dozens of letters that poured into the INS office while I was in jail. The INS hates to have to answer questions about what they are doing in public."

One University of South Florida (USF) student attending the meeting jotted down a collective protest statement and presented it to the group for their approval. It read:

"On January 20, 2003, citizens and immigrants alike heard the story of Róger Calero in Plant City, Florida. We are all touched by his experience, and together we support his struggle to remain in the United States. We ask that you hear our collective voice and that you understand that we are aware of how your decision in his case affects us all. He is as much a citizen as someone born in the U.S. You must respect his right to continue his work and life as an American resident."

The audience applauded in agreement.