Olvera is a leader of the Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty in Houston. Róger Calero is one of "thousands of people who have been detained by the INS," she said, adding that "Róger is speaking out against these INS crimes. We have to support him."

Olvera is one of the four national chairpersons of the Róger Calero Defense Committee. She has led a broad public campaign for justice for her brother-in-law, Serafín Olvera, who was killed by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) cops. He died as a result of a brutal beating by the agents during a March 25, 2001, raid. Three INS agents were indicted last September, on charges of violating Sarafin’s civil rights.

Cristobal Hinojosa, of Mexicanos en Acción, introduced the socialist journalist. This is an important battle, he said, "for the future of immigrant rights in this country."

"Calero is the associate editor of the Spanish language news magazine Perspectiva Mundial and a staff reporter for the Militant," said Hinojosa. "This man, who has been a permanent resident of the United States for 12 years, was seized by the INS at the Houston airport December 3 as he returned from reporting on conferences in Havana, Cuba, and Guadalajara, Mexico."

Calero was put into an INS jail in Houston. Authorities based his arrest on a 1988 conviction on a charge of selling an ounce of marijuana to an undercover cop. He was released after dozens of people sent letters to the INS protesting the detention. On March 25 Calero will appear at an INS "removal" hearing in Houston.

"We will not be silent now that they are trying to quietly remove him," said Hinojosa. "We will be there for the March 25 hearing and before.

"We will make a campaign that lets them know that they cannot exclude people," he said to applause.  
 
Thousands face same harassment
"My case is only one of thousands," said Calero. In every city where he has spoken, he reported, people have related their experiences with co-workers, relatives and friends who face the same kind of harassment.

"What I face," he said, "is part of the violations of rights and attacks on our dignity that workers in Houston and cities throughout the United States face daily." These violations come "at the hands of INS cops, local cops, and the whole prison system, including the threat of the death penalty whether carried out in the streets or in jail," he said.

Marga Hernandez also spoke. She is a member of the United Concerned Citizens of Baytown, a group organized in response to the cop killing of Luis Alfonso Torres on January 20 last year. "Have you thought of organizing a march in Houston before the March 25 INS hearing?" she asked.

Many people at the meeting had participated in a protest through the streets of Houston four days earlier on the anniversary of the killing of Torres, a Mexican immigrant who had been living and working in nearby Baytown, Texas. Although his death at the hands of city cops was ruled a homicide by the Harris County medical examiner, and a police video of the unprovoked beating that killed him showed no resistance on his part, the cops involved faced no punishment.

Also speaking at the gathering was Benito Juárez, from the Immigrant and Refugee Affairs division of the mayor’s office. Juárez said, "The struggle for Calero isn’t only about him. Thousands suffer because of the cruelty of these policies."

Ricardo Benitez of the Carpenters union in Houston sent a message of support. Participants in the meeting contributed more than $500 toward the national fundraising goal of $50,000, bringing to $1,500 the amount raised to date in Houston.  
 
Church members hear case
The following Sunday Calero participated in a meeting at the Shrine of the Black Madonna, on the invitation of Houston councilwoman Ada Edwards. She met Calero before the public meeting and added her name to the list of the committee’s endorsers.

At the Sunday event participants related experiences of friends and family members that helped them identify with Calero’s fight. One woman spoke about a friend from Houston whose husband was picked up at work last March, held by the INS, and then sent to Pakistan. She and her daughter are still here.

"We have launched a nonpartisan campaign," Calero said. Six participants filled out endorser cards and others asked to be informed of defense campaign activities. Councilwoman Edwards invited defense committee members to speak on her radio program the following week and to make a presentation at a broader meeting of the church membership.

Calero did several radio interviews and one TV feature interview. The Spanish-language El Día published two articles on his fight during his visit to Houston. He spent time with workers and others interested in his case as well as participating in a demonstration against U.S. imperialism’s war against Iraq.

Calero was also invited to speak at a class at the University of Houston as part of a series on class and race, where 40 students listened to his presentation and asked questions until the next class filed in. At the class 21 students signed petitions demanding the INS drop its deportation proceedings against Calero.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home