Calero, an editor of Perspectiva Mundial and staff writer for the Militant newspaper, is on an international speaking tour to tell his story and share the lessons of his struggle with working people worldwide.

Washington, who is a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, urged participants to support the struggle of union members in their upcoming contract fight with Verizon. The current contract expires August 3. He noted that rallies are already planned for a number of areas to demand a fair contract.

Joe Franklin, president of 1199J, welcomed participants. “We are pleased that you have won,” said Franklin. “But the battle goes on; there are many Rógers out there so let’s all continue to be supportive of these fights.”

Patrick Ferry, brother of Ciarán Ferry, a former Irish political prisoner currently being held by immigration police and awaiting deportation in Denver, Colorado, said there were thousands of people in jails in the United States awaiting deportation. Ferry, a textile worker in Paterson, New Jersey, and a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, said his brother is confined to his cell 23 hours per day and permitted only two visits a week.

“Ciarán is in jail for his past life as an Irish Republican Army prisoner,” Ferry said. He urged the 35 people present to sign petitions and send letters on his brother’s behalf demanding his release. “We can’t let the government just step on people’s rights,” he said.

Calero said that for the last decade the immigration police have been stepping up their attacks on immigrants. Now, in the name of “fighting terrorism,” he stated, they have rounded up thousands in efforts supported by both the Democratic and Republican parties. “Attacks by the government on immigrants are serving as the spear point of antilabor efforts,” said Calero. “They seek to divide us and restrict our ability to fight back.”

Calero added that there is nothing you can tell the government or immigration officials to convince them to carry out anything other than their current course. “We must fight them on our turf because it is the only way to win—that was the axis of my defense effort.” His fight drew from the accumulated experience of his party, the Socialist Workers Party, and the broader struggles of the working class over decades, Calero said.

Ved Dookhun, chairperson of the Newark SWP, thanked those present on behalf of Calero’s party for their decision to stand up and be counted in the fight. “Róger’s case shows that it is possible to fight and win,” said Dookhun.

Moisés Mory, a member of the Steelworkers union in West New York, New Jersey, heard about the meeting through the Spanish-language daily Hoy. Originally from Peru, Mory said he had been imprisoned in the immigration jail in Paterson, New Jersey, for a year facing deportation.

Stephen Giordano, president of the Bergen County Council of Churches, and Sharin Chiorazzo of the Committee to Free Farouk Abdel-Muhti also addressed the meeting. The chairperson announced that Parastou Hassouri, of the Immigrant Rights Project of the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, was present.

Calero was interviewed on WBGO radio while in Newark.

The article excerpted below appeared in the July 3, 2003, Hoy—a Spanish-language daily in New York City—under the headline “Hispanic triumphs over Immigration.” More than 50 people attended the New York meeting it publicized. Translation is by the Militant.
 

Vossenas and a group of activists that includes union leaders, workers, and intellectuals will meet today Thursday at 6:00 pm at the offices of Local 1199 SEIU (310 W. 43rd St. in Manhattan), in order to make known the facts of the victory of Calero, who will be in New York July 3-5 as part of an international tour to explain the history of his successful fight against U.S. government forces that tried to deport him.

Calero was detained December 3, 2002 by immigration agents at Houston Intercontinental Airport upon his return from a reporting trip in Cuba and Mexico. He was jailed for 11 days until a public campaign won his freedom. The government said it was going to exclude him from the United States because in 1988 as a high school student he had accepted a plea bargain for possession of marijuana.

When he explained his case, he received broad support from unionists, defenders of immigrant rights, and journalists. The Department of Homeland Security, which now directs immigration police and prosecutors, decided April 29 to put an end to its efforts at deporting Calero. On May 22 Judge Stasser signed the final order. “If we learn from others how to fight more effectively, we can increase the number of struggles today that win,” Calero explained as he announced his tour. “I hope the lessons of my campaign will be a contribution to the strengthening of our capacity to fight,” he said.  
 
 
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