Vol. 71/No. 13      April 2, 2007

Speakers, who were seated under a large banner reading, “Release the Families. Stop the Deportation,” included clergy, immigrant rights activists, union officers, and two spouses of arrested workers. Relatives and children of those grabbed by la migra also sat on stage. After the auditorium filled to capacity, about 100 people held an impromptu rally in the lobby.

The brutal arrests of 361 workers, mostly women from Guatemala and El Salvador, by some 300 armed ICE agents at the Michael Bianco Inc. leather factory have sparked protests, church vigils, and rallies.

“We’re here with the families that belong in our state,” said Corinn Williams, Director of the Community Economic Development Center of New Bedford, one of the organizations providing assistance to the arrested workers and their families. The majority of the speakers condemned the arrests and the separation of the families, and called for a moratorium on the raids until a “fair and just” immigration law is passed. Two of the speakers, and many in the crowd, expressed support for the demand to legalize all immigrants.

“We want this action to be more than just a ceremonial meeting,” the husband of one of the arrested women, who was introduced as José, told the crowd. “We want to get out the message about their situation as wide as possible. My wife calls me daily asking for help for all the detained. They are being mistreated.”

Manuel Alfaro, a Honduran construction worker, who came to the rally with two friends, told the Militant that his wife was being detained in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. “This kind of support and the presence of a lot of people is what we need,” he said. “We are not giving up.”

Under pressure from the protests, at least 60 of the arrested workers have been released for “humanitarian reasons.” After thousands expressed outrage at the incarceration of more than 200 in jails in Texas, U.S. District judge Richard Stearns ordered a halt on the transfer of any more of the detained workers to jails outside of Massachusetts.

“They treat us like criminals,” said René Morales, a mechanic from Franklin, Massachusetts, who came with 20 others organized by a local Catholic church. “We want the right to work,” he said.

Groups came from across Massachusetts—including a lively contingent of the Service Employees International Union from Springfield—and from neighboring states. Representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers and the state AFL-CIO also attended.

Members of the Chinese Progressive Association in Boston brought signs reading, “Our Ancestors Were Undocumented Too,” and “War Is Crime, Working Is Not. Who Are the Real Criminals?”

At the beginning of the event a woman holding up a sign that read, “ICE protects America by deporting illegal immigrants,” kept trying to interrupt the speakers, The crowd drowned her out, chanting in Spanish, “We’re here and we’re not leaving!” She was eventually escorted out by the police.

At the end of the program, organizers passed buckets around for donations. Some $85,000 has been collected so far for a fund for the relatives of the arrested workers. “The New Bedford Immigrant Families/Niños Fund” aims to raise at least $250,000 to help these working-class families pay for food, rent, medicine, and utilities.
 
 
Related articles:
‘Stop raids, deportations!’
Young Socialists join immigrant rights actions
Protesters in Freehold, New Jersey, condemn anti-immigrant measure  
 
 
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