Vol. 71/No. 19      May 14, 2007

A raid by heavily armed federal immigration agents of the predominantly Latino neighborhood La Villita (Little Village) on April 25 sparked outrage among working people in the area, who turned out for the May Day mobilization in numbers much higher than expected.

The march here was the largest of similar actions across the United States, in which more than 330,000 people turned out (see initial list compiled by Militant on page 7).

With dozens of busses coming from the suburbs, other parts of Illinois, and as far as Indiana and Michigan, the crowds swelled at Union Park, the assembly point here.

Proceeding through the main streets of central Chicago to the ending point in Grant Park, protesters chanted non stop, Sí, se puede! (Yes, we can!). These chants were often punctuated with even louder cheering and applause, none greater than when marchers passed construction workers holding a large wooden sign that read, ¡Orgullo mexicano; sí se puede! (Mexican pride; Yes we can!) Jaime, a young meatpacker here who came with his girlfriend and asked to be identified only with his first name, said he was marching “for a better future and for legalization for all.” The recent raid in Little Village, the center of the Latino community here, was one of the main reasons for the massive turnout for the protest, both said.

The immigration raid, a week before the May Day action, received widespread media coverage. Tens of thousands saw FBI agents and immigration cops in bullet proof vests and heavy automatic weapons confronting people in a small shopping mall. (This outraged immigrant workers and won sympathy for their cause from many other working people too.)

According to FBI spokesman Ross Rice, the immigration cops were targeting sellers of false Social Security cards in La Villita. The April 25 Chicago Tribune reported that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the government was charging "a ring" for such actions, 12 of whom are now in custody and 10 fugitives, including four in Mexico.

Many workers saw it differently, however. Baltazar Enríquez, 27, a construction worker who was detained during the raid, told the Militant last week this was “a tactic against our community to intimidate us from going to the march. They came at us with guns but this is having a different effect. We’re marching on May 1.”

"Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood," Baltazar said. "It looked like they were marching into Iraq."

"It was way overboard," Alderman Ricardo Muñoz told the press the day of the raid. "They had machine guns, shotguns, and bulletproof vests."

"The police closed all the doors and came through calling for people on a list," beauty salon owner Maricela Iniquez told the Chicago Sun-Times April 25. "They made everyone sit on the floor and put plastic handcuffs on some people."

About 300 people protested the day of the raid in Little Village late into the evening, and the controversy helped publicize the May Day march.

Several hundred protesters today came on one of the Metra trains from the suburb of Aurora. From the train station they marched behind a large banner in support of immigrant workers, which was carried by a contingent of strikers at the Fox Valley Forge Company who are members of Boilermakers Union Local 1600.

Fernando Molina, a young worker from Aurora, marched with his family. “My wife is a citizen, my son was born here, and I’m a permanent resident, but we need to support all those who don’t have papers," he said. "It’s not acceptable that they are not treated with dignity.”

Many union contingents dotted the march, from UNITE HERE, United Food and Commercial Workers, and other trade unions.

Erek Slater, a young worker who drives a bus for the Chicago Transit Authority, said that when he went to work this morning he was told he would be driving a bus for the police and that, if arrests were made, the cops would use his bus to hold demonstrators in handcuffs. Despite threats of disciplinary action, Slater refused to take the assignment and explained to his coworkers he would instead participate in the march, which he did.

Ernest Mailhot is a meatpacker in Chicago.
 
 
Related articles:
‘Stop raids and deportations! Legalize undocumented now!’
• L.A. cops attack rally
'La migra' sweeps through Pennsylvania town
Free Cuban 5! Extradite Posada!
NBC cameraman in Houston disciplined for flying Mexican flag at May Day rally
May day actions in the United States  
 
 
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