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Vol. 71/No. 27      July 9, 2007

 
Boston newspaper covers socialist campaign
 
The following article is reprinted from the June 9, 2007, Boston-based Spanish-language newspaper Siglo 21. It was originally published under the headline, “Candidates hold discussion at forum. The present proposed immigration bill has to be rejected.” Translation by the Militant.

BY DIEGO LUIS PEÑA ÁLVAREZ  
EAST BOSTON, Massachusetts—An important forum organized by the Socialist Workers Party and the Militant newspaper was held on busy Bennington Street in East Boston, and took up issues related to the current immigration bill being debated in the U.S. Congress.

The main speakers at this event were William Estrada, candidate for City Councillor At-Large in Boston, Betsy Farley, also a candidate to City Councillor District 1, and Patricia Montes, of the group Centro Presente, who didn’t attend. Also present were known leaders of pro-immigrant organizations. It was noticeable that the majority of the participants were U.S.-born residents, whose interventions voiced their total disagreement to the current proposed immigration bill.

In his intervention, William Estrada highlighted the disadvantages of the immigration bill proposal, which in no way benefits either the working class or undocumented immigrants in general, he said.

“In its contents, this proposed bill is harmful to immigrant workers. It’s better to reject it in its totality since it is designed so that the bosses can increase their profits with the exploitation of the working class, of those immigrant workers who leave their countries behind in search of better opportunities. This proposed bill has nothing good; it should be rejected,” said Estrada.

Sergio Reyes, of the May Day Coalition, went further, calling on the Democrats to fulfill their promises made before they were elected as a majority in Congress.

“This proposed bill is the legalization of slavery. The Democrats have a big responsibility for what’s going on. Immigrants voted for them to become the majority to come up with the solution to the immigration problem, but they ended up being just like the Republicans,” said Reyes, pointing to Governor Deval Patrick, as an example.

“During his campaign for governor, Deval spoke about two specific things: driver’s licenses for all in Massachusetts, documented or not. He also said, enrollment at universities for all. However, he’s been in office for a year and nothing. That shows you once more why we are losing credibility in politicians,” concluded the leader.  
 
 
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