Vol. 72/No. 23      June 9, 2008

Students from DePaul and other campuses chanted, “What do we want? Legalization! When do we want it? Now!” and “Money for jobs and education—Stop the racist deportations!” They rallied for several hours in front of the building where Simcox was speaking.

A group of workers led by José Landaverde, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood of Little Village, joined the protest. Some of them have had family members arrested and deported. Dozens of marchers made the 11-mile walk from Little Village to the DePaul campus for a 24-hour vigil against the Minutemen and the raids and deportations being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Everyone is entitled to a better life,” said DePaul student Loren Rojas. Rojas explained she had come to listen to and challenge Simcox, but was turned away since the campus authorities limited participation in the meeting to 200 people. No press or nonstudents were allowed inside. Speaking of the recent ICE raid in Postville, Iowa, Rojas said, “It’s not fair that people get rounded up and corralled like animals.”

Jacob Chacko, a student at Northern Illinois University, came with a group of 20 from that campus. “We’re all immigrants in this country,” he said. “Who’s to say who can come in and who can’t? Legalization would solve the immigration problem.”

Ismael Cuevas, cochair of Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán (MEChA) at the University of Wisconsin, joined the protest carrying a huge Mexican flag. “The raids like the one in Iowa are a scare tactic,” he said. “And the Minutemen abuse people crossing the border who are just trying to get decent wages to raise their families.”
 
 
Related articles:
297 Iowa meat packers are railroaded to jail
Convicted on ‘identity theft’ charges
Toronto action will oppose roundup of 45 immigrants at warehouse
San Diego students protest immigration raids  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home