Vol. 73/No. 36      September 21, 2009

They included a group of 50 members of Teamsters Local 743, most of them workers at SK Hand Tools. The workers have been on strike since August 25 in response to the company revoking their medical insurance. (See article on page 6).

Marchers also protested continued deportations, the expansion under the Obama administration of local and state police acting as immigration cops, and stepped-up use of the E-Verify employment check system to fire undocumented immigrant workers from their jobs.

“More workers are being deported under the Obama administration than under Bush,” said Jorge Mújica, a leader of the March 10 Coalition, which was one of the organizers of the march and rally.

From Oct. 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported or returned more than 271,200 undocumented immigrants, the agency said in a July 14 press release. That compared to 229,800 undocumented immigrants removed during the same time period in fiscal year 2008, an increase of 18 percent.

Two restaurant workers from Addison, Illinois, said this was the first time they have marched for legalization. “We’re here for the right to drivers licenses,” said Jacobo Merlín. He and Roberto Baños described how local police stop drivers who look Mexican, slapping them with traffic tickets and fines of $600 or more.

Armando Torres works as a welder and is a student at night. His friend Ricardo Cortez is currently laid off. “They try to put the blame on immigrants for the economic crisis, but we are not the ones at fault,” Torres said.

Bonnie Murphy, 21, a senior at Loyola University, said this is the first march for immigrant rights she has ever been to. “I’m here for equality for all. We should legalize the people that do the work in this country. People are people. The government continues to ignore immigrants. This is a democracy, but it is really not a democracy at all.”

“I’m here because we need an amnesty for everyone,” said Lupe Owautuce, a meat packer and member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1546. “It’s the only way we can make Obama listen to us.” A large banner in front of the march read, “Without legalization there can be no re-election,” a reference to a possible second term for President Barack Obama.

Marchers also included contingents from Our Lady of Guadalupe Justice Mission, Workers United Union, Service Employees International Union, Street Vendors Association, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, March 10th Coalition, and Ya Basta Coalition, the latter two prominent immigrant rights groups here.

Alyson Kennedy contributed to this article.
 
 
Related articles:
Immigrants dropped from state health plan
Illinois Teamsters strike over health benefit cuts  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home