Vol. 76/No. 31      August 20, 2012

“The more politicians talk about the possibility of immigration reform and at the same time we see how our community is still being deported the more we wanted to take action,” Tania Unzueta, an organizer of the UndocuBus, said in a phone interview from Austin, Texas.

The riders are joining immigrant rights actions in each state they visit. A few days before the trip began, Phoenix participants joined a protest against Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, who boasts that he is “America’s toughest sheriff” and is notorious for going after immigrants.

Among the bus riders are day laborers, students, domestic workers, home care workers and housewives, said Unzueta, 28, a University of Illinois graduate who came to the United States 18 years ago from Mexico.

The ride will end in Charlotte, N.C., at the Democratic Party national convention, which “will be a pivotal moment for the President … who has promised reform and thus far produced record deportations,” says the group’s website.

Unzueta has supported passage of the Dream Act, a bill before the U.S. Congress that would allow undocumented youth and young adults who meet certain requirements, including going to college or serving in the U.S. military, to apply for legal residency.

“When the Dream Act failed to pass in 2010, we realized we can’t put too much of our effort into fighting for laws that we know are imperfect,” Unzueta said. “The important thing is getting organized. The current elections show how much they talk about immigrants, all this rhetoric about what they should do with us, but we’re not hearing from the undocumented. We want to make sure our stories are heard.”

Unzueta said her personal risk in traveling on the bus is low because under a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy starting Aug. 15, youth who meet Dream Act criteria may receive “deferred action.”

Bus rider Gerardo Torres, 41, does not fit those criteria. A carpenter, Mexico-born Torres has been living and working in Phoenix for 18 years. “I’m tired of the police harassment of our community,” Torres said. “We want papers. We want to be able to travel back and forth across the border without problems. ”

For information on upcoming stops visit: nopapersnofear.org.  
 
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