Vol. 77/No. 4 February 4, 2013
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Chicago rally demands moratorium on deportations
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Militant/Betsy Farley
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| Five hundred immigrant workers, family members and supporters marched and rallied in downtown Chicago Jan. 21, as President Barack Obama was being sworn into office for a second term. The action, demanding a moratorium on deportations, was called by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Our Lady of Guadalupe Anglican Mission and other immigrant rights organizations. The Obama administration forcibly deported 409,849 immigrants last year, topping a previous record of 396,906 in 2011.
Mauricio Jasso, right holding banner, works at Chicago Pallet Service in Elk Grove Village, where agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and jailed 34 workers last November. “All this administration has given us is pure lies,” Jasso said. Protests against the raid forced ICE to release all of those detained on bond, but they still face charges of violating immigration law.
“We’ve been quiet for too long,” said Guadalupe Ruiz, who had four family members arrested in the raid. “We need to stand up and march and fight again. We’re not illegal, it’s the laws that are wrong.”
—BETSY FARLEY Related article: 10,000 protest rightist assaults on immigrant workers in Greece Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home |