Vol. 77/No. 14 April 15, 2013
Wash. farmworkers march
for immigrant rights
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Militant/Clay Dennison
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YAKIMA, Wash. — More than 200 people marched here March 23, one of several demonstrations in Washington and California to commemorate the legacy of United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez, who was born March 31, 1927, and died in 1993. The march was billed as a “national day of action for a fair immigration process.”
Yakima is an agricultural center for thousands of farmworkers who pick or pack apples, cherries, pears and other fruits.
“Separating families is inhumane,” said Yesica Arciga, 26, who works at the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. “I see a lot of families at the clinic who have been affected by deportations. We also have lots of kids in foster homes here in Yakima. My own husband was deported.
“This is a question of social justice,” she said. “We are all human and should be treated not according to where we come from or the color of our skin.”
— CLAY DENNISON