Posted on 09/03/2006 11:58:50 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO
When Maria Elena Hernandez left Honduras for California, she didn't speak English, didn't have work papers, and her fear of being caught by Immigration tied her stomach in knots.
Eight months later, she was marching up the steps of the Capitol to ask some of the state's top elected officials for better working conditions.
Energized by the recent marches for immigration reform and supported by growing participation in a network of civic organizations, immigrants are increasingly emerging as actors in America's civic and political life.
"It makes me feel like this is my country, like I don't have to give way to anyone else," said Alex Palencia, a Guatemalan day laborer who was waiting for work along a windy freeway in San Francisco.
That spirit of activism is behind the national immigration marches this week, with people expected to take the streets in San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and other cities.
Even undocumented immigrants like Hernandez who can't vote and have reason to fear the spotlight are stepping from the shadows and doing what they can to influence those in power, and those who can cast ballots. They're talking to elected officials, educating fellow immigrants on issues that affect them, and enjoying the feeling of having a public voice.
"I feel good, like what I'm saying will be heard," Hernandez said in Spanish after telling legislators what it's like to be an overworked and underpaid nanny.
Teresa Molina, another childcare worker, sat next to her on the Capitol steps and nodded in agreement.
"We work so much we sometimes don't know what's going on around us, but there comes a time when you want to say something," Molina said. "We've gotten to that point."
Across the country, there's been a quiet but consistent growth in migrant-led groups, from neighborhood organizations to schools, churches, immigrants' right groups and unions, according to a recent report by the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
This may be helping newcomers play a more visible role in shaping policy discussions, the study's authors said.
"There seems to be a movement from civic engagement to political engagement," said Jonathan Fox, an author of the study and professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
It's still too early to tell if the protesters' promise that "Today we march, tomorrow we vote" will be fulfilled, but in the meantime, they're finding many ways to be active members of society, said Xochitl Bada, co-author of the study.
"We shouldn't see political participation only in terms of voting," Bada said.
When millions of immigrants marched in the spring, it was a visible manifestation of their increasing engagement in the fabric of American life, the authors said.
There's still a lot of fear among immigrants, undocumented or not, who know that stepping into the spotlight can have harsh consequences, including deportation.
There were reports of workers losing their jobs after participating in the May boycott, designed to show immigrants' economic clout. Their increased visibility has also stirred angry rhetoric at hearings held by House representatives on their immigration reform proposals, and fueled the popularity of groups like the Minutemen Project, created to patrol the border and report illegal crossings.
But for those who planned to march in San Francisco Monday, participating in something larger than themselves gives them a feeling of safety and belonging.
"Folks are seeing there's power in numbers," said Victor Hwang, an attorney with Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach.
Many undocumented Asian immigrants who had long stayed quiet took action after seeing other immigrants step out, walking alongside those from Latin America and elsewhere at the spring marches.
And their demands are being heard, at least in some corners.
California Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez called the rise of immigrant activism "one of the more exciting transformations I've seen in my time in the Legislature."
After hearing from Hernandez, Molina and others, she has sponsored a bill that would give child care workers the ability to earn overtime pay.
"It would be great if everyone appreciated democracy the way these women do," Montanez said.
Araceli Lara, an immigrant from El Salvador who has been here for 18 years and now volunteers for a San Francisco Bay Area immigrants' rights coalition helping inform people about the upcoming Labor Day march, agreed.
She's been distributing flyers on street corners and buses, talking to people in residential hotels, at her church, and at the soup kitchen where she works.
"The more of us there are, the more they'll listen," she said.
"It makes me feel like this is my country, like I don't have to give way to anyone else," said Alex Palencia, a Guatemalan day laborer who was waiting for work along a windy freeway in San Francisco.
The term "immigrant" means "illegal alien" for those of you in Rio Linda. They come to our country illegally, spit on our Constitution, our flag and our laws and demand that the American taxpayers provide them a free "american dream."
Well, according to some on this forum, we are just supposed to let them all in and let them do as they wish.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1694570/posts?q=1&&page=1
Wouldn't it have been a lot better for everyone involved if she had "marched" up the steps of the Capitol in Honduras or Guatemala and asked for "better working conditions?"
OMG!!! RACISM!!!
LOL! Everytime I get PO'd at my boss, I "march" right up the steps of the Capitol in Honduras and whine about the working conditions.
There were a bunch of immigrants testifying for a minimum wage hike. Here is one of their testimonies
http://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/Minutes7-5-06meeting.pdf
(Ms. Mercado's statement is in Spanish and interpreted by Mr. Gaitan.)
MS. MERCADO (through interpreter): My name is Josefa Mercado. I work as a janitor. I'm a member of 1877. I've been working for about 33 years as a janitor.
And we're here to ask that the wages go up at least connected to the cost of living because everything is going up. And it's worse now than when I started working as a janitor and the minimum wage was four dollars and something. And everything is even -- even more expensive related to what they are now. So we -- we need your help to get up -- at least up to the cost of living. Because workers have families and children and need to pay to take care of their kids and the cost of sending -- for food, for sending them to school.
And I know what that is because I have six children, and I had to go through the -- the expenses of raising them and taking care of them, and I know what those costs are.
And that's -- that's why we're asking for your help to raise -- to keep up with the cost of living. Because gas and food and everything is going up, and we can't -- we can't afford it.
And I'm the only income in the house. I'm alone, my husband doesn't work, and we can barely make it. There's very little that he gets from Social Security to be able to work. That's why I have to keep working. And that's why I'm here to ask that you raise the wage up to the cost of living. It's very important.
Thank you.
How about all of the European and Asians who want to be U.S. citizens? I guess they'll just have to wait another 5 yrs or
however long it takes. Latinos come to the front of the line
bring your preganat belly illegally here. Door mat USA.
I am very disappointed that there are no signs of outrage from the REAL AMERICAN people after all this time and so many incidents!I guess the liberals have been more sucessful in brainwashing and making people believe they will suffer criminal penalties if they take an outspoken stance against these illegal thieves of our heritage,jobs and culture.
No laws that do anything other than worsen the current situation will be passed by a Democrat controlled House and/or Senate.
Sitting out the election to send a message to the GOP is cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Democrats know this is a powerful wedge issue and are making the most of it.
If you seriously think about the consequences, you won't throw your lot in with the Democrat trolls and single issue nutbars who want Democrats to controll Congress.
you are so right.....any a-hole who would sit out the election and allow peolosi/reid/piaps and the rest take over the government will find themselves or their children being taxed more and had better learn spanish to survive in the US.....people should watch the movie planet of the apes....as Charlton Heston screamed ...it is a madhouse...that is exactly how the bizarro world in the US will become when the democraps sink it to a 3rd world cesspool in the name of pc!
Tinian,curious about your name? Tinian Island?
"Democrats know this is a powerful wedge issue and are making the most of it. If you seriously think about the consequences, you won't throw your lot in with the Democrat trolls and single issue nutbars who want Democrats to controll Congress."
Exactly the message that you should be sending to GWB. Afterall, HE is the one joining the democrats, catholic church, and teamsters on this issue and HE is the one who failed to secure the border on and since 9/12. Don't like the 'consequences', blame him.
I don't believe for one minute that our D.C. leadership is unaware of this issue and have made the decision to prevent ICE from removing this woman. Just as our government has allowed them to shut down major cities across the country, they are allowing the publicity this situation is creating to gain more sympathy for their amnesty agenda.
Which is EXACTLY where she should have been arrested. The fed.gov is traitorous in their inaction
You must have exposed yourself to history/geography because schools haven't properly taught either in over three decades.
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