Protest Illegal Freedom Ride

Varied ^ | 9-23-03 | Varied

[JustPiper]

Movement supports rights for immigrant workers

SAN FRANCISCO - About 2,500 marchers toted signs, chanted slogans and carried a united message of support for the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride on Saturday in downtown San Francisco. The 15-day campaign, starting with two busses filled with 106 people, will cross the country, aimed for Washington D.C. and eventually New York.

The movement was inspired by the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Overall, eight major cities will launch busloads of Freedom Riders to join the caravan that will visit 70 host cities.

Close to 70 unions from the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay areas were represented in Saturday's rally, march and festival that started at Yerba Buena Gardens, wound along Market Street and culminated in front of City Hall. Also, nearly 100 community organizations showed up to bolster the Freedom Ride that will leave San Francisco on Tuesday morning.

Once the crowd had settled in front of City Hall, Dolores Huerta joined Gov. Gray Davis on stage to offer words of support for the Freedom Ride. Huerta is well know among farm workers and immigrant groups from her days of marching with Caesar Chavez and during the formation of the United Farm Workers.

Marcher Leroy Cisneros of Oakland said he felt the Freedom Ride was a groundswell movement.

"This is a strong grassroots organization," he said. "We've got unions out here, church groups and organized labor. This ride will have a big effect on the next presidential election. It's great to see all the people come out and show this kind of support. It's a powerful movement."

Jim Homer of Santa Cruz said he joined the march with a group from the Monterey Bay area from Local 270 of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz.

"Today is important because it helps continue to draw attention to immigrant rights," Homer said. "Immigrants need to have the opportunity to live decent lives and to earn a decent living. This march should be a focus on justice for all workers here and abroad."

Several marchers took time to step aside and thank San Francisco police officers that aided in traffic control along the route. One officer said the crowd, which he estimated to be about 2,500, was peaceful and well organized.

The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride will stop in Washington, D.C., Oct. 1 and 2 to meet with members of Congress to express the need for changes in immigrant laws. The chief goal of the ride is to demonstrate a broad national constituency for meaningful reform of immigration laws, while also encouraging civic participation by new and future citizens.

Steven Yip of the Chinese Progressive Association said: "We need to let the media and the public know that it is important to raise current wages from $6.75 to $8.50 an hour. The cost of living around much of the Bay Area is very high. Most immigrant workers get very low wages."

The original Freedom Ride began in 1961 when uprisings in the South grew despite a Supreme Court ruling that segregation, particularly in bus stations and waiting rooms, was unconstitutional. Freedom Rides were formed to show support for integration but violence emerged and one bus was firebombed in Alabama and white and blacks were attacked.

On Oct. 4 and 5, The Freedom Riders will meet in Flushing Meadows Park in New York.

[JustPiper]

Original Thread

Freeps are already being organized in Kansas,Reno and Nogales/Tucson...we are short on time, here is the ride schedule:
September 23--Buses depart from L.A. Contact Sylvia Carranza, 213-381-5611, ext. (*)851, for more information.

September 23--Labor Rally, 1:30 pm,Tyson's food, Wallulla, WA. IWFR Celebration, 3 pm, Volunteer Park, Pasco, WA. Contact Jim Price for more information.

September 25--Minnesota Route Send-Off Festival, 5-9 pm. Powderhorn Park, South Minneapolis. Contact Suzanne Murphy or 612-379-4311.

September 26--Denver, CO, 6-9 pm at St. Joseph's Church, 6th and Galapago, in Denver. Contact Leslie Moody at 303-477-6111 x12.

September 27--Chicago Send-Off Rally. Illinois Coalition, 10:00 a.m., Federal Plaza (Dearborn at Adams Street in the Loop). Contact Lucy Scharbach for more information lscharbach@herelocal1.org or 312-663-4373 x260.

September 27--Immokalee, FL, 12:00 - 2:00 PM. Rally, walking tour of farmworking community, and lunch! Meet and park at Coalition of Immokalee Workers' office building - 215F W. Main St. (corner of 3rd St. and Main). Contact Coalition of Immokalee Workers (workers@ciw-online.org) for more information.

September 28--Boston Send-Off Rally, 4 pm, Faneuil Hall. Contact Brian Lang (617) 423-3335 for more information.

October 1--Baltimore, Noon, University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus, Welcome the Freedom Riders from Minnesota and rally for in-state tuition for Maryland’s immigrant high school students.

October 1-- Washington, DC, 6:30 p.m. Bible Way Temple, 1100 New Jersey Ave., N.W. Welcome all the Freedom Riders to DC!

October 2--Meet with Congress

October 2--Washington DC, 7 p.m. Farragut Square (K St., N.W., between Connecticut Ave. and 17th St.) March in Solidarity with workers in the D.C. parking industry (most of whom are immigrants).

October 3--Rally at Liberty State Park in New Jersey 2 pm.

October 4--Mass rally in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York

Next week we are planning a phone-in blitz beginning 9-28 to Congress for those who cannot protest.

Thanx to TancredoFan for this info!

FAIR - September 22, 2003 Fight Against Illegals Involved in "Freedom Ride" A coalition of illegal alien advocacy organizations is sponsoring a "Freedom Ride" consisting of illegal aliens demanding worker rights, driver's licenses, in-state tuition benefits, general public assistance, amnesty, and open borders. The so-called "Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride" began on September 1 and will culminate in events in Washington, DC on October 2 and New York City on October 4.
More.......

[JustPiper]

Action Ping starting today until 10-4!

[Pro-Bush]

You are making a difference JustPiper! ...BUMP

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP

[RonF]

This bus should be met at it's first stop by INS agents.

[JustPiper]

Thank you, as are you ;)
M & M -remember!

[JustPiper]

This bus should be met at it's first stop by INS agents.

Sure, in a perfect world, that's why we have Walgreens' (LOL oops)...INS/DHS has put out the word that they are not to be touched, deported or arrested on their cross country trek!

[JustPiper]

Please help this problem FAIR has made it easy!:
Legislative Action Center

Tell A Friend

I've also used this for contacting media, etc.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Where is Homeland Security, when two bus loads of illegal invaders can travel around the country, flaunting their ctime, giving law enforcement and the INS a one fingered salute?

Does anyone in Government give a damn about enforcing the law and protecting American citizens from scofflaw criminals?

Apparently not!

[JustPiper]

I know many Freeper's don't believe in the email approach, but we 'must' hit government at every angle. Email,Calls, they will not know if they are coming or going if we use FAIR's form letters, for the issues are all spelled out. Believe me if they each are sent a dozen or so letters and asked to pass legislation etc., and then they get stacks of notes on phone calls, they will be blindsided enough to respond! FAIR has made this so easy, please utilize it:
Here

[JustPiper]

They have done the exact opposite FJ, this is why we must flood their email,fax,phones and show up to greet the marcher's!

[non-anonymous]

Just a hypothetical... if you had proof that someone was an illegal alien, could you demand that an officer of the law make an arrest? Seems to me it's one thing for police to ignore enforcement on their own, but quite another when they ignore a citizen's complaint.

When I lived in Boston, police ignored many issues, like public urination, public drinking, illegal parking, etc. right in front of my home, but had to enforce it if someone made a complaint.

Just curious...

[Spiff]

These AFL-CIO idiots are abandoning the legacy of their much revered Cesar Chavez. He and his bunch used to beat the snot out of illegals and send them back home. They didn't want their jobs stolen or their wages depressed.

[searchandrecovery]

Please keep posting info like this as the dates approach - nothing like an honest protest.