Immigrant workers to seek rights in nationwide action

The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride is coming to Albany on Sept. 30.

Inspired by the "freedom rides" of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, immigrant workers from across the country will stop in cities from coast to coast to raise awareness of "outdated and, in some cases, unjust immigration laws that don't reflect present situations," said Barbara DiTommaso, director of the Albany diocesan Office for Peace and Justice.

Three busloads of immigrant workers and their supporters from the Chicago area will stay in Albany overnight, before heading to Washington, D.C., to meet other buses from Los Angeles, Portland, and Houston for an Oct. 1-2 rally. The buses will then travel to New Jersey and Queens for more rallies.

Seeking rights

According to Prairie Wells, outreach coordinator for the Capital District Area Labor Federation, the event hopes to "draw attention to the fact that so many immigrants don't have the basic constitutional rights that citizens have -- and the barriers to citizenship are very, very hard."

According to Ms. Wells, the Capital District is home to a rapidly growing immigrant population, with people from French Guyana, Eastern Europe and the Middle East looking for a future within the area.

"Immigrant workers do some of the most difficult and dirty jobs in our society," said Ms. DiTommaso, including work in the hospitality industry, janitorial services and farm work.

"We have people living here who are contributing to the tax base," said Ms. Wells. "They tend to be people who are working very hard and contributing to the economy. These workers deserve to have a voice on the job; they have the right not to be exploited; they should have a clearer road to citizenship."

Seeking redress

The workers hope to petition lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide equal rights to workers regardless of legal status, and freedom from the exploitation that sometimes erases vacations, days of rest, bathroom breaks, healthcare and sanitary code enforcement from an immigrant's workday.

Language barriers, heavy pressure from employers to stay quiet about possible issues and the fear of retribution or deportation keep some immigrant workers from seeking such redress, Ms. Wells said.

Local events

A rally in support of the immigrants' causes will be held in Washington Park in Albany, to be followed by a pot-luck supper at Trinity United Methodist Church. Members of the community will host the workers overnight.

"Our hope is that through this coalition-building effort, we can bring together people from the religious and faith communities, the immigrant community, and the working-class community to really create a base from which we can pressure our representatives to support immigration reform nationally," Ms. Wells said. "Most of us can trace ourselves back to one immigrant wave or another."

"This isn't somebody else's problem," Ms. DiTommaso added. "This is an issue of human rights. The first human right is the right to life, and that includes the right to earn a living. Everybody's first responsibility is to survive. This is our business, too."

(The Capital District Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Committee will charter two buses from Albany to attend the Oct. 4 rally in Queens. Seats cost $25 per person; a scholarship is available for those who cannot afford it. For more information about the buses, to volunteer to provide food for the supper or to host a rider overnight, contact Prairie Wells at 785-4672.)

(9/11/03) [[In-content Ad]]