Statewide network calls for national forces fighting for workers, migrant and immigrant rights to gather in Los Angeles on the eve of the AFL-CIO Convention
Sloganeering with our ‘Sí Se Puede,’ Barack Obama promised “Latino” voters back in 2008 that within the first year of his term there would be ‘reforma migratoria’. That was over four years ago and since then, nearly 2 million undocumented workers and families deported, in addition to the approximately 300 annual deaths along the U.S./Mexico border and the countless thousands that languish in government and private detention centers. His so-called immigration reform promise was forgotten until a handful of senators, ironically and respectfully referred to by the controlled corporate media as the ‘Gang of Eight,’ met to develop, propose and push through a bi-partisan pact.
U.S. Senate narrowly approved the proposal, Border Security, Economic Prosperity and Immigration Modernization Act (S.744), and has turned out to be anything but a response to the need for “immigration reform.” It is clear that it is an open attack on both documented and undocumented workers that will set the stage for the further militarization of the border, expand guest worker drives reminiscent of the infamous “bracero” programs, provide for an obstacle gauntlet of conditions for the two thirds of the population that qualify, and unleash a national security surveillance state on the rest of us at a level never seen before. S.744 is being presented as the best hope for some type of “comprehensive immigration reform” under the current administration. The likelihood that the House of Representatives adopt S.744 has been reported as a slim-to-none probability. Moreover, what has been predicted is that a more severe and penalizing version will result from the more conservative body.
Various national organizations, unions, and non-profits have also joined the ‘something is better than nothing’ bandwagon. It appears that most of these mainstream groups have capitulated and,despite offering mild critiques, have endorsed S.744.
However, for the past several months, California-based progressives and independents have forged an alliance – the United Front for Justice and Dignity (UFJD), to organize and expose the so-called S.744 immigration reform proposal. As a result of meetings, a call has been made to come together in Los Angeles this coming Saturday, September 7, 2013, 9am-6pm at the United for Teachers-Los Angeles building, 3303 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA. Part of the convention goals are to unite and strategize on how to inform, educate and convince unions and the community at large to stand on the side of the workers on the issue of immigration. The AFL-CIO national convention will be gathering from September 8-13th in Los Angeles, and the UFJD plans on distributing material outlining a more humane immigration policy analysis and demands to convention delegates that they stop the AFL-CIO push to endorse S.744.
This past week, the International Longshoreman Workers Union officially broke ties with the AFL-CIO due in large part to the AFL-CIO’s weak stance on immigrant rights. This is a positive development, pressure must be re-doubled and the UNITED FOR JUSTICE AND DIGNITY NATIONAL MIGRANT LABOR CONVENTION is an important opportunity for this.
The Raza Press and Media Association will attend and report on the convention. We are encouraging everyone that is concerned with workers’ rights and immigration reform to attend this important event. We are especially making a call for independent media workers to attend and correct the misleading propaganda being sold to the public by the corporate media.
The Raza Press and Media Association – Mesa Directiva