Thousands Rally For
Immigration Rights
by jeremy miller

Riccardo Corral and Alfredo Fianco didn’t let their handicaps stop them from joining in the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride last Saturday. Photos Jeremy Miller

Ricardo Corral and his friend Alfredo Fianco, both handicapped activists, rode their specially designed recumbent bikes 17 hours a day, for three consecutive days to complete the 280-mile trip between Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Corral, who was born in Ecuador and has lived for the last three years in the Parkchester neighborhood of The Bronx, was one of an estimated 100,000 people who attended the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride (IWFR) rally in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on Saturday afternoon, October 4.

"There were a lot of hills, but it was a good ride for a good cause," said Corral who lost the use of his legs in an automobile accident in 2000. "I decided to make the ride to fight for our rights and so that my family can stay in this country."

The focus of the IWFR rally was bringing the plight of undocumented immigrant workers in the United States to the political forefront.

IWFR organizers chose Queens as the venue for Saturday’s event because of the county’s tremendous diversity, which was confirmed by the colorful blend of national flags that flew above the large and vocal crowd. A diverse crowd of activists, union leaders, politicians, students and entertainers lent their support on the overcast afternoon.

For two weeks before Saturday’s event, nearly 1,000 immigrant workers from 10 cities across the country boarded buses and set out on the road to Washington D.C. to promote their civil and workers rights agenda to Congressional leaders.

In attendance were several national, state and community leaders including Congressmember Charles Rangel, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and New York City Central Labor Council President Brian McLaughlin, all of whom pledged their support for the organization and its efforts to improve conditions facing undocumented workers across the country.

Cardinal Edward Egan of the Archdiocese of New York also addressed the crowd, first in Spanish, then in English, and urged those in attendance to consider the turmoil wrought on families separated by illegal migration and driven by the promise of financial opportunity to the United States.

"We cannot simply ignore the plight of our brothers and sisters," Egan said. "Families are being damaged by cruel separation and . . . shameful advantage is being taken of men and women in the work force who do not have proper papers."

IWFR Chairperson and Organizer Maria Elena Durazo has been an advocate for immigrant workers since she began organizing sweatshop labor unions in Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

During her address she explained the goals of the IWFR, which are to increase exposure and advocacy for undocumented immigrants and to push for reform of current United States immigration laws.

Specific initiatives of the group include helping immigrants gain legal work status and citizenship, reuniting separated families, granting immigrant workers equal rights in the workplace and guaranteeing the civil rights of all individuals living and working in the United States.

Those who attended the Thursday rally in Washington advocated the passing of a new amnesty bill, chiefly endorsed by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho). The proposed bill, known as S. 1645, would grant legal status to 500,000 farm workers and their families, as well as to other immigrants who have lived more than five years in the country and have obtained diplomas from American high schools.

However, a similar bill was blocked in 2000 by Senate majority leaders Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) and Phil Gramm (R-Texas)

Opponents of the bill, including many prominent Republicans on the Hill, say that extending amnesty to illegal immigrants sets a dangerous precedent and poses a threat to an already ailing economy with, according to Department of Labor figures, 9 million people, or 6 percent of the workforce, unemployed.

The "freedom riders," inspired by the 1960s civil rights movement, began their travels in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis After converging on Washington D.C. on October 1 and 2, the riders moved on to Liberty State Park in Jersey City for a gathering and then on to the culminating rally in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Entertainment which featured a multicultural lineup including Haitian-born, New York City singer/songwriter Wyclef Jean, was also part of the afternoon bill.