New York City Immigration Organizing And The National Call For Immigrant Rights

 

-- Zahida Pirani

 

In the last few months, millions of people across the United States have taken to the streets to protest unjust immigration policies.  For the first time in the country’s history, mainstream media, legislative leaders and even the president have recognized an immigrant rights movement and its extraordinary mobilizing power. Immigrant rights organizers, advocates and policy makers who have been working for decades have also been surprised by the outpouring of both undocumented and undocumented immigrants, naturalized and native born citizens marching together for just immigration policies.

 

Many of us who work everyday to further the rights of immigrants are asking ourselves, why now? As a community organizer working with diverse ethnic groups in New York City, the biggest obstacle I face is to help people overcome the paralyzing fear that keeps most communities, particularly undocumented immigrants, in the shadows. Where has this fear gone and why have people finally decided to leave their homes and their jobs to make sure American society finally recognizes the immense contributions immigrants make to our economy and society now?  In this paper, I will attempt to answer some of these questions.  But first a little bit of background.

 

Major national protests against anti-immigrant legislation began to take place after December 16, 2005, when the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 4437 (The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005), a very anti-immigrant bill authored and sponsored by Republican Represenative Jim Sensennbrenner from Wisconsin.  The bill is one of the most anti-immigrant bills to ever in the country’s history over the last century. It criminalizes undocumented immigrants and those people who “assist” undocumented immigrants. This includes priests, teachers, friends and others who work for social service agencies or institutions such as hospitals, schools, or charities.  The original version of the bill was even more draconian with and stated that the children of undocumented immigrants born in the U.S. would not be citizens. After much protest by immigrant advocacy groups and other opponents pointed out such a provision would be unconstitutional, the section was taken out. The bill also includes harsh border and security provisions that reflect the Bush administration’s attempts since 9/11 to equate immigrants with terrorists until proven innocent. This includes 700 miles added to the fence along the U.S-Mexican border and using employers to verify workers' legal status and creating a federal electronic database of all immigrant workers.

 

We have seen massive mobilizing over the last few months for several reasons. Many of us working in the immigrant rights field initially felt immense despair at the fact that such a blatantly oppressive bill could pass. However, the extremely harsh nature of the bill pushed thousands of people into the streets. Also, protests that began in other major cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago inspired hundreds of thousands of others across the country.  Many undocumented immigrants with whom I worked with in Queens told me that the large protests happening in other cities inspired them to come out of their homes with family, friends and neighbors.  May 1^st, National Day of Action, represents the most successful protest and boycott in the history of the immigrant rights movement in the U.S. because it was nationally coordinated.  The momentum and energy leading up to the day was clear because so many cities were participating.  

 

Extensive media coverage also determined the success of May 1^st and other nationally coordinated actions. In particular, Spanish radio and television across the country helped organize millions by both educating people about H.R. 4437 and mobilizing them. For the first time in the immigrant rights movement, organizers and advocates reached out to popular Spanish media outlets across the country and had them announce protests during April 10 and May 1^st, two of the largest national days of mobilization. Popular radio is a great organizing tool which we discovered in the last few months. Radio is much more accessible to working people during the day and resonates culturally with new immigrants from Latin America or South Asia where radio is often the primary mode of communication and also used in community organizing.

 

A “Latino” Movement

 

The media and some activists have been referring to the recent outpouring of immigrants as a “Latino” movement. This could not be farther from the truth. Of course, Latinos make up the largest percentage of new immigrants in the country (particularly undocumented immigrants), but many other communities have been in the immigrant rights struggle, particularly in major cities.

 

In Northwestern Queens, New York, over 10,000 people came out in some of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country. In Jackson Heights, Queens, organizers worked with many enthusisastic, local ethnic buisness owners and groups representing a diverse range of people. We planned a human chain there where for a short period of time, business owners shut down their stores and joined community members on the street to form a human chain in support of a national day of action and strike. Mexicans, Dominincans, Peruvians, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Irish, Korean and many other immigrants held hands on 37^th Avenue, where a vibrant string of locally-owned businesses are located.  Local merchant associations such as the Jackson Heights Merchants Association, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Bangladeshi Merchants Association worked together with community activist to make sure May1 was not only a success, but a grassroots, community organized event that represented the diversity of the area.  For the first time, organizers worked closely in Queens with locally-owned business to feel empowered as not only community residents, but small business owners who contribute everyday to the local economy.        

Those who equate the current movment only with the Latino community endanger what we are trying to do. Just because the media has christened it a Latino movment does not mean it is. Many of the labor unions involved in the struggle represent workers from various parts of the world. As community organizers, activists and advocates, we should not play into such labeling and be very conscious of how we describe the movement. As in Queens, we must constantly make a conscious effort to incorporate diversity into our work because the more communities that feel empowered can only make our movement stronger.  In Queens, we consciously worked with and reached out to the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi business people and local press precisley because we knew the media would try to frame it as a Latino protest. However, out Queens protest was covered nationally and internationally as representing the very diverse immigrant population in the area.

 

“Divididos”

 

Before May 1^st, several headlines and media outlets stated that the immigrant rights movement (after April 10) was divided. Labor unions could not fully support a boycott or general strike because there was no legal support if people were to lose jobs or arrested. Some CBO’s were pushing for a general strike that would translate the popular movies “A Day Without a Mexican” into “A Day Without an Immigrant.” Some supported a national boycott of all American corporations and brands. In NYC, other groups decided to form human chains in several immigrant neighborhoods where local, immigrant businesses shut down for part of the day in solidarity with a “National Day of Action.”

 

When the media picked up that there was no unified stance or way of doing things, it took center stage.  While it is true that instiutions representing immigrants must work more closely together, the various options available to people on May 1 demonstrated that it was a diverse movement with different players and sectors working from different angles.  Also, this demonstrated that affected people on the ground really determined how May 1 would play out and to what extent were willing to participate. For example, whicle many knew the consequences of missing work could possibly lead to losing their jobs, many people participated in a general strike anyway. Others decide that participating in actions during lunch time or late afternoon was more viable. The beauty of May 1 ist that people could chose their level of particpation because there were so many options available. Also, because immigrant rights organizers, activists and leaders were conscious of the the media’s tendency to portray a divided movement, we became very conscios of how we talked about May 1 as a coordinated, National Day of Action that involved hundred of groups across the country and millions of people. For example, our organization decided to organize around the local human chains. Many reporters shaped their questioning of our event as if it were in opposition to the boycott or general strike. The framing of the question and issue did not throw us off and coverage of May 1 nationally and internationally did not portray us divided, but instead, a nuanced movement.

           

Conclusion

 

The tragedy of the last few months is that immigrant rights leaders, activists, organizers, advocates and union leaders in NYC did not expect the numbers that have come out over the last few months. Many were particulalry taken aback when millions of people across the country actually observed a general strike on May 1.

 

Because of this complete lack of faith in the base and its capacity to mobilize,  policy advocates have not done a good job of pushing hard for a decent immigration bill that is comprehensive.  Currently, the best bill out there is horrible. It is a Senate compromise bill, S. 2611, that sets up a three-tiered system where many undocumented immigrants would not be able to legalize. It also increases border security, calls for more guest-worker programs and calls for the expansion of an electronic, employer-verified database of all undocumented workers.  This bill would ultimately be combined with the draconian H.R. 4437, which means a horrible situation overall.

 

Words such as “legalization” are being used instead of “amnesty” because of a general fear of the U.S. legislation equating immigrants with terrorists. However, what has happened is that we have compromised too much even before reaching the negotiating table. We have forgotten the power that grassroots organizing and a unified base can achieve even in the worst of times.  President Bush, shortly after the May 1 protests, gave a special televised address on immigration. Despite the horrible emphasis on security, border protections and support of guest worker programs, the president publicly supported the idea of legalization for the first time.  The House of Representatives is also seriously considering lessening the felony charges in H.R. 4437 for undocumented immigrants and those who aid them.  These two events are indicators of the type of power we’ve generated over the past few months. The mistake we’re making is not recognizing this power.

 

We have not seen a major protest since May 1. It seems that the immigrant rights movement will lose its momentum if we do not act now. Many recognize that the current House and Senate bills are not a solution to the country’s broken immigration system. So, we must again and again, call people into the streets until we get real, comprehensive immigration reform that includes legalization and a concrete path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants.

Zahida Pirani is an immigrant rights activist based in New York City