Liu participates in immigrant rights rally
10.27.06 - Posted by AsiansVote
Good for New York City Council member John Liu for taking part in an immigrant rights rally at Union Square. From www.workers.org:
Activists from the South Asian, African American, Caribbean, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Asian Pacific Islander communities spoke of the relationship of their struggles to economic and social crises in the developing countries and immigration.
In the bright fall sunshine, eight-year-old Joshua James told how he felt when, three years ago, “Daddy was taken to jail in his bathrobe and deported to Jamaica. The government says it is for families,” said Josh. “But I miss my daddy and the government took him away.”
New York City Councilperson John Liu questioned a government which says it is in favor of family values while conducting an immigration policy which destroys families, leaving children like Josh orphaned by deportation raids.
In the face of anti-immigrant hysteria, people of color need to stand together. Kudos for folks like John Liu for helping build those multiracial coalitions.
UPDATE: For more pictures and background on the rally, visit the New York United for Immigrant Rights blog. And here's a "New York Daily News" article by Albor Ruiz with some pre-rally background and a quote from another Asian American activist, Monami Maulik of Desis Rising Up and Moving:
DRUM - Desis Rising Up and Moving - a group that organizes low-income South Asian immigrants, mainly from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, is also part of New York United.
"South Asians make up the fastest-growing ethnic community and second-largest Asian immigrant community in the city," said DRUM's founder, Monami Maulik. "And after 9/11, we have been targeted and racially profiled. South Asians, especially the young, are routinely asked for their immigration papers by police and by city agencies in New York, despite Executive Order 41. We want this to stop."
10.27.06 |
Candidates & Leaders
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Immigration
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Issues
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John Liu
