May 1 March and Festival To Go Ahead -- Community Calls for Immigrants' and Labor Rights

"Everybody recognizes that the system is broken.  Why would there be any reason to keep that system going for any amount of time until we can change it?" Eduardo Cardenas, a member of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition, is discussing the May 1 March for Immigrants' and Workers' Rights. MIRAc, the May 1 coalition and community members call for an executive order to halt immigration raids and deportations until a comprehensive immigration reform bill is passed, unconditional legalization for all immigrants, driver's licenses for all and the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

The permit application for the May 1 Immigrants' and Workers' Rights March was intially denied.  After meeting with MIRAc and the May 1 Coalition and after the City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the march,  the city and the police department have agreed to coordinate with organizers in lieu of permits so that the march and festival can go ahead as planned.  The march begins at 4pm at Lake Street and 13th Avenue South in Minneapolis and is followed by a community festival at Lake and Nicollet from 5pm to 8pm.

Cardenas points out that most political marches in Minneapolis are unpermitted and that the permit process itself is designed primarily for parades and block parties. "We (organizers of the march) met with Deputy Chief of Police Robert Allen and a representative from the Mayor's office (Erica Prosser, Director of Constituent Services and Outreach) in order to coordinate security for the march and they were very helpful and we feel extremely confident that the event will go very smoothly," says Cardenas in an email.

Cardenas says that the May 1 march is part of the effort to get "a real seat at the table" in the upcoming debate over immigration reform at the federal level, "so that it's not left up to politicians or corporations."  The goal of the march, says Cardenas, is "to bring awareness of what's really going on, to invite more members of our community to get involved and continue to build momentum for what's going to be reform that we've all been fighting for."

In addition to legalization for all and a moratorium on raids, the May 1 Coalition stresses the importance of driver's licences for all.  "[It's] really key to the whole issue of who you are.  There's a lot of problems right now that are caused by a lack of a legitimate way of getting papers and getting a job.  It really forces people to take on these other identities.  They do everything they can to keep secret, to hide, not to be public and be confident, to participate in our society like everybody else," says Cardenas. Without a license, immigrants have fewer choices of employment, insurance and other important matters, becoming more vulnerable to  bad working conditions, exorbitant fees for services and other forms of exploitation.  Without licenses, immigrants are also face police harassment at routine traffic stops.  In Minnesota, says Cardenas, there is a group of Latina mothers who have taken on this campaign and helped push through a legislative proposal in the MN House and Senate to amend the list of documents that can be used in order to apply for a driver's license.

MIRAc and the May 1 coalition also support the Employee Free Choice Act, pending federal legislation which would make it easier for workers to unionize and create stronger penalties for unfair labor practices.  "Because of --I think--incredibly disgusting attacks [on the Act] paid for by corporations, it's very confusing for a lot of people, especially immigrant communities, immigrant workers--they're not really clear what this would mean."  The Act, says Cardenas, "would improve lives and living conditions of many immigrant workers and at the same time all workers."

Cardenas emphasizes the opportunity for Twin Cities activists to share their experience and build solidarity across workers', immigrants' and community members' struggles.  "There's incredible support [for immigrants' rights] especially from Twin Cities allies. One of the things that we really want to do this time around with a community festival rather than just a march--have an opportunity to exchange experience."