Numerous groups of immigrants, including dozens of citizen children, children of undocumented parents, will march this Saturday 28 in April, Children’s Day, under the slogan Immigration Reform or We Remove !.
“We wanted to hold the march on Children’s Day, instead of May Day, because we have almost 6 million citizen children, whose parents are undocumented”, said Juan José Gutiérrez, leader of the Coalition for the Full Rights of Immigrants, one of the coordinating organizations of the Children’s Day march.
“The demand of these children is for immigration reform for their parents; and if they don’t give it to us, we promise to remove the politicians who during 40 years, they have promised us legalization and they have not complied”.
Gutiérrez recalled how the terrorist attacks of 9/11 ruined what everyone already took for granted, the immigration reform promoted by President Bush.
“Then Obama came, who despite having the majority absolute with the Democrats during the first two years of his government and not needing a single Republican vote, he did not prioritize immigration reform.
“Since then, they have brought us from here to there ; and at the hour of the hour, nothing. When President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party asked us for our vote in the presidential election of 2020, they promised us justice for undocumented immigrants.
“It hasn’t complied either. Now they say that between May and June, they are going to give immigrants great news. Perhaps it is a half solution because we are in an election year in which control of Congress is at stake”.
The march for immigration reform, the Day of the Child, on Saturday 10 in April, will leave at 11 in the morning from Olympic and Broadway streets to the City Hall building (City Hall
) where they will hold a rally for ordinary immigrants to speak.
“What we want to tell the politicians in this march is that if they don’t keep their promises, we won’t give them our vote anymore.”
Gutiérrez said disappointed that this year there will no longer be a reform migratory.
“I hope they at least give a solution to the dreamers”.
However, he stressed that on Children’s Day, they will make an urgent call to President Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to provide immigration reform with a path to citizenship.
Approximately 40 groups of immigrants will participate in the Children’s Day March.
“We have always made calls to unite and make a single march on May 1 and thus have greater chances of success, but we have not been able to achieve it,” observed Gutiérrez.
A contingent of US citizen children, essential workers, Catholics for immigration reform and members of the immigrant rights coalition will also participate in the Children’s Day march.
“On Children’s Day, and as a girl born in the United United, we are calling on President Biden and all members of Congress to work together to fulfill his campaign promise of immigration reform with a path to citizenship,” said Jersey Vargas, a high school student who became known to the world. when in 2014, he led a delegation of Angelenos who went to the Vatican to speak with Pope Francis and ask for your support for immigrant rights in the United States.
Juvenal Estrada, coordinator of MORENA in San Bernardino, said that for more than 35 For years they have worked with Democratic and Republican administrations to bring about immigration reform.
“It is time to recognize that we cannot lecture the world about human rights when right here in the United States, we have millions of United States citizen children whose parents are undocumented who have risked their lives to keep the country running during the pandemic; and who, despite paying taxes, cannot fully enjoy the fruits of their labor.”
So he said that the time for immigration reform is now”.
From the first day of his government, Biden presented a big proposal to give an immigration status to 10.5 million undocumented immigrants, with a path to citizenship within 8 years.
The president included in his final project of the act Build Back Better, a certain type of immigration reform to give 7 million undocumented immigrants the possibility of obtaining driver’s licenses, work permits and avoiding deportation.
The House of Representatives approved it in November, but it is still uncertain, and it is not possible for the Senate to approve it approve.
Labor and Immigrant Day
The professor and historian at Pomona College in Claremont, California, Miguel Tinker Salas, said that the migrant movements have made May 1, not only Worker’s Day but also Immigrant’s Day.
“Let us remember how the May 1 march of 2006, in the face of the imminent threat of the Sensenbrenner bill that sought to criminalize immigrants and those who helped, attracted more than a million people and managed to stop these repressive actions.”
He pointed out that at that time, there was a very particular situation, caused by the Sensenbrenner bill and the role of the media that caused immigrants to overflow into the streets on May 1.
“Right now we don’t have that situation, despite the fact that for 4 years, Trump made immigrants you are the scapegoat, and that we have a shrinking economy and rising inflation”.
But it is essential – he stressed – that immigrants go out and march; and if they cannot, at least show solidarity.
Professor Tinker Salas said that at this time, both parties , the Democrat and the Republican, have preferred to manipulate the issue of migration for their political ends, instead of focusing on immigration reform.
“They don’t see it as a priority. The Democratic Party has betrayed us because they take it for granted that they have the Latino vote. They think they have it in their pocket. That is why it is very important to pass the vote of punishment if they do not comply, because there is much they can do with executive actions, but they do not have the will”.