An Immigrants Rights Rally in San Jose California

On May 1, 2011 I went to downtown San Jose, California to participate in a march for immigrant rights. It is an important issue for me as the child of Filipino immigrants to support the rights of latino immigrants, especially since many of these immigrants have been exploited for their cheap labor while being denied many rights to redress injustices inflicted upon them. It’s something that other immigrant groups from past have suffered through as well, from the Chinese and Irish immigrants of the nineteenth century to the Filipino, Japanese and Mexican immigrants of the twentieth century. I only began attending public demonstrations about two years ago, when I first attended a vigil for health care reform, and I’ve learned a lot from walking with activists and listening to their stories. In American history, there is a proud tradition of grassroots activism, of the early abolitionists, women suffragists, labor organizers, civil rights protesters, antiwar activists, and feminists. I think the people who partipated in the immigrants rights march are in the spirit of the early Founding Fathers who wanted an involved and active citizenry willing to petition for their rights.

Before I went on the march I took a side trip to San Jose State University to see an arch that is dedicated to Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers Union. I had seen this in a friend’s facebook page and wanted to see it in person. In the arch is a mosaic of Cesar Chavez, Gandhi, and Dolores Huerta. A quote from Cesar Chavez reads

A word as to the education of the heart. We don’t believe that this could be imparted through books; it can only be imparted through the loving touch of the teacher

I had never been in a march this long before and was excited by the various groups that were participating. We walked down Santa Clara Street for what seemed like a few miles. It didn’t seem that long to me. The participants were in a very good mood and in the sidewalk, various people were gathered in support of the march. Most of the crowds in the sidewalk were Hispanic and they waved American and Mexican flags, and they seemed very proud of the display of national pride at both Mexico and the U.S. Intermingled were Vietnamese, Indian, and Caucasians, all cheering their support. The San Jose Mercury had an article by Lisa Krieger that talked about the diversity of the march:

But San Jose’s march was equally passionate, and more ethnically diverse, compared with the original event, with Native American, Chinese, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant activists joining in song, chants and placard-waving. They were joined by clusters of union activists who vowed to fight the spread of anti-labor efforts seen in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
“They all have perseverance in common,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese, who has spoken at all five San Jose rallies. “There’s frustration, but not resignation.

“We’ve been asking for five years. These are hardworking men and women, and we need to create a path to citizenship,” he said. “The federal government has failed to tackle this.”

Among the marchers were Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders. The same article stated:

Amid a sea of Mexican flags, clergy members offered voices of support.
“It is a test of a society, how it treats its immigrants,” said Rabbi Melanie Anon of Shir Hadash synagogue in Los Gatos. The Rev. Jose Pedigo of San Jose’s St. Julie Billiart Parish said, “We are the foundation of change. “… We are all in this together.”

Samina Sunas of American Muslim Voice said the Prophet Muhammad instructed his followers to give half their food and water to newcomers.

“There should be no ‘illegals’ here,” said Yasmin Vanya, also of American Muslim Voice. “We’re here to show our support on behalf of the whole Muslim community, to ask President Obama to honor his election campaign promises.”

During the march, I weaved in and out of the marchers taking photos and occassionally striking up conversations. One of the things I was most proud of was finding the Filipino American group Anakbayan Silicon Valley. According to their website, Anakbayan Silicon Valley is a national democratic youth and student organization that fights for education, employment, land, democratic rights, and social services for Filipinos in the U.S. and the Philippines. Anakbayan Silicon Valley believe all youth are agents of social change and works with Filipino youth of all backgrounds — immigrant, US-born/raised, student, working, LGBTQ, women, artists, etc — to create systemic change. I wanted to join them in their chanting but I don’t know tagalog and couldn’t follow what they were saying.

Much as Mexican workers are coming to the United States to work, Filipinos are going out of the country to find work and many are exploited in their overseas jobs in Asia, the Middle East, Canada and the United States. The exploitation of Filipino domestic workers and nannies is prevalent in the U.S., Asia, and Africa, as typical labor protections most workers enjoy do not apply to Filpino immigrant workers. Attorney Ivy Suriyopas of the The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund said of a recent case that typifies many Filipino workers:

The prevalence of human trafficking cases involving domestic workers is striking. They are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse due to their isolation in the household and reduced protections under federal and state employment laws. In this case, our client was a recent immigrant with little knowledge of her rights, no familiarity with her surroundings or access to public transportation, and no known friends or family in the United States.

Here are some other groups that I found in the march.

The United Farmworkers of American was founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez and is the nation’s first successful and largest farm workers union. The UFW continues to organize in major agricultural industries in 10 states. Recent years have witnessed dozens of key UFW union contract victories, among them the largest strawberry, rose, winery and mushroom firms in California and the nation. In two years after being fired from Napa Valley’s Charles Krug-Mondavi winery, the UFW helped 24 employees get reinstated with back-pay with an 18 percent pay increase over the four-year contract and the workers will have the same seniority and classifications they did at the time they were discharged. The UFW signed a three-year contract with Dole Strawberry covering 1,500 California workers in the Oxnard and the Salinas/Watsonville area, giving them 3-4% annual wage increases and the company agreed to pay increased premiums to the union’s RFK Medical Plan to keep pace with the increased cost of providing health benefits. The UFW helped 6 women win a $1.68 million lawsuit against Kovacevich 5 Farms for refusing to hire women.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represent workers in supermarkets, meatpacking and meat processing plants, food processing plants, poultry processing plants and retail stores.

The Community Homeless Alliance Ministry ministry headed by Pastor Scott Wagers that tackles the issues of homelessness, gangs, mental illness, drug addition, broken families, and hopelessness that cripple many communities in our society.

Unite Here represents workers throughout the U.S. and Canada who work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, and airport industries. Unite Here has a diverse membership from many immigrant communities as well as high percentages of African-American, Latino, and Asian-American workers. The majority of UNITE HERE members are women.

Laborers Local 270 is chartered by the Laborers International Union of North America, AFL-CIO that provides representation and support for employees in both construction and industrial occupations in both the private and public sectors in the San Francico Bay area. These workers range from heavy equipment operators to laboratory technician, from city workers to policemen. Their geographic jurisdiction covers the California counties of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz and they offices in San Jose and Santa Cruz, California.

The San Jose Peace and Justice Center was founded in 1957 by individuals profoundly concerned about peace and justice issues, especially the growth of nuclear arsenals and atmospheric nuclear testing. The Peace and Justice Center continues to educate and engage the South Bay community around critical issues of peace and justice, through teach-ins, film showings, book discussion groups, and mass demonstrations.

The Service Employees International Union is the fastest-growing union in North America. Focused on uniting workers in three sectors to improve their lives and the services they provide, SEIU is the largest healthcare union, with more than 1.1 million members in the field, including nurses, LPNs, doctors, lab technicians, nursing home workers, and home care workers. They are also the largest property services union, with 225,000 members in the building cleaning and security industries, including janitors, security officers, superintendents, maintenance workers, window cleaners, and doormen and women SEIU is also the second largest public services union, with more than 1 million local and state government workers, public school employees, bus drivers, and child care providers

Here are other photos from the march.

I end this blog with a description of the Dream Act that Senator Richard Durbin is reintroducing to this session of Congress. It is an important bill in the immigration reform movement.

The DREAM Act would allow a select group of immigrant students with great potential to contribute more fully to America. These young people were brought to the U.S. as children and should not be punished for their parents’ mistakes. The DREAM Act would give these students a chance to earn legal status if they:

Came to the U.S. as children (15 or under)
Are long-term U.S. residents (continuous physical presence for at least five years)
Have good moral character
Graduate from high school or obtain a GED
Complete two years of college or military service in good standing

The DREAM Act would benefit the U.S. Armed Forces. Tens of thousands of highly-qualified, well-educated young people would enlist in the Armed Forces if the DREAM Act becomes law. The Defense Department’s FY 2010-12 Strategic Plan includes the DREAM Act as a means to help “shape and maintain a mission-ready All Volunteer Force.” Defense Secretary Gates, who supports the DREAM Act, says it “will result in improved recruitment results and attendant gains in unit manning and military performance.” General Colin Powell has also endorsed the DREAM Act, saying, “Immigration is what’s keeping this country’s lifeblood moving forward.”

The DREAM Act would stimulate the American economy. A UCLA study concluded that DREAM Act participants could contribute $1.4-$3.6 trillion to the U.S. economy during their working lives. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who supports the DREAM Act, says, “They are just the kind of immigrants we need to help solve our unemployment problem. It is senseless for us to chase out the home-grown talent that has the potential to contribute so significantly to our society.”

The DREAM Act includes important restrictions to prevent abuse. DREAM Act participants are not eligible for Pell and other federal grants and are subject to tough criminal penalties for fraud. DREAM Act applicants must apply within one year of obtaining a high school degree/GED or the bill’s enactment; and must prove eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence. To be eligible, an individual must submit biometric information; undergo background checks and a medical exam; register for the Selective Service; demonstrate the ability to read, write, and speak English; and demonstrate knowledge of the history and government of the U.S. An individual cannot qualify if he or she is ineligible for immigration relief on criminal or national security grounds.

The DREAM Act has broad bipartisan support in Congress and from the American people. In the 111th Congress, the DREAM Act passed the House and received a strong bipartisan majority vote from 55 Senators. According to a recent poll by Opinion Research Corporation, 70% of likely voters favor the DREAM Act, including 60% of Republicans.

The DREAM Act is supported by labor, business, education, civil rights and religious groups, including the AFL-CIO, the National PTA, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies like Microsoft and Pfizer, and dozens of colleges and universities.

Osama Bin Laden and Extremism

When I heard that Osama Bin Laden was killed, I had many mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was relieved that this man was no longer around to mastermind terrorist acts that would kill more innocent people. I hope Bin Laden’s death put closure for the family and friends of all the people that Bin Laden had a hand in killing. On the other hand, I felt uncomfortable celebrating the killing of a human being, no matter how evil that person has been. In many ways, the way people are acting now is probably similar to the way previous generations reacted to the death of Adolph Hitler or Jospeh Stalin.

Osama Bin Laden represents to me the type of extremism that is at the heart of so much terrorism. Because of Bin Laden, Al Queda and the Iranian revolution, most Americans tend to associate religious extremism with Islam, but all religions are plagued with examples of extremism. The three Abrahamic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam have had sad episodes of religious extremism where its partisans have used their religion to harass and kill those who do not hold their religious tenets.

In Pakistan, Muslim Salman Taseer, governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, and Christian Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister of minorities, were both killed for speaking out against the country’s blasphemy laws. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws punishes people for speaking out against the prophet Muhammad and it has been used by Islamist extremists to harass Muslims, Christians and other people who are not as extremist. According to an article by Shabhano Taseer, from 1986 to 2009, 479 Muslims, 340 Ahmadis, 119 Christians, 14 Hindus, and 10 others have been charged with blasphemy, according to the National Commission for Justice and Peace, an advocacy group set up by Pakistan’s Catholic bishops. Many of them were killed by Islamist vigilante groups.

The Christian minority in Pakistan has been especially harassed by the blasphemy laws. In one infamous case, Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, is awaiting a death sentence for blaspheming the prophet Muhammad. In the summer of 2009, some women workers pressured Aasia to renounce her Christian faith and accept Islam. Aasia resisted them and she asked what Muhammad had done for them. Salman Taseer was speaking out for the release of Aasia Bibi and for the rejection of the blasphemy laws in the country. Taseer was killed for speaking out.

Shabhano Taseer notes that eight days after her father Salman Taseer was killed, a court in Punjab sentenced a Muslim prayer leader and his son to life in jail for blasphemy. They were found guilty of tearing down a poster of a gathering to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws is a danger to all free thinking people. Taseer wrote:

The biggest danger faced by Islam comes from those who claim to serve it. Its first victims are its own adherents. But our fight against these forces of darkness—forces that seek to snuff out the voices they disagree with—must begin with the strengthening of basic law and order. The extremists are a small minority, but they’re raucously vocal, well armed, and well funded. They operate by instilling fear in those they oppose. This intimidation works all too well.

Some Christians in this country hear news like this and want to stereotype all Muslims as being extremists. Christianity, though, has its own sad history of religious extremism. From Torquemada and the Inquisition to the Salem Witch Trails to various Russian pogroms against Jews in the 19th and early 20th century, Christians have also had episodes where a group of extremists have persecuted Jews, Muslims and other minorities.

In Uganda, Evangelical Christians have been preaching anti-gay messages, which have been feeding into the homophobic prejudices that were already a part of the country’s culture. After American evangelicals held a series of workshops and rallies in Uganda against homosexuality in April 2009, Uganda legislator David Bahati introduced the anti-gay bill which strengthens the criminalisation of homosexuality in Uganda. Originally the bill imposed the death penalty for people who have engaged in homosexual acts, but after international pressure, the death penalty was dropped and life imprisonment was substituted for those people caught in homosexual acts. Furthermore, if passed, the bill will require anyone who is aware of an offense or an offender, including individuals, companies, media organisations, or non-governmental organisations who support LGBT rights, to report the offender within 24 hours. If an individual does not do so he or she is also considered an offender and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 250 “currency points” or imprisonment up to three years.

Many Christian groups in Uganda have pushed to have the Uganda Parliament to pass the anti-gay laws. Pastor Martin Ssempa, a charismatic and vocal opponent of homosexuality in Uganda, and Pastor Julius Oyet lead the Inter-Religious Taskforce Against Homosexuality. During the session with Speaker Kiwanuka, the Task Force presented a portion of over 2 million signatures it gathered from around Uganda in support of the bill.

Jeffrey Gettleman wrote in the January 27, 2011 edition of the New York Times

Many Africans view homosexuality as an immoral Western import, and the continent is full of harsh homophobic laws. In northern Nigeria, gay men can face death by stoning. In Kenya, which is considered one of the more Westernized nations in Africa, gay people can be sentenced to years in prison.

But Uganda seems to be on the front lines of this battle. Conservative Christian groups that espouse antigay beliefs have made great headway in this country and wield considerable influence. Uganda’s minister of ethics and integrity, James Nsaba Buturo, who describes himself as a devout Christian, has said, “Homosexuals can forget about human rights.”

At the same time, American groups that defend gay rights have also poured money into Uganda to help the beleaguered gay community.

In October, a Ugandan newspaper called Rolling Stone (with a circulation of roughly 2,000 and no connection to the American magazine) published an article that included photos and the whereabouts of gay men and lesbians, including several well-known activists like Mr. Kato.

The Mr. Kato referred to in this quote is David Kato, one of Uganda’s most outspoken gay rights activists. After an anti-gay newspaper published photos of Kato with other prominent Ugandan gays and lesbians with the words “Hang Them”, David Kato was beaten to death on January 26.

Extremism is not just the province of religion. There are many instances of secular extremism in history, from the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, the purges of Joseph Stalin to the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s and early 1970s.

All extremism, whether it is religious or secular, is bad. Barry Goldwater was wrong when he said that that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. I remember reading somewhere that a good idea taken to an extreme is no longer a good idea. I think all people are capable of good and bad. Nice people are capable of doing cruel things. Bad people are capable of surprising acts of kindness. Our human nature makes all people capable of great good and great evil. That was one of the reasons that the Founding Fathers of this country set up a series of checks and balances to allow a government of the people while offsetting a tyranny of the minority and a tyranny of the majority. I appreciate the checks and balances of the United States because it allows for the rule of the majority and the protection of the rights of the minority. It has produced the American melting pot where a toleration of different cultures and religions and races is valued. Thomas Jefferson wrote about the American freedom of religion from his Notes on the State of Virginia:

The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it be said his testimony in a court of justice cannot be relied on, reject it then, and be the stigma on him. Constraint may make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer man.

…Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitor? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well as public reasons. And why subject it to coercion? To produce uniformity. But is uniformity of opinion desirable? No more than of face and stature. Introduce the bed of Procrustes then; and , as there is a danger that the large men may beat the small, make us all of a size by lopping the former and stretching the latter.

Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of censor morum over each other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth. Let us reflect that it is inhabited by a thousand different systems of religion; that ours is but one of that thousand; that if there be but one right, and ours that one, we should wish to see the nine hundred and ninety-nine wandering sects gathered into the fold of truth. But against such a majority we cannot effect this by force. Reason and persuasion are the only practicable instruments. To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged; and how can we wish others to indulge it while we refuse it ourselves?

But every state , says an inquisitor, has established some religion. No two, say I have established the same. Is this a proof of the infallibility of establishments? Our sister States of Pennsylvania and New York, however, have long subsisted without any establishment at all. The experiment was new and doubtful when they made it. It has answered beyond conception. They flourished infinitely. Religion is well supported; of various kinds, indeed, but all good enough; all sufficiently to preserve peace and order; or if a sect arises whose tenets would subvert morals, good sense has fair play, and reasons and laughs it out of doors without suffering the state to be troubled with it.

They do not hang more malefactors than we do. They are not more disturbed with religious dissensions. On the contrary, their harmony is unparalleled and can be ascribed to nothing but their unbounded tolerance, because there is no other circumstance in which they differ from every nation on earth. They have made the happy discovery that the way to silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them. Let us too give this experiment fair play and get rid, while we may, of those tyrannical laws.

It is true we are as yet secured against them by the spirit of the times. I doubt whether the people of this country would suffer an execution for heresy, or a three years’ imprisonment for not comprehending the mysteries of the Trinity. But is the spirit of the people an infallible, a permanent reliance? Is it government? Is this the kind of protection we receive in return for the rights we give up? Besides, the spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence persecutor, and better men be his victims. It can never be too often repeated that the time for fixing every essential right on a legal basis is while our rulers are honest and ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we shall be going downhill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war will remain on long, will be made heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.