By Juniper Rose
Hispanic Link News Service, Washington, DC
A showdown between immigration reform advocates and reactionary hardliners in the U.S. House of Representatives may be finally at hand. Buoyed by months of grassroots pro-immigrant lobbying and skillful strategizing led by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois, some 80 major coordinated rallies mixing progressive and moderate supporters will be staged throughout the nation on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Participants in these and countless community events will demand that the House, where Republicans prevail over Democrats 233-200, votes to accept a path to citizenship for a pool of some 11 million undocumented immigrants now residing in this country. About 60 percent of them are Hispanic.
The Oct. 5 “National Day for Dignity and Respect” event, referred to as “La Gran Marcha por la Libertad y Respeto” in Spanish, will wind up at the Capitol steps.
Three months ago the Senate, where Democratic members hold a 56-42 sway, passed by a two-to-one margin SB744, legislation that includes a 13-year “path to citizenship” provision. Projections are that, weighing attendant costs, restrictions and other factors, projections are more than half would go the route.
There is sufficient support in the House to pass a bipartisan bill that ultimately offers citizenship if Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) allows a vote, Gutiérrez maintains. With an average of more than 1,100 undocumented immigrants still being deported daily, by next month two million will have been sent home since 2009, continuing to tear thousands of families apart, he says. “Many of us have been fighting in different quarters. Some say stop the deportations, others say (sealing) the border is the most important focus. On Oct. 5 we will all be united,”
If Republicans decline to accept the proposal, they must bring their own proposition to the table to keep the issue moving forward, he insists. “We’re not going away. The deportations continue and they continue to have a devastating effect. There are more than 4 million American-citizen children who have parents that are undocumented. Once they are deported, they are gone.”
Yves Gomes, a U.S. citizen whose undocumented parents were deported to their native India in 2009, is a member of the Youth Dream Committee, an affiliate of United We Dream.
Now 21, he and his 13-year-old brother haven’t seen them in five years. On every birthday and holiday the closest they can get is a Skype call, he told me and other reporters at a Sept. 8 news conference on Capitol Hill, directing his plea to President Obama and Congress. “Imagine, you want to reach out and give them a hug, and all you can do is touch the computer screen.
“It hurts,” Yves concluded, “We’re American. At the time of their deportation, my parents were American.” His father was employed in a hotel and his mother was a college teacher studying for her Ph.D.
Honduras native Patricia Montes, a member of National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities’ board of directors, and executive director of Centro Presente in Massachusetts, spoke about her own family at the same event.
Many members of Montes family are undocumented, she related. Her older brother was deported a few years ago, but changes in immigration regulations may help keep some of her family together.
“Within our communities we must try as strongly as we can on October 5, not just for immigration reform,” Montes said. “We must be prepared for the long haul to keep demanding respect and dignity for our communities.”
Following the demonstrations nationwide, a rally and concert for immigrant dignity and respect is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 8, 12:30-6 p.m, at the National Mall.
(Juniper Rose is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service based in Washington, D.C. Email her at juniperrose@gmail.com)
