MayDay 2007 in den USA: Für die Rechte von MigrantInnen

Am 1. Mai 2006 forderten in den USA zehn Millionen MigrantInnen, AktivistInnen und UnterstützerInnen die Rechte von MigrantInnen. Sie legten ihre Arbeit nieder, gingen nicht zur Schule und unterbrachen ihren Alltag, um am "Tag ohne MigrantInnen" (A Day Without Immigrants) teilzunehmen. In mehr als 200 Städten quer durch die USA beteiligten sich die AktivistInnen an einem "Great Boycott of 2006". Sie streikten, demonstrierten und forderten mit symbolischen Aktionen die grundlegenden Rechte für alle MigrantInnen.

Der 1. Mai ist der internationale Tag der ArbeiterInnen, an dem in den vergangenen Jahren mehr und mehr die Arbeit von MigrantInnen und ihre Beiträge für die Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft der USA thematisiert wurden. Im Jahr 2007 wird erneut zu einem US-weiten Aktionstag aufgerufen, um auf die Situation von MigrantInnen hinzuweisen, wie die Verweigerung von Rechten, rassistische Gesetze, großangelegten Razzien mit unzähligen Verhaftungen, Internierung und Massenabschiebungen.

Portland Indymedia :: berichtet, dass sich die Proteste insbesondere gegen die Praxis der ICE (Einwanderungspolizei, Anm.) richten werden, die permanent Razzien bei Latino Communities durchführt und diese terrorisiert (siehe dazu :: Stops the Raids Communique - with Timeline (en/es)). Der 1. Mai 2007 wird im Zeichen des Protestes für die Rechte der MigrantInnen stehen. Für die Legalisierung aller Menschen!

Als Zeichen, die Unterstützung nach gleichen Rechten zum Ausdruck zu bringen, werden die AktivistInnen aufgefordert, weiße T-Shirts zu tragen. Weiters sind alle aufgefordert, selbst Aktionen am Mayday zu organisieren. Im Sinne eines dezentralen "Multi-Tactic May Day" werden die lokalen Gruppen eine entsprechende Form des Protestes wählen: Demonstrationen, Boykottten, Streiks, Kundgebungen, Community Veranstaltungen, Konferenzen oder Protesten gegen Behörden usw.

Zu Protesten wird u.a. aufgerufen in: Los Angeles (CA), Phoenix (AZ), New York (NY), Washington DC, San Francisco (CA), Chicago (IL), New Heaven (CT), Pittsburgh (PA), Dallas (TX), Iowa, Massachusetts.

Weitere Informationen (englisch) auf :: mayday2007.org (:: Immigrant Actions Calendar) und :: indymedia.us.

Die Forderungen

Das "Immigrant Solidarity Network" listet zehn gemeinsamen Forderungen auf, die auf einem :: offenen Brief vom 29. Jan 2007 an den Kongress basieren, und dort auch näher ausgeführt sind. Hier auf englisch:

1) No to anti-immigrant legislation, and the criminalization of the immigrant communities.
We oppose any immigrant legislation that will include criminalization of the immigrant community, "enforcement-only" bill, and the government surveillance program, such as: H.R. 4844 - Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 ("Voter ID bill"), H.R. 6089 - Illegal Immigrant Deterrence Act, H.R. 6090 - Immigration Enforcement Act, and H.R. 5825 - Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act ("Wire Tap bill"); we also oppose any government languages and legal terms that demonize immigrant communities, such as: "aliens" or "illegal aliens".

2) No to militarization of the border.
We oppose H.R. 6061 - Border Fence Bill that will fund a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and H.R. 6091 - Border Security Enhancement Act. It is believed that these pieces of legislation will terrorize the border immigrant communities. We believe this is a waste of tax payer money, forces migrants to cross borders at more dangerous and deadly locations, and fattens the profit margin of migrant smugglers.

3) No to the immigrant detention and deportation.
We oppose any legislation that will empower state and local law enforcement agencies to act as Federal government to enforce Federal immigration law, such as the CLEAR Act or legislation that authorize indefinite immigrant detention, speedy deportation and immigrant raids. We want the Congress to repeal these laws. We demand an improvement of the conditions of current immigrant detention facilities, we oppose future funding to build immigrant detention centers.

4) No to the guest worker program.
We are against an immigrant worker visa program that creates a two-tiered labor system, allowing corporations to pay lower wages to the visa workers, without offering strong labor protections to them including the right to change jobs, and no chance to gain U.S. citizenship.

5) No to employer sanction and "no match" letters.
We oppose any legislation to punish hard working undocumented workers because of their immigration status, and we want the Congress to repeal the employer sanction law. Historically it is not the employers that are punished by the law, but rather immigrant workers themselves. We also oppose 'No-Match' letter that could become de facto immigration enforcement tools since employers could use 'No-Match' Social Security letters to fire immigrants.

6) Yes to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
We support one tiered legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants in the United States to gain legal status within a reasonable amount of time with an opportunity for citizenship.

7) Yes to speedy family reunification.
We support legislation that provides additional visa numbers and eliminates long and inhumane family backlogs. We support the elimination of the 3 and 10 year bars for family members of citizens and permanent residents. We support the reinstatement of 245(i) adjustment inside the United States.

8) Yes to civil rights and humane immigration law.
Undocumented immigrants DO pay taxes, but are not eligible to receive any government benefits and assistance, we support legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants in the United States to receive government assistance and medical benefits, and guarantee of civil rights and legal assistance when immigrants are detained at immigration detention facility.

9) Yes to labor rights and living wages for all workers.
We support legislation which strengthens the enforcement of existing labor laws to protect immigrant workers rights. We support the right of workers to establish and join a union REGARDLESS of immigration status. It is important that undocumented immigrants do not face harassment or threats from the workplace because they are fighting for their labor rights and right to join the union.

10) Yes to the DREAM Act and LGBT immigrant legislation.
We support reintroduction of the DREAM Act and the extension of benefits to lesbian-gay-bi-sexual-transgender (LGBT) families within the family reunification laws, We support the passage of the Uniting American Families Act, and the lifting of the HIV ban on immigration.