: United They Stand: Legal And Illegal Gather To Rally As Immigration Reform Put On Hold

The Open Call

As politicians engage in debate, America’s Baby Boomers are aging and the nation’s immigrant population is growing. On Sunday, Jackson Height’s 37th Avenue was choked with moseying shoppers, lunchtime diners, rickety strollers, and rallying immigrants.

“No nos moverán,” they sang across the street from U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley’s (D-Jackson Heights) office. “We are not moving.”

Community groups including the Latin American Integration Center, New Immigrant Community Empowerment, Humanist Center of Queens, Queens Community House and the New York Civic Participation Project held up signs that read, “Did Christopher Columbus have a Green Card” and “We can’t wait. Legislation now.”

They gathered to urge the House of Representatives to introduce legislation that would create a “broad and workable path to citizenship that would legalize the 12 million undocumented immigrants, a pragmatic and humane worker program that regulates future migration and includes a path to citizenship for these workers, a clear commitment to the reunification of families, a restoration of fundamental due process and civil rights to our immigration system.”

Foreign-born joined the American-born in Jackson Heights to show that although the bill was dead, the immigrant communities in Queens and across the nation were very much alive.

The Timeframe

Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director of the New York Immigrant Coalition directly addressed the House.

“You have no excuse to hide behind the Senate,” she said. She called the Senate “cowardly politicians who don’t want to solve the problem. These are the wimps.”

Andrea Andrede, a representative from Crowley’s office, was present to read a statement on the Congressman’s behalf.

“I stand in solidarity with you that comprehensive reforms to our immigration system must be enacted this year,” she read. “While the Senate immigration reform bill was far from perfect, I am deeply disappointed that Republicans blocked the advancement of this legislation – voting to prevent a final up-or-down vote on the measure. It is time for Congress to address this issue.”

It has been 20 years since the last major piece of immigration legislation. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 criminalized the hiring of illegal immigrants by introducing harsh penalties for those who employed them as well as the I-9 form for prevention.

The Immigrant Plight

Farzana Morshed from the Jackson Heights Community House spoke eloquently about the immigrant condition.

“I want to grieve,” she said. “It is like we are floating, hanging in the air waiting for our futures to be decided.” She called from a workable path to citizenship, family reunification and an end to deportation.

French immigrant David Andersson said that legislation won’t pass until the leadership wants to pass it. He had come with the Humanist Center of Queens and stood before the crowd to introduce the diverse lineup of speakers. He didn’t choose to speak on Sunday, and was instead distributing an article he had written in response to the Senate vote.

“What this boils down to, behind all the fancy language, is pure discrimination,” he wrote. “Don’t we remember the fight for women’s rights to vote or the African-American civil rights movement?”

Christina Jimenez, an organizer with the Latin American Center asserted that the Queens immigrant community is diverse but united.

“We need the same thing, have the same dreams, and the same needs,” she said.

They do not, however, have the same language and this was overlooked by Jimenez who initiated several “Si Se Puede” chants throughout the course of the rally. Morshed, in her native Bengali, started her own chant, shouting, “We can’t wait any longer. We want it now.” Members of her community were present to join in.

The Call and Response

The crowd was mostly Latino, Indian, Chinese and Pakistani, but S.J. Jung, President of a Flushing-based Korean American Community Group, delivered one of the most powerful speeches of the day.

“I know all of us have been working hard, but we have to work harder,” he said, and then asked, “Are you ready to work harder?”

They were and shouted affirmatively.

“This cannot be the last nail that buries the coffin for immigration reform.” The Korean immigrant used the English expression effectively. With that urgent plea he revealed the fluid nature of immigrant identity that survives despite seemingly unchangeable immigrant policy.

Those present at the rally believed that ultimately something was better than nothing, but expressed the hope that the House would improve upon the Senate’s bill.