Full Rights for All Immigrants, Now! Fight Racism and Bigotry

Alliance-Philippines
Solidarity Statement For May 1
Los Angeles, CA
May 1, 2010

Full Rights for All Immigrants, Now! Fight Racism and Bigotry

Los Angeles—Mangahas Makibaka,, Kamtin ang Tagumpay! (Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win.)

The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) joins the mass mobilizations in more than 350 actions all over the nation led by unions and immigrant rights groups to say no to racial profiling and anti-immigrant campaigns, in Arizona and everywhere on Saturday, May 1, International Workers’ Day.

The racist law gives state and local police the power to act as federal immigration enforcers. The lawmakers who wrote and supported this bill said it was necessary to appropriate the tasks of the federal government because the federal government wasn’t doing “enough” on immigration. The already brisk pace of the federal racist anti-immigrant campaign just was not fast enough for the racist ruling class in the state of Arizona.

The law also makes not carrying proper documentation a misdemeanor. It institutionalizes racial profiling, giving the police a racist tool of oppression and the power to detain anyone they consider to have a “reasonable suspicion” of being an undocumented immigrant.

Immigrant Rights are Workers Rights

Since 2006, when the immigrant rights upsurge gave birth to the new civil rights movement’s in this century, when million stood up for the democratic rights of the workers from different nationalities who are exploited and oppressed by the capitalist system, we have stood for full rights for all immigrants

We stand that workers rights are immigrant rights. The United States is land of immigrants. The immigrants build this nation. Those whom they called “wetbacks” “orientals” “PIGS’ and other derogatory names worked and toiled to build this country. No body should forget that.

The conservatives and racists wish to turn back the hands of time and daydream to continue the exploitative and racist system that resulted in the civil war of 1861 in the US and two world wars and the cold war during the last century. But things will never be the same again.

Now, they are back in the saddle with a vengeance with different names- “ tea baggers, Republicans, blue dog democrats, social conservatives and others. But essentially they are the same racist and white supremacist who gave democracy a bad name.

For all this time, the Alliance (AJLPP) and its allies speaks for more than 1.5 million Filipinos who are considered “illegal” and to the 12 million more who shared their fate. We want a genuine immigration reform law that will give them a just and humane treatment and that is an amnesty, not a modified ‘ guest workers program.”

We ask the Obama administration and the democratic party to act now and fulfill your promise to the community. Or suffer the consequences of a broken promise.

No Justice, No Peace

We express our unity will all forces who are now united, and will push for real immigration reform for our brothers and sisters. In this united march and rally in Los Angeles and everywhere, we will show our solidarity for justice and peace and equality.

There can be no justice if there is no equality. When we treat our brothers as unequal, as lesser individual, conduct racial profiling and acts like fascist Nazi’s with racist and unequal laws, then we do not live with the tenets,” all men are created equal.”

The Filipinos sacrificed two millions lives during World War II against fascism. More than 500,000 fighters fought for democracy to keep America safe. We have a stake for free, prosperous and just America. We will fight for full rights fro all migrants not only for Filipino-Americans but for everybody. And we will struggle for it.

ALL OUT FOR MAY 1!

FULL RIGHTS FOR ALL IMMIGRANTS NOW!

Fight racism in all its forms!

MAKIBAKA HUWAG MATAKOT!