Immigrant Rights in the Shadows of Citizenship

10. ¡Sí, Se Puede! Spaces for Immigrant Organizing

246 chapter 10¡Sí, Se Puede! Spaces for Immigrant Organizing Christine Neumann-Ortiz A Poem: Sí se puede by Miguel Rowell-Ortiz, 15 years old Sí se puede Sí se puede The chants rise above us, creating the rhythm to march for immigrant rights Sí se puede Sí se puede It’s March 23, 2006. Milwaukee is the third city to turn out on the streets against Sensenbrenner’s HR 4437 and in support of legalization for the undocumented. ¡Sí, Se Puede! Spaces for Immigrant Organizing 247 Sí se puede Sí se puede We cross the Sixth Street Viaduct Bridge, a beautiful arching bone white bridge, from Southside Milwaukee to the Northside. When I am almost across, I turn to look back And see the endless crowds that keep coming . . . Sí se puede Sí se puede It is like a tidal wave rising up against the inhumanity of these laws Sí se puede Sí se puede No one will ever be the same. This is a turning point. Sí se puede Sí se puede The preceding poem captures the essence of what the immigrant rights marches meant to so many people. Though many people participated with a common sense of justice, it is also true that each individual had a unique story to tell. I first describe the organization that coordinated the marches in Milwaukee, Voces de la Frontera, and then share some of the stories of the people who organized and participated in these historic events. Voces de la Frontera: Our Roots Voces de la Frontera (VF) is a low-wage and immigrant workers center with two chapters in Milwaukee and Racine and a youth chapter, Students United for Immigrant Rights (SUFRIR), is based out of three Racine high 248 Christine Neumann-Ortiz schools. Voces de la Frontera started from below due to the needs and initiative of low-wage workers. VF started in 1994, following the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as an organization and bilingual newspaper that supported the rights of workers in Mexico’s maquiladora industry and promoted international solidarity, through our affiliation with the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras (CJM). During that time, I was a student at the Chicano Studies Department at the University of Texas–Austin . Given our proximity to the border, I had the opportunity to meet maquiladora workers who had organized workers’ centers along the border. The purpose of these workers centers is to educate workers about labor law and to promote collective organizing strategies. This was a critical influence on me in recognizing the value of this type of organization for low-wage immigrant workers in the United States. While all workers in the United States are vulnerable to dismissal or retaliation because of weak U.S. labor laws, undocumented immigrant workers face additional challenges . These challenges include language barriers, a disconnect with existing unions, and vulnerability because of their immigration status, which makes it easier to fire them, harder for workers to find employment (as well as not qualifying for unemployment benefits), and the threat and fear of deportation. In 2000 VF started the Wisconsin Legalization Coalition following the historic shift on the part of the AFL-CIO, which voted to support legalization , as well as the broad support expressed at the time by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. In response to many immediate workplace problems that undocumented workers faced, including unfair dismissals due to Social Security No Match letters, exploitative conditions such as no health insurance, no health and safety protections, low wages, verbal harassment, discrimination , and retaliation for union organizing, VF members decided to open a workers’ center in Milwaukee in November 2001. The founding members were clear that the purpose of the center was to educate immigrant and low-wage workers about their employment rights and policy proposals; to offer key services such as a free legal clinic, ESL (English as a second language ) and citizenship classes; and, fundamentally, to promote collective organizing as a means of addressing the barriers that the Latino and immigrant community faces. Since its inception, VF has become a vehicle for ¡Sí, Se Puede! Spaces for Immigrant Organizing 249 the organization and a political voice for low-wage immigrant workers and their families. Local workers started the VF Racine chapter in 2003 headed up by Maria Morales, whose family were migrant workers from Texas and...