NEWS & LETTERS, February - March 2009
Some workers less equal than others
Detroit--Workplace issues, injuries, detentions, police brutality, you name it. Immigrants are catching hell. I am a lifelong Detroiter, descended from autoworkers since our arrival in this Promised Land. I am 51 years old and have been active in labor and community grassroots issues from childhood to the present. My father is a retiree from Chrysler as was my grandfather, who came here in 1919. My family is hard-core working class and I am the single mother of four daughters. Together with a group of wonderful comrades, we formed the Centro Obrero after the big Immigrant Rights marches in March of 2006.
A few months back, a fight between neighbors broke out, which is not unusual in Southwest Detroit. A friend explained that she is the owner of a duplex, one part of which five young men rent. Three brothers and two cousins live quietly, only going to work and back. The next-door neighbors got into a conflict with these young men while they were sitting on the porch. They began to brawl in the street, a bottle was thrown, and the police were called. The police brought no interpreter and only listened to the white people tell what happened. The police arrested only the Mexicans and took three to jail.
When my friend insisted on interpreting, they threatened to arrest her. The young Mexican men are being charged with assault with intent to commit murder -- there are no injured parties. They remain in jail. I will go to the Mexican Consul in Detroit and ask him to help them get immediately deported to Mexico instead of waiting to go to a hearing or remain in a justice system where they have no rights and could easily go to prison.
It is strange to hope for deportation, but we find ourselves in that position more and more these days. One of the people detained by immigration after being injured at work (and because he was injured at work) ended up getting his arm amputated because he never received treatment.
We are going to meet with the mayor, Ken Cockrel, and confront the administration over the violations of human rights going on in our city, particularly with regard to the No Profiling and Sanctuary City ordinances. If we don't make this the Promised Land, no one else will, either. These are the hardest times I have ever seen.
Now that we have national and international contacts, we can communicate better and find missing persons. I am hoping Centro Obrero gets a website for this purpose. People can let us know where they end up, what the journey was like, and how their loved ones can find them.
--Elena M. Herrada
|
