NJ ORGANIZATIONS DENOUNCE ARIZONA ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAW
Newark, may 2,2010 - Leading community groups and local activists in New Jersey have issued a statement strongly denouncing the recently-passed anti-immigrant “SNILE” (Safe Neighborhoods and Immigrant Law Enforcement) Act in Arizona and calling for large May Day protests. Rallies will take place in Newark and Hightstown in NJ behind the three demands of Jobs for All, Legalization for All and for a Massive Government Public Works Program. Rallies behind the same demands will also occur in New York City, New Orleans, Richmond, Virginia and Pittsburgh as part of nationwide May Day protests. The organizing for the rallies has already brought together Latino and African-American organizations, working to overcome the mass unemployment and racism that confronts both communities.
In Newark, the rally will take place at Military Park, noon, Saturday, May 1 and was followed by a march on Broad and then Market Sts. The rally endorsing organizations include Jobs for All Campaign of NJ, Peoples Organization for Progress, Solidaridad Hispana-Americana, NJ May 1 Coalition and NJ-ACLU . In Hightstown, the rally went to Memorial Park, starting at 11:00 AM.
Organizations endorsing the statement include the People’s Organization for Progress, a group with deep roots in the African-American community, mainly in Newark; the Jobs for All Campaign; NJ May 1 Coalition as well as Solidaridad-Hispana-Americana and the United Front to Defend Public Education.
The statement (in full below) says that the new law “returns Arizona to the days of segregation, making it a crime to even be in a car with an undocumented immigrant, obligating the police to arrest anyone they ‘suspect’ of being undocumented, even victims of crime. It mandates racial profiling, making anyone with the ‘wrong’ skin color liable to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. “ The statement’s supporters reject efforts to blame immigrants for high unemployment and declare that “We will not fight against ourselves for the available jobs but will unite in one movement to win JOBS FOR ALL WHO LIVE HERE, immigrant and native-born, regardless of previous convictions-- no one denied work. As a step to winning Jobs for all, we will on May Day be demanding a Massive Public Works Program. In reply to the attacks on immigrants, we will be demanding Legalization for ALL.”
The signers are available for press interviews:
Jobs for All Campaign: Lilliana Gomez 908-577-4550 (English or Spanish), Jay Arena 504-520-9521 (English or Spanish) Jose Carlos Da Silva 973-287-9349 (Portuguese)
Peoples Organization for Progress, Larry Hamm (973)-801-0001 (English)
Juan Espinoza, Solidaridad-Hispana-Americana 973-380-8193 (Spanish only)
Statement in full:
Statement on Jim-Crow Law in Arizona
We, the undersigned, denounce the Jim-Crow “SNILE” Act in Arizona. We urge the Governor of Arizona to veto it. The passage last week of this law against immigrants has made it more urgent than ever that workers unite against all attempts to divide them with racism. The new law returns Arizona to the days of segregation, making it a crime to even be in a car with an undocumented immigrant, obligating the police to arrest anyone they “suspect” of being undocumented, even victims of crime. It mandates racial profiling, making anyone with the “wrong” skin color liable to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
The SNILE law is a test case for those who are trying to again split workers along racial lines. They want workers to blame immigrants for mass unemployment, not those who are really responsible—the huge corporations and their allies in government.
To defeat such racist plans, we must build our own strength behind demands that unite all working people. We will not fight against ourselves for the available jobs but will unite in one movement to win JOBS FOR ALL WHO LIVE HERE, immigrant and native-born, regardless of previous convictions-- no one denied work. As a step to winning Jobs for All, we will on May Day be demanding a Massive Public Works Program. In reply to the attacks on immigrants, we will be demanding Legalization for ALL.
The answer to Arizona’s Jim Crow law must begin in massive May Day rallies all across the United States. We urge everyone to participate in May Day rallies in their communities, specifically including Newark .
Initiating Signatures:
Jobs for All Campaign of NJ
Peoples Organization for Progress
Solidaridad-Hispana-Americana
United Front to Defend Public Education
NJ May 1 Coalition
Jay Arena
Lilliana Gomez
Eric Lerner
Eric Horn
Silvana Heil
Jose Carlos Da Silva
Samonne Montgomery
