| WASHINGTON
- June 14 - Tens of thousands of
immigrants across the U.S. began a one-day fast today to draw
attention to the need for immigration reform that gives hard-working
immigrants who pay taxes and contribute to our economy an opportunity
to earn U.S. citizenship.
"Real immigration reform must provide legal status to
hard-working, taxpaying immigrants in this country," said Andrew L.
Stern, president of SEIU, the largest union in the AFL-CIO and the
largest union representing immigrant workers. "We don't need a new
"guest worker" program; we need a "legalized worker" program for
those who are already here."
Stern and other U.S. union leaders recently met with Jorge
Castaneda, foreign minister in Mexican President Vicente Fox's
Cabinet, to discuss the need for immigration reform that makes it
easier for hard-working immigrants to receive legal status.
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), and U.S.
Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), Bob Filner (D-San Diego), Diana
DeGette (D-Denver) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Chicago) today attended a
kick-off for the National Fast for Justice in front of the U.S.
Capitol. Immigrants from more than a dozen nations are taking part
in the 24-hour fast and vigil at the Reflecting Pool in front of the
Capitol.
The fast is part of Justice for Janitors Day, which marks the 11th
anniversary of the Century City police riot, in which striking office
building janitors and supporters were brutally beaten by Los Angeles
police. The incident marked a turning point in the nationwide Justice
for Janitors movement. Since then, hundreds of thousands of mostly
immigrant janitors have united for better wages and affordable health
insurance by joining SEIU.
This summer, 20,000 janitors along the east coast, including the
northern New Jersey suburbs of New York, the Philadelphia suburbs,
Baltimore and Montgomery County, Md., are uniting in the Justice for
Janitors 2001 campaign. Many of them are paid as little as $5.50 an
hour without health benefits, and are threatened with deportation if
they speak out for fair treatment.
With 1.4 million members, SEIU is the largest and fastest growing
union in the AFL-CIO, and the largest union of immigrant workers.
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