D17 Rally and March – Immigrant Rights ARE Worker Rights

D17- Somos el 99%

[RSVP on Facebook]

When: Saturday, December 17 | 10 am Rally & 11 am March

Where: South Park Blocks between SW Salmon and Main

An Occupy endorsed event that aims to remove the legal and ethnic divisions that the 1% use to divide and conquer the 99%. We blame the recession on those who caused it, the most wealthy 1%.

Coinciding with the International Day of the Migrant, immigrants and allies will take to the streets in a permitted, family-friendly rally and march. This will be an opportunity to join with the Occupy movement, and send a strong message against the racist laws, policies and institutions that are systematically targeting immigrant communities, such as Secure Communities, E-verify, wage theft, free trade agreements and increased detentions and deportations.

We reject the scapegoating of immigrants in the same way we refuse to blame Muslims, the poor, public sector workers, women, and other victims of this recession.

The 1% want immigrants to have zero rights so that they are easily exploitable and can be paid slave wages, thus lowering the wages of all working people.

We are the 99% and we demand:

1. Respect for our rights to free speech and assembly.

The coordinated crackdowns we have witnessed on Occupy encampments across the country
threaten our most important civil liberties. Today we protect our right to free speech by raising
our voices together. We protect our right to assemble by taking the streets together.

2. Respect for our rights to organize and bargain collectively, regardless of citizenship status.

More than half of US workers say they would join a union if they had the chance. But when
workers in the US try to organize, employers fight aggressively to keep the union out. When
Immigrant workers organize a union, they often face extreme intimidation from employers who
threaten deportation if they support the union.

3. Stop policies that criminalize immigrants. Stop S-Comm!

The Homeland Security program Secure Communities uses local law enforcement to identify
undocumented immigrants and send them to detention facilities whether or not they are guilty
of a crime. Police-ICE collaboration has led to record deportation rates, tearing families apart.

4. Stop E-verify!

E-verify refers to a bill that would mandate employers to verify all workers’ eligibility to work
against a (flawed) government database. It is expected to cost $17 billion in lost tax revenue
as employers move to pay workers “under the table” to avoid scrutiny. “Enforcement-only”
policies penalize workers for trying to survive.

5. Stop the new Jim Crow laws that target immigrant workers!

Laws like SB 1070 in Arizona, HB 56 in Alabama, HB 87 in Georgia are designed to keep
immigrant workers in the shadows. These repressive laws increase racial-profiling and turn
neighbors against each other. The movement forming for immigration justice in the South is the
new civil rights movement.

6. Equal access to obtain a driver’s license, regardless of citizenship.

The governor of Oregon passed an executive order that removed the ability of undocumented
drivers to obtain a legal driver’s license. This is a public safety issue as it will force workers who
need to drive to go without insurance.

7. Stop the US-Mexico border war!

The militarization of the US-Mexican border costs tax-payers billions of dollars and has claimed
over 6,000 lives. It is inhumane and doesn’t work. The border region must be demilitarized and
the quality of life of border communities must be protected.

8. No more NAFTAs! Stop the TPP!

When it comes to Free Trade Agreements like NAFTA, the 99% loses. Free trade actually
increases migration rates by accelerating the race the bottom in wages and working conditions.
Just say no to the Trans Pacific Partnership, a new NAFTA-style agreement that only benefits the 1%.

9. Stop the Wars and Interventions!

Since 2006, the escalating violence in Mexico has led to more than 50,000 deaths in the US-
sponsored drug war. Military spending — now more than $700 billion per year — is bankrupting
our country while increasing migration rates by creating refugees of violent conflict. We occupy
the streets today to demand an end to US military occupation everywhere.

10. Stop corporate wage-theft

Wage theft is on the rise for Oregon workers who increasingly work less than full time- in
temporary jobs or on contract. It is easier to abuse workers in these situations. Many workers
can no longer assume that they will get paid for all of the hours they’ve worked – or that they’ll
get paid at all.

11. Stop the foreclosures

High foreclosure rates are the result of predatory lending and the financial industry’s own
meltdown from high-risk investment behavior. These are the poor choices that led to the
current crisis, and our communities should not have to pay for them.

12. Good jobs for everyone

We all have the right to work to support our families, regardless of citizenship status. We
refuse to let the 1% divide us. We blame the recession on those who caused it- the most
wealthy 1%. With 25 million people out of work or underemployed, we need jobs, not excuses.

13. Tax the 1%

With the U.S. facing devastating economic and environmental crises, now is not the time for
layoffs and cutbacks. Let those responsible for the crisis pay for it- the 1%!

Event Coordination: For more information, or to get involved, contact the D17 Organizing Committee (D17outreach@gmail.com). We meet Tuesdays at 6:30pm at 2249 E. Burnside.