Fernando Fuentes and his wife decided to completely stop the operation of their newly launched cleaning company to protest, to resist, and to show the strength of the Mexican community in the third most important sanctuary city in the United States: Chicago, Illinois.
With the imminent arrival of Republican Donald Trump to the White House, a series of organizations and the Mexican community of the city decided to carry out a work stoppage between January 10 and 18 to demonstrate the importance of migrant labor in the country.
“The strike would have a visible impact, since we would send the message that we want to send to this new administration, that migrant labor is very important in the economy of this country (the United States), because we have said that without migrants the country does not advance, it comes to a standstill.”
“We have to let them know and make it visible that this would affect the economy of this country.”
According to people involved in the organization of the protest, at least 500 people participated with their families, after a call from various pro-immigrant organizations from several states such as California, New York and Texas on social media.
Elvira Arellano, one of the most visible faces of migrant activism in Chicago and one of the organizers of the strike, still remembers how in 2007 she was deported back to Mexico, but seven years later she returned to US territory, to obtain temporary special protection that allows her to remain legally.
“The majority of the working class in Illinois works in factories, shopping malls, caring for elderly people, like me who has been doing that for six years, cleaning houses, in fast food restaurants.”
Arellano promoted an entire migrant movement after taking refuge in a church in Chicago to avoid her first deportation, and she remembers that even now, neither Democrats nor Republicans have managed to successfully push through a reform that would protect millions of migrant workers.
Migrants worried about possible family arrests
Concerns on the part of migrants have increased exponentially with the threats of the man chosen by President-elect Donald Trump as his next border czar, Tom Homan.
The man has threatened to return to plans to arrest entire families of migrants and to carry out mass deportations that would begin as soon as Trump arrives at the White House.
“I don’t know if I will be deported tomorrow, that is why this fight is important, to demonstrate. I call on all Mexicans to join us this January 20 in a demonstration that will take place in the park of the water tower where we will be present,” recalls Arellano.
María Molina, originally from Puebla and with 20 years in Chicago, has decided to join and raise her voice to remember that migrants, not only Mexicans, but from other countries as well, have found a wide variety of jobs.
“I started working in a chocolate factory, then I went to work in a chocolate factory, then I worked in the stadium, sweeping, it didn’t matter if it was raining or snowing. We Mexicans have brought this country forward. We work from cleaning bathrooms, sweeping, packing,” explains the woman, who after years of living alone, managed to get her son to join her in the American dream.
The protest was attended by migrants without legal immigration documents, such as people with work permits, residents, and even people with dual citizenship. Although to a lesser extent, people from other countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, and even Jamaica were involved.
Luis Calderón, originally from Guanajuato, migrated to the United States in 1988, and currently works in the construction sector, although he hopes at some point to get involved in community activism to promote the talent of his countrymen in northern Mexico.
She says she decided to participate to remind people that the migrant community, in addition to contributing to the American economy, has been consolidated thanks to the common struggle.
“We are helping the country economically, sending remittances that are helping the country a lot. So we also do it for brotherhood, for unity; we come here for a better world for our families. We left Mexico with much regret, much sadness; we left friends and family there, many of us left our girlfriends.”
It is planned that the work stoppage can be replicated on May 1, with President Trump in Washington and with a view to greater organization that will allow the protest to be replicated in many more cities and states.
Source: milenio
