The laborers meet in Gompers Park, at Pulaski and Foster each morning, s trying to get hired for construction jobs. On a recent day, activist Eric Rodriguez says Chicago Police and immigration raided the park and hauled off seven workers. One was freed and the other six are being deported. “What we’re afraid of is that it’s a new attitude that the
In 2007, when Virginia’s Prince William County ordered police to check the immigration status of anyone they had “probable cause” to suspect was in the U.S. unlawfully, the impact was swift at family restaurant Ricos Tacos Moya. “Suddenly nobody showed up,” says Stacey Moya, an employee, and daughter of the owner. “Nobody was around. Not one soul. We would go hours without any customers, any clients. Nothing.” After community protests, the policy was soon watered down. In fact, police only check the status of those they arrest for a crime. Still, the stigma around the resolution stuck. Moya says one of her family’s restaurants went under. And while business at this one has picked up, it’s not the same. “Not even on weekends after church,” she says. “Nowhere near what it was before. I guess nobody likes to be around in the public that much.” Next year Congress is expected to again take up immigration reform, something it tried, but failed, to pass in 2006 and 2007. The collapse…
Day laborers and their supporters gathered Friday morning at Gompers Park on the Northwest Side to call for an end to immigration raids. They said they are not going to sit back as the raids go on. Instead, they plan to get organized. One step is to offer training classes explaining workers’ rights and what to do in case of a raid. “This is not
Day laborers and their supporters gathered Friday morning at Gompers Park on the Northwest Side to call for an end to immigration raids. They said they are not going to sit back as the raids go on. Instead, they plan to get organized. One step is to offer training classes explaining workers’ rights and what to do in case of a raid. “This is not