Monday, March 20, 2017
LOCAL IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, LABOR AND BUSINESSES GROUPS ANNOUNCE MAJOR MAY DAY PROTEST IN NATION’S CAPITAL
Hundreds of Thousands to March in Cities Nationwide for Largest Immigrant Mobilization since Election
Washington, D.C. – Leaders representing local businesses, labor and immigrant rights groups today announced their May Day plans for the largest mobilization of immigrants and supporters since the Trump election, to call for an end to the Trump administration mass deportation strategy. Channeling momentum from recent “day without an immigrant” events, hundreds of thousands of diverse groups of supporters are expected to hold echo events in cities nationwide while local groups march to the White House.
“Standing up for the rights of workers, whether they be immigrants, the poor, and the disadvantaged has never been easy but, especially in these times, when our values are under attack, stepping forward is absolutely necessary,” said CASA’s Executive Director Gustavo Torres. “Families in our community are being destroyed; American-born children are being separated from their parents. We refuse to stand aside and do nothing.”
“Trump has awoken a sleeping giant that will be at his doorstep on May 1st to let him know that we will not tolerate his bigotry and un-American agenda,” said 32BJ SEIU Vice President. “Congress will be reminded of their moral obligation not to give the Trump administration more resources to terrorize immigrant families and hurt the economy for all working people.”
“Immigrants strengthen our economy by creating millions of jobs every year, running almost a fifth of the small businesses across America, including myself,” said Angie Fetherston, CEO of Drink Company which will close Columbia Room, Mockingbird Hill, Eat the Rich and Southern Efficiency on May 1st in solidarity with immigrant. “Our economy would be stronger and our nation would be a better place to live in every way if undocumented immigrants could come out of the shadows and join the formal economy instead of being hunted down and deported.”
On May 1, many local businesses will close their doors and join CASA, 32BJ of the Service Employee International Union, UCFW Local 400, the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO, CARECEN, clergy and community groups for a rally and march to Lafayette Park in front of the White House. The event aims to: 1. hold President Trump accountable for the suffering he is unleashing on the nation’s immigrants. 2. Hold Congress accountable as a check on executive power by ensuring immigration laws exemplify American values of inclusion, respect for diversity and due process. 3. The groups will urge Congress not to appropriate any additional funding for ICE agents, border patrol agents, detention beds and a border wall.
Immigrants strengthen the economy by creating millions of jobs every year, running almost a fifth of the small businesses across America. In 2012, it was estimated that there were 11.2 million undocumented people collectively paid $11.84 billion in state and local taxes. Immigrants nationwide pay a tax rate of around 8 percent, while the top 1 percent of taxpayers pays an average nationwide effective tax rate of just 5.4 percent. Granting lawful permanent residence to all 11.4 million Immigrants and allowing them to work in the United States legally would increase their state and local tax contributions by an estimated $2.2 billion a year. Immigrants also pay property taxes directly on their homes or indirectly as renters.
CASA is a Latino and immigrant organization and a national leader in building power and improving the quality of life in low-income Latino and immigrant communities. Its vision is for a future in which diverse and thriving communities live free from discrimination and fear, and work together with mutual respect to achieve full human rights for all. Over its 30-year history CASA has established itself as a strong national leader in innovations for Latino and immigrant-focused services, and backbone organization for collective impact involving community-based, government and private partners.
With 163,000 members in 11 states, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country. 32BJ members hail from 64 different countries and speak 28 different languages. The overwhelming majority of 32BJ’s 18,000 members in the D.C. Metropolitan Area and Baltimore are immigrants from Central and South America.
CONTACT:
Fernanda Durand, 240-706-2624, fdurand@wearecasa.org;
Julie Karant, 646-584-9001, jkarant@seiu32bj.org