Immigrant rights advocates, workers and other activists will
march and rally in the city today in support of workers' rights and
comprehensive immigration reform that provides a
fair pathway to citizenship and stops deportations until a new law is passed.
Members of SEIU* Local 1 and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) prepared for the May Day event yesterday by making signs and hashing out final details for the rallies.
"Having immigration reform is going to help a lot of families fix their
status and come out of the shadows and stop living in fear," said
Graciela Vergara, chair of the SEIU Central Region Latino Caucus, at the
sign making event. "A lot of our people in our community live in fear,
because they’re not here legally ... and we know that a lot of companies, a
lot of employers have been doing E-Verify. A lot of families have been
affected." Read more »
Pressure is mounting against a proposal to open a for-profit immigrant detention center
in Joliet. Activists submitted 4,000 petitions against the facility to the 
The following was written by Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor.
