NEW GLORY: Immigrants in action.
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In perhaps the largest political demonstration in Rhode Island history, thousands of people rallied at the State House Monday to support the legalization of undocumented immigrants. Wearing Red Sox caps and soccer jerseys, pushing strollers and waving American, Guatemalan, and Mexican flags, the line of marchers stretched from the Capitol to the Broad Street bridge over Interstate 95.
The US House of Representatives’ bill that would make a felony of illegal immigration, or assisting an illegal immigrant, was the protesters’ prime target. “We are not criminals,“ declares marcher Francia Toribirio of Providence. “We are people who work and fight for a better future for the country.”
The Hispanic demonstrators praised the US as a land of opportunity, but also state, in the words of Mexican native Leobardo Martinez of Pawtucket, that they are treated like “second-class citizens.” One banner put it another way: “The Native American embassy did not ask your relatives (the Pilgrims) for a visa.”
Marchers, those in the country both legally and illegally, lamented the fate of illegal immigrants. “Hard working people,” says Diosa Martinez of Central Falls, a native of the Dominican Republic, “deserve a chance to be here legally and go to work without fear that their family is going to be torn apart.” An illegal immigrant from Guatemala, who requested anonymity, agrees, saying he wants to become a citizen so that he would no longer fear deportation while his US-born children remain in Rhode Island. His plea to the US Congress, he says, is “value the work that we do.”
Illegal immigrants have a difficult life in Rhode Island, notes Toribirio, a native of the Dominican Republic. When the doctor‘s staff learns you do not have a Social Security number, she says, “They look at you like you are an animal.” And she notes that workers without papers are paid lower wages, sometimes denied breaks, and prohibited from acquiring a drivers’ license. Without a Social Security number, adds her friend Jailene Morales of Providence, illegal immigrants cannot get a bank loan to buy a home or pay for a college education. “The country loses a lot with this,” concludes Toribirio, because intelligent people who could make the US a better place are instead confined to working at Dunkin’ Donuts or for a lawn care company.
The House immigration bill ignited the outrage in the Hispanic community, but individual indignities in Rhode Island have been smoldering for years. Colombian native Nel Navarro of Providence complains that government workers treat Hispanics differently from native-born Americans, “because they speak English with an accent and they look different.” He also recalls having a personal conversation interrupted in a mall by a stranger telling him to speak English. Other demonstrators lamented that non-Hispanics often incorrectly assume they cannot speak English.
“This is the land of opportunity,” notes Martinez, where people should be treated equally. “We are all human beings.”
