Immigration Rights May Day

A Silicon Valley immigration rights may day group is hosting its fifth annual march on Sunday, where supporters will demand that workers have the right to unionize and decry the inhumane treatment of immigrants.

Called the San Jose May 1 Coalition, members will meet as early as noon at Story and King roads in East San Jose. Organizers hope thousands will join them at 4 p.m. to march see more may day the three miles to City Hall downtown.
"We're emphasizing workers' rights this year," said Cesar Juarez, organizing director of Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network or SIREN. He cited recent efforts in Wisconsin and Ohio to strip collective bargaining units of much of their rights.

Though these national stories don't specifically target immigrants, Juarez said the march will highlight immigrants' solidarity with the plight of the union worker.

He also said that typically, a large percentage of unions are made up of immigrant workers.
Juarez sees the number of supporters of immigrant rights reform growing. The number of people who turn out for the march don't necessarily reflect that, though. And there has been a significant discrepancy over turnout numbers.

 
Last year, Juarez said the San Jose event drew at least 12,000, though the Mercury News relied on a police account that numbered the marchers at about 5,000. In 2009, Juarez said the event drew 10,000, though the Mercury News documented there was between 500 and 1,000.
In its

peak and debut year in 2006, when immigration reform was among the hottest topics nationwide, the San Jose march drew 125,000.

San Jose is one of many cities across the nation, including several in the Bay Area, in which these annual May Day marches have been held. May 1 marks International Workers Day, which was born in the late 1800s, and is formally celebrated in more than 80 countries.

Though the numbers of marchers has dwindled, organizers still say immigration reform is much needed and that immigrants are still under attack. Other than the union issue this year, organizers also are worried about various states pushing for Arizona SB 1070-like legislation, which allows police to question people about their immigration status even if the investigation is about something else, and repealing in-state tuition for undocumented students.