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DOCUMENTS Join us for May Day 2024! International Workers' Day
Let Gaza Live!
Chile: Report from the Base
BMDC Public Statement Against Cancel Culture
May Day 2023 - Boston Common
Report from Peru - Sharpening Class Conflict and Protests Tuesday January 31, 7 p.m. The Boston May Day Coalition invites César Zelada, member of the Agrupación Vilcapaza, to report directly from Peru. Zelada is involved in the unfolding protests in that country because he has been a labor activist, housing organizer, and student leader.
All U.S. Nukes and Troops Out of Europe Now!  03/01/2023 - Park Street T Station, Boston FaceBook page Cosponsors: Boston May Day Coalition The Committee for Peace and Human Rights Massachusetts Peace Action International Action Center United Against War and Militarism Assange Defense Boston Workers World Party - Boston Red Flag Boston Pride at Work - Boston [ + ] Converging Crises & Collaborations to Fix Them Tired of dehumanizing jobs, climate collapse, and endless war? Saturday, December 10th, 3:00–5:30 PM
RESCHEDULED TO SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 at 1:00 p.m.
[ + ] Reporting from São Paulo, Brazil Fabio Bosco, Member of the São Paulo transportation trade union (Sindicato dos Metroviarios) Sunday Nov. 6th 6:30 P.M.  04/11/2022 - 17/10/2022 - On September 21st, 2022, 15 individuals from Extinction Rebellion were arrested for protesting against Massachuetts State government inaction on the climate crisis and against the continuous construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure.
BMDC in international panel on Ukraine war Ukraine, The Working Class, Russia, China, & U.S. Imperialism 17/10/2022 - This is an audio & video link to the international discussion on the Ukraine war entitled Ukraine, The Working Class, Russia, China, & U.S. Imperialism which took place September 18th, 2022.
Say NO to U.S. Wars! Week of Action Oct. 15-22 14/10/2022 - Stop Washington's War Moves toward Russia & China
United National AntiWar Coalition [ + ] Ricardo Flores Magón: Life and Death of a Mexican Revolutionary 100th year with Sacco and Vanzetti Society
15/08/2022 - The Coalition sponsored a free-wheeling discussion on building united fronts to unite the struggles for justice and the rights of working people, the oppressed, and youth.
21/07/2022 - The Boston May Day Coalition calls on attorney general Merrick Garland to prosecute president Donald Trump for attempting to overthrow the government
11/07/2022 - Please join with the Boston May Day Coalition in supporting and attending the Boston Abortion Rights Rally
03/07/2022 - Click on + to read full statement [ + ] 27/06/2022 - July 4th, noon to 6 p.m.
 [ + ] 26/06/2022 - Click on + below to read full statement.
 [ + ] 01/06/2022 -  Agreed to May 22, 2022 For over two and half years, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world illness, suffering and death. The impact has been aggravated by capitalism, racism, poverty and imperialism. [ + ]  31/05/2022 - Agreed to March 27, 2022 05/04/2022 -  Join us for May Day on Boston Common celebrating a day of solidarity across struggles. The action will be at Liberty Mall across the street from the MA Statehouse on Sunday, May 1st at 1 p.m. Let’s unite together on May Day, International Workers Day, to celebrate the traditions of struggle by working people and the oppressed worldwide. Let’s celebrate the strikes of millions of farmers and workers of India. Let’s celebrate the victory of striking MNA nurses in Worcester, MA and the union organizing victory of warehouse workers at Amazon in Staten Island, NY. Workers at Starbucks in Boston are Unionizing! May Day is our day to address the climate and ecological emergency and to demand economic security and justice. Let’s stand together to resist the war machine, fight racism, and defend migrants’ rights. For climate justice, housing, healthcare, childcare, education, LGBT and women’s rights. Let’s usher in the spring with fresh energy, mobilizations, and direct action to spread the resistance and fight for a better world. For more info: info@BostonMayDay.org facebook.com/bostonmdc www.bostonmayday.org [ + ] 25/04/2021 - Saturday, May 1, 2021, 1PM. at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common.
 [ + ] 26/05/2020 -  On Sunday, May3, 2020, members of the Boston May Day Coalition staged a demonstration in front of the Suffolk County Jail, demanding justice and rights for prisoners, immigrants and the poor in the United States. To read the statement presented at the demonstration click below. [ + ] 24/04/2020 -  The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was confirmed on January 21st in Washington state. There is no good reason why the US became the epicenter of the world coronavirus pandemic. The colossal spread of the epidemic in the US is directly the result of policies of the Trump Administration. In May of 2018, Trump closed the White House pandemic office (National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense). On January 3, the director of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Robert Redfield, received a call from a counterpart in China describing a lethal respiratory illness that was sweeping Wuhan. The Trump administration was immediately notified. [ + ]  We need an immigration policy based on human, civil and labor rights, which looks at the reasons why people come to the U.S., and how we can end the criminalization of their status and work. While proposals from Congress and the administration have started the debate over the need for change in our immigration policy, they are not only too limited and ignore the global nature of migration, but they will actually make the problem of criminalization much worse. We need a better alternative. This alternative should start by looking at the roots of migration - the reasons why people come to the U.S. in the first place. Movement and migration is a human right. But we live in a world in which a lot of migration isn't voluntary, but is forced by poverty and so-called economic reforms. [ + ] Plataforma del Partido Verde Sobre Inmigración Para la Elección Presidencial del 2012 – Ticket Stein / Honkala
2012 Green Party Platform On Immigration - Ticket Stein / Honkala
 The decision, by President Obama’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to impose the Secure Communities Program on the State of Massachusetts in 2012, seriously undermines reasonable sovereignty claims of the states, encourages the practice racial profiling, and erodes individual rights to due process. Of course, it targets immigrants and specifically Latinos. But this is no aberration. Secure communities is cut from the same cloth as the National Defense Authorization Act providing for the indefinite worldwide detention of individuals, or the executive branch assertion that it has the right to kill anyone it deems to be a threat (regardless of their citizenship and without benefit of any judicial process), or the attempt via SOPA/PIPA and now CISPA to make either federal agencies or powerful companies the arbiters of internet content and property claims. [ + ] We need to attack the very idea of state
Message by Chuck Turner for the Boston May Day 2012 event
 Brothers and Sisters. Unfortunately, I can not be with you today. I am in the 13th month of a 36 month sentence at Hazelton Federal Penitentiary based on a scheme by former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan to advance his career. Sullivan is now managing partner of the Boston office of the Ashcroft Group, a consulting firm owned by John Ashcroft former US Attorney General under George Bush but that is a conversation for another day. I appreciate and welcome the opportunity on May Day 2012 to share with you my thoughts. [ + ]  Council Charles C. Yancey offered the resolution that urged "the United States Government to sign and ratify the 1990 International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and to similarly recognize December 18, 2011, and annually thereafter, as international Migrants Day". To see a picture of the original signed resolution click here. [ + ] December 18, 2011 - a Global Day of Action Against Racism and for the Rights of Refugees, Migrants and Displaced People
Lessons from the struggle to defeat racist anti-immigrant amendments to the Massachusetts State Budget for FY 2012
Stop Hateful Anti-Immigrant 2011 Budget Amendements in Massachusetts
A call to an international strike on December 18, 2011!
Immigration Reform 2010: We Need a Better Alternative March 22, 2010.- Oakland, California - Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced Thursday (3/18) their plan for immigration reform. Unfortunately, it is a retread, recycling the same bad ideas that led to the defeat of reform efforts over the last five years. In some ways, their proposal is even worse.
Discussing root causes of oppression as a strategy to build unity among U.S. born and migrant workers
Boston May Day Committee (BMDC) condemns targeting of immigrant workers by ICE agents and Foxboro police department BMDC calls for legalization of all undocumented workers now
Do Undocumented People Have Rights?
Immigrant Detention Facilities in Massachusetts There are many immigrant detention centers in Massachusetts, starting with the Boston Service Processing Center in Boston. Then there is a number of county facilities that contract with Homeland Security for the detention of immigration related prisoners such as the Suffolk County House of Correction in Boston, Bristol County Correctional Facility in North Darmouth, Franklin County Correctional Facility in Greenfield, Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, and the Norfolk County Correctional Facility in Dedham. In addition there is the Federal Medical Center in Ayer. Amnesty International: Immigrants Jailed Without Justice
A Hemispheric Call to Mobilize Against the Exploitation and Persecution of Migrant Workers
Llamado hemisférico para movilizarse contra la explotación y persecución de los trabajadores migrantes
The Boston May Day Coalition Reorganizes to Continue the Struggle 08/01/2009 - On November 12, 2008 the Boston May Day Coalition met and after a thorough discussion of the agenda items which included the Coalition, work and current situation, two major decisions were made that changed the Coalition status to a Committee and to close the petition demanding that Bush stop the ICE raids and deportations. Below are the decisions and brief descriptions. Notas del taller "Estrategias Para Frenar la Represión de los Trabajadores Migrantes y Lograr Sus Derechos"
Barack Obama, the lesser evil for undocumented migrant workers... or not
The Migrant Workers’ Struggle in South Korea and International Solidarity
We condemn ICE Raid in Milford, Mass. and protest insensitive media reporting about it
Condenamos la redada de ICE en Milford, Mass. y protestamos el reportaje insensible de los medios de comunicación al respecto
Another Unjust ICE Raid in Massachusetts. Another Insensitive Media Report. 10/12/2007 - ICE nets 15 illegal immigrants in raid
Commemorating International Migrant Day (IMD) in the U.S., the Boston Area and Massachusetts  Thursday, November 29, 2007.- This is an open invitation to all organizations working for migrant workers rights in the Boston Area and in Massachusetts to hold a public event on Tuesday, December 18, 2008 to commemorate International Migrant Day. Unfortunately, there is not much time to organize a large event, but at a minimum the Boston May Day Coalition suggests holding an event at Encuentro5 in Boston from 7pm to 9pm. We would also support an event either in Chelsea or East Boston. If we think that we have the energy to organize a joint rally we would support that too. HISTORY OF IMD In 1997, Filipino and other Asian migrant organizations began celebrating and promoting the 18th of December as the International Day of Solidarity with Migrants. This date was chosen because it was on 18th December 1990 that the UN adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrants Workers and Members of Their Families. [ + ] Stop the War on Immigrants and Stop the Wars Abroad
Raids by ICE: a psychological war that terrifies our communities Last tuesday, August 28, to people who live in the area of East Boston and Chelsea in Massachusetts it looked like the city was under siege. Detachments from the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and other police forces roamed the streets creating panic among immigrant workers and their families. A community organizer spotted the ICE agents at the Maverick T station and pointed his camera in their direction. He was immediately surrounded, his camera confiscated, he was interrogated, and he was ordered to show his documents. Eventually they let him go. A Spanish-radio reporter who knew the organizer stopped to inquire what was happening. ICE agents told him to move on and out of there. But, the alarm was set off and 1600 AM radio waves were soon filled with phone calls about additional ICE police activity around town. This went on from around 6 am until noon. Las redadas de ICE: una guerra psicológica que aterroriza a nuestras comunidades El martes 28 de agosto, para la gente que vive en el área de East Boston y Chelsea en Massachusetts parecía que la ciudad estaba bajo estado de sitio. Destacamentos de la policía de control de inmigraciones y aduanas (ICE) del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional y otras fuerzas policiales se movilizaban por las calles de la ciudad creando pánico entre los trabajadores emigrantes y sus familias. Un organizador comunitario que divisó a los agentes de ICE en la estación de transporte Maverick apuntó su cámara fotográfica en dirección al grupo. Este fue inmediatamente rodeado, su cámara temporalmente confiscada, interrogado, y se le requirió que mostrara sus documentos de identificación. Eventualmente lo dejaron ir. Por coincidencia un reportero radial que conocía al organizador se detuvo para preguntar que era lo que estaba sucediendo. Los agentes de ICE le ordenaron que saliera de ahí. Pero, con esto se activo una alarma en la comunidad y las ondas de la radio en español 1600 AM pronto se llenaron de llamadas indicando sobre mas actividad de la policía de ICE en la ciudad. Todo esto sucedió desde las 6 de la mañana hasta el mediodía.
STOP THE RAIDS AND DEPORTATIONS! FULL LEGALIZATION FOR ALL IMMIGRANTS NOW! NO GUEST WORKERS PROGRAMS
NATIONAL DEMANDS FOR MAY DAY 2007 The following demands were adopted unanimously with one abstention by the National Conference of the National May First Movement for Worker and Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, Feb. 4, 2007.
BOSTON MAY DAY COALITION CALL TO ACTION FOR MAY 1, 2007
We say NO to the new Corporate designed immigration plans! In bipartisan and falsely described “comprehensive immigration reform” proposals, many undocumented migrant workers in this country may be transformed into criminals at the stroke of a pen. Legislative proposals from the Bush administration and before Congress seek to intensify government repression and criminalize immigrants. The Bush administration has proposed a plan for undocumented immigrants that would make them eligible for renewable three-year work permits at $3,500 and force them to leave and re-enter the country and pay a fine of $10,000 in order to become legal residents. The Bush fee of $13,500 amounts to an expensive coyote plan that would exceed the price coyotes charge for migrant border crossings several times over!
NEW BEDFORD MIGRANT WORKERS ARE NOT THE ENEMY
Derechos de Emigrantes = Derechos Humanos Declaración Final de la Asamblea sobre Migraciones Foro Social Mundial, Nairobi, Kenia – Enero 24, 2007 Nosotros, participantes del 7mo. Foro Social Mundial (FSM), organizaciones de solidaridad, agencias no-gubernamentales, redes nacionales e internacionales, movimientos de base, hombres y mujeres, deseamos presentar por medio de esta declaración final las ideas que compartimos durante el FSM al igual que nuestras propuestas para la acción.
Migrant Rights = Human Rights 24/01/2007 - Final Statement of the Assembly on Migration, 7th World Social Forum, Nairobi, Kenya - January 24, 2007
STATEMENT OF MARK LAURITSEN BEFORE THE WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT PANEL BRIEFING U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Migrant Workers Day Brazil: Letter from Brazilian Migrant Workers Demanding Universal Citizenship and Human Rights Considering that currently there are about 200 million immigrants in the world, and that from these, 3 millions Brazilians live abroad; and, considering that millions come from faraway places among them Asians, Europeans, Latin-Americans, who have chosen to live today in Brazil.
Día Mundial del Migrante Brasil: Carta de los migrantes Servicio Pastoral de los Migrantes Ciudadanía Universal y Derechos Humanos Considerando que, existen actualmente, en el mundo mas de 200 millones de inmigrantes y, que de esta población, aproximadamente, tres millones son brasileños que viven en el exterior, y que millones de personas, llegan, de los más distantes continentes, entre ellos, africanos, orientales, europeos y latinoamericanos y viven hoy en Brasil.
U.S. Women Immigrant Workers: Invisible and Abused but Making their Voices Heard The number of undocumented (‘illegal’) immigrants in the United States (U.S.) is about 12 million and according to a new estimate they account for 1 in every 20 workers. There are an estimated 7.2 million undocumented workers. Women represent about 35% of the undocumented immigrant population and an estimated 54% are in the workforce. Undocumented immigrant workers are an integral part of the U.S. economy and account for nearly 1 in 4 farm workers, 1 in 6 maids and housekeepers, 1 in 7 construction and 1 in 8 food preparation workers. 27% of butchers and food processing workers are undocumented.
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16/04/2024 - Gathering May 1, 2024, at 5pm on Liberty Mall, Boston Common on the steps at Beacon and Park Streets, across the street from the State House.
21/03/2024 - Just as many folks who value human rights have condemned the killing of civilians by Hamas, millions here in the US are condemning the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians, along with hostages, carried out by the Israeli regime. The bombardment of Palestinians is in no way proportionate as a retaliatory measure but is being carried out as an ethnic cleansing measure against Palestinians in general. Unimaginable horror has been inflicted with bombs raining down on Gaza killing scores of innocent civilians, and at times hundreds, daily. The Palestinian death toll is now over 34,000 total and counting. 85% of Gaza residents have now been displaced! For years, the leadership in Israel was content with Hamas rule in Gaza as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority, and as a means of preventing any possibility for the formation of an independent Palestinian state, all while conducting raids and destroying Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
08/11/2023 - Please welcome Sergio Reyes who will be reporting from Chile on developments there. From the revolt in 2019 to the new regime, changes have taken place, but what has been accomplished? Sergio was an organizer and activist in Boston for over 30 years. He is now living in Chile. He will present his impressions of the process developing in Chile over the past few years and discuss the prospects for advances and struggle in the future.
26/09/2023 - 9/17/2023.- The Boston May Day Coalition (BMDC) was founded 17 years ago during the rising movement and huge mobilizations defending migrants and demanding legal permanent residence for all undocumented immigrants. BMDC is currently the target of a boycott campaign based on false narratives with the intention of destroying the organization. Seven longtime activists who disagree with these attacks, both members and nonmembers, are being targeted, slandered, labeled “transphobes”, and subjected to online doxing of their full names and personal information.
11/04/2023 - <p>Let’s join together in celebrating May Day 2023, International Workers Day, a worldwide holiday. On May Day we have an opportunity to celebrate many examples of resistance to the employers offensive and government attacks on our rights and interests. Parkman Bandstand
25/01/2023 - Leftist strike leader and former schoolteacher Pedro Castillo was elected president of Peru in July 2021.
06/12/2022 - Are you tired of dehumanizing jobs, soaring costs of living and a dire climate future -- while our tax dollars are squandered on militarism and endless war that impoverishes us at home and endangers us abroad?
22/11/2022 - Saturday, December 10 at 1:00 PM
12/10/2022 - Sunday, November 20th, 2-4pm
El Partido Verde apoya firmemente la justicia social para todos los que viven en este país, independientemente de su estatus migratorio. Por encima de todo, la política y la ley deben ser humanitarias. Cualquier otra cosa sería incompatible con nuestros valores como verdes, y con los valores de nuestra nación.
A talk given at the May Day noon rally in the City Hall Plaza in Boston on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 by James Herod
December 18 is International Migrants Day (IMD). In the U.S. the day has not become an important day for immigrant rights action. The Italian organizacion ARCI proposed at the World Social Forum on Migrations in Quito, last October 2010, that we make an effort internationally to become a real international movement. The BMDC has been calling for international unity in the struggle for migrant workers rights since the inception of our organization. We issued a 
3-Jul-2011.- This year again the Massachusetts Budget was the field that anti-immigrant politicians chose to include their nasty venom. We had a similar experience last year that was met with fierce resistance by immigrant rights advocates lead by the young people of the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM). Just like last year most of the racist, anti-immigrants amendments were either withdrawn or rejected but some elements remained. Therefore the victories were significant but partial.
24/06/2011 - 06-24-2011.- Again the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM) is leading the way to oppose a set of amendments included in the budget of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that seek to deny basic human services to undocumented workers and students. SIM established a vigil camp outside the main entrance of the State House which started last monday June 20. At the same time they have galvanized support in a coalition called Mass Hope 2011. The coalition includes the National Lawyers Guild, Matahari Eye of the Day, Jobs with Justice, the New Sanctuary Movement, Arlington Street Church, Asian American Resource Workshop, MIRA, Unite Here Local 26, Dominical Development Center, Centro Presente, the Boston May Day Committee, Cambridge/Somerville for Change, PHENOM, International Action Center, Harvard SLAM, Mass. Coalition for Domestic Workers, SEIU Local 615, Brazilian Immigrant Center, Chinese Progressive Association, API Movement, Resist the Raids, Moise Kavod House, AFSC, and Projeto Nos Votamos. The coalition continues to grow and if your organization has not done so, it should do it in a hurry.
29/10/2010 - ... we propose that the IV World Social Forum on Migrations launch and encourage a social mobilization and strike on December 18, 2011, which marks the anniversary of the day when the United Nations passed the Convention for the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Family. Likewise we propose that this action be also endorsed by the World Social Forum that will take place in Dakar in 2011.
05/02/2010 - A speech given by Camilo Viveiros, Exec. Dir of Rhode Island Jobs with Justice at the "Workers have no Borders" event organized by the Boston May Day Committee on February 4, 2010.
13/11/2009 - By David Bacon November 2009
26/03/2009 - Migration is a fact of life. Some people move to new countries to improve their economic situation or to pursue their education. Others leave their countries to escape armed conflict or violations of their human rights, such as torture, persecution, or extreme poverty. Many move for a combination of reasons. Governments have the right to exercise authority over their borders; however, they also have obligations under international law to protect the human rights of migrants, no matter what prompted an individual to leave his or her home country.
"Mobilizations by the large workers federations, women’s, students, and indigenous organizations in Latin America, the Caribbean and North America are key to a solution There is a tradition of solidarity in this region that is yet to be fully expressed. Global labor mobilizations will also help overcome any hesitancy on the part of US unions to fully recognize and support their migrant worker comrades.
Este taller organizado por la Coalicion Primero de Mayo de Boston se llevó a cabo el día jueves 9 de octubre de 2008 en el marco del Foro Social de las Américas. Contó con la participación de cerca de 50 personas provenientes de Guatemala, Estados Unidos, El Salvador, Italia, Canadá, Alemania, Suiza, Costa Rica, y Mexico. El mayor grupo nacional en la audiencia fue de los EE.UU. y el segundo de Guatemala. La mayoría de los asistentes fueron jóvenes.
09/06/2008 - To express an opinion about which of the two presidential candidates in the U.S. will be better for the more than 12 million undocumented migrant workers and their families first we have place the question within the right context. The context is a presidential contest in a country whose democracy is determined by a two-party system destined to preserve, promote and expand capitalism. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party are therefore two variations on the same theme. Likewise, the electoral contests are determined not by popular will but rather by economic interests.
As the issue of immigration has come to center stage in policy debate in the United States over the last several years, grassroots organizations, NGOs and labor unions have put forth strong calls for increased rights form immigrants, pathways to citizenship and an end to raids and deportations. While organizing, public education and lobbying efforts have been lively, however, as with many movements in the U.S., discussion of the issue’s international dimension has been relatively lacking. In fact, the issues of immigration policy reform and undocumented immigrants/migrants are central to countries across Europe and Asia. At the same time struggles against raids and deportations and for immigrant/migrant workers’ labor and human rights are growing in many of these countries. Of these, the struggle in South Korea is significant for the central role played by undocumented migrant workers organizing as part of the labor movement.
Last Friday, December 7, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents "supported" by the Milford Police Department raided an immigrant community again. They arrested 15 undocumented migrant workers. Reports indicate that most were from Ecuador. The media, uncritical and sympathetic to ICE reported that the workers were charged for violating criminal laws.
27/10/2007 - The United States launched an all-out war to control areas in the Middle East that was deemed of strategic importance. The tragic event of September 11, 2001 gave the Bush Administration the green light to move thousands of U.S. military forces across the world and attack first Afghanistan and later Iraq. Congress has continued to allocate billions of dollars to finance this war with no end in sight. The extent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq are of enormous proportions. There is a legal body in place that has shamelessly allowed violations of human rights that affect all aspects of our lives. Two fundamental elements are used to continue this unfortunate state of affairs: the Patriot Act and Homeland Security.
May 2, 2007 -- Again we rallied and marched to demand from the system to stop the immigration raids and deportations and full legalization for all immigrants, now. At its peak there were about 750 people, of all nationalities showing their support for our repressed, victimized and exploited undocumented brothers and sisters. Again we clearly made the connection with International Workers Day and the need to reclaim this day for working people. At about 5:15pm we marched to Copley Square and the streets of Boston resounded to the chants of "Stop the raids, now!, What do we want? Legalization. When do we want it? Now!, and Si, se puede!".
From the land where May Day was born we call on our sisters and brothers worldwide and ask you to stand together with us in an international campaign defending the rights of the 200 million migrant workers worldwide. We ask working people worldwide to extend your hands in our direction and to add your voices to ours in a celebration of solidarity. This year let International Workers Day be “the day of the migrant worker”— a day when working people came together to say: “United we stand, divided we fall. An injury to one is an injury to all.” Let this year bring us a step closer to recovering May Day as our national Labor Day as it is celebrated by millions worldwide commemorating the May 1st, 1886 mass strike for the 8-hour day.
Massachusetts, March 6, 2007. An army of 300 federal immigration agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has conducted yet another military style raid on migrant workers in the country. This time it was the turn for an East Coast location, New Bedford, Massachusetts where scores of workers were taken away. ICE, a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security explains that their objective is "to more effectively enforce our immigration and customs laws and to protect the U.S. against terrorist attacks. ICE does this by targeting illegal immigrants: the people, the money and materials that support terrorism and other criminal activities." (From their website "About us" section).
Last Tuesday morning, 13,000 workers clocked in to work as they do every day. They didn’t know that government agents would soon storm their worksites dressed in riot gear, brandishing military weapons and locking the doors to prevent anyone from coming in or out. Their mission involved a warrant ICE had obtained to apprehend 170 individuals suspected of identity theft.