New citizens sworn in at Cesar Chavez National Monument
Twenty one immigrants from five nations were sworn in as new U.S. citizens on Oct. 8, at the National Chavez Center at La Paz in Keene, Calif., where Cesar Chavez lived and worked his last quarter century. That was exactly two years after President Obama dedicated a portion of those historic grounds as the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument. We can’t think of a more fitting way to mark the occasion than by swearing in new U.S. citizens.
Our farm worker movement has for decades been in the forefront of getting people to become citizens, registering them to vote and getting them to directly participate in the democratic process in their communities. This latest citizenship ceremony at La Paz is another example of how the movement has championed immigrant rights and citizenship participation since the 1960s. Cesar Chavez always ensured the movement included all farm workers, from when we help them organize, negotiate and enforce their union contracts to leading the fight for legislative reform over six decades.
That legacy continues to this day through the UFW’s ongoing work. Last year, we negotiated with the nation’s growers to create the agricultural provisions of the bipartisan immigration reform bill that would let as many as 1 million American farm workers become legal residents. The U.S. Senate passed it in June 2013. The UFW continues to be in the forefront of the push for reform, from Bakersfield to Washington, D.C.
Si Se Puede!
Arturo S. Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America