10:30 a.m. Monday in Bakersfield
Big turnout of farm workers, students & activists march for immigration reform on a national day of action by Latinos
Large numbers of farm workers, students and community activists will take to the streets of Bakersfield Monday morning as part of a national day of action by Latinos for genuine immigration reform as the U.S. Senate debates a bipartisan bill jointly sponsored by the United Farm Workers and the nation’s growers. UFW President Arturo Rodriguez and union co-founder Dolores Huerta will join marchers at Jastro Park in Bakersfield.
The UFW is part of the event sponsored by the newly-formed Kern County Coalition for Immigrants Rights, which also includes students, Radio Campesina, the Dolores Huerta Foundation and other groups backing the bipartisan AgJobs bill and comprehensive immigration reform by Sens. John McCain and Edward Kennedy, and opposing H.R. 4437, the anti-immigrant House Republican bill. AgJobs was negotiated by the UFW and the agricultural industry over several years. This is part of nine farm worker events and dozens of other activities organized around the country this week.
Cosponsored by 49 U.S. senators, AgJobs would allow undocumented farm workers already in this country who pass criminal background and national security checks to earn the right to permanently stay in the U.S. by continuing to work in agriculture. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved a proposal on April 27 that reflects AgJobs. It is among the measures being debated by the full Senate.
“Farm workers and their union are demonstrating a consistent commitment to organizing and immigration reform going back more than 40 years,” says UFW President Rodriguez. “Today, that means earning the right to stay in this country by continuing to work feeding America and much of the world through measures such as the AgJobs and McCain-Kennedy comprehensive reform bills.”
Who: A big turn out of farm workers, students and community activists; UFW President Arturo Rodriguez; union co-founder Dolores Huerta.
What: March and rally in Bakersfield as part of a national day of action supporting the UFW-sponsored AgJobs immigration reform bill being debated in the U.S. Senate.
When: Begins at 10:30 a.m., Monday, April 10, 2006.
Where: March starts Jastro Park on Tuxton Ave., two blocks east of Oak, in Bakersfield.
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