Immigrant workers' 'freedom ride' ends in NYC

Social justice news
October 2003

Housing: An American dream moves out of reach
Immigrant workers' 'freedom ride' ends in NYC
Leaders lament U.S. withdrawal from Liberia
Slumworld?
Uninsured numbers rise—again—in 2002
Who's poorer now?

Immigrant workers' 'freedom ride' ends in NYC
Immigrant workers’ two-week long journey for justice across the nation culminated on October 4 at New York’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park in a daylong celebration, with the nearly 1,000 Immigrant Workers Freedom Riders joined by hundreds of thousands of supporters. The Celebration of America’s Immigrants, sponsored by unions and community allies, featured native dancers, entertainment and speeches by political, union and religious leaders.

"Today, I saw what the Freedom Ride is all about," says Rose Assinthe , a Haitian immigrant who rode on the Freedom Ride bus from Miami. "I saw all those buses coming from everywhere and all those different people of different races saying the same thing: We want justice. That’s what we are fighting for. . . I know now we are not alone."

Inspired by the Freedom Rides of the 1960s, which challenged racial segregation in the South, the historic Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride broke new ground highlighting the challenges immigrants face today and mobilizing national support for changing immigration policies. Beginning in such cities as Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago, immigrant workers from dozens of nationalities traveled with supporters more than 20,000 miles by bus, stopping in 100 cities in 46 states, energizing the union and human rights movements at every stop with their commitment and enthusiasm. The buses converged in Washington, D.C., where the new Freedom Riders took their call for justice to Capitol Hill October 2.

In more than 120 meetings with lawmakers they demanded that Congress provide a road to citizenship for all immigrant workers, allow immigrant workers to reunite their families, ensure immigrants’ civil rights and liberties, and protect immigrants' rights in the workplace.

"What we have done is so important," says Abdullah Furmully, 18, a native of Afghanistan who rode the bus from San Francisco along with his mother. "We are bringing a message to this nation that immigrants are people like everyone else. We want the same things: good jobs, education. We work hard and we should be treated equally."

After traveling thousands of miles from Miami to New York as part of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, Gary Kolson is ready to go home—not to rest but to start working immediately to organize immigrant workers.

"I have never seen such solidarity before," says Kolson, who is of Russian and Puerto Rican descent. "This will be the civil rights movement for decades to come. I saw in action what can happen when people come together and put aside their differences for a common goal and make the commitment to fight together."

Back to page top