May 1st - It won't just be Latinos marching
It won't just be Latinos marching
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
April 29, 2006
MUSLIMS: More than 5,000 people from Chicago's diverse Muslim community will be marching, said Janaan Hashim, spokeswoman for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. Sixty different ethnic groups are represented in the Chicago area's Muslim population of 400,000, including Bosnians, Hispanics, Arabs, African Americans and South Asians. Muslims and Arabs feel that their civil rights are slowly eroding with legislation such as the Patriot Act, but when they march on Monday, they are mostly doing it in support of their Muslims and non-Muslim Latino friends, Hashim said. "We know what it feels like to be singled out."
FILIPINOS: There are 120,000 Filipinos in the Chicago area. About 150 to 200 are expected to attend the rally, according to Alliance of Filipinos for Immigration Rights member Arnold Devilla. "Among the Asian ethnic minorities, Filipinos are most suffering from a backlog of petitioning and sponsoring family members to come over to the United States," he said. There are about 250,000 Filipinos in the United States who have "overstayed" their visit by not extending their visas, Devilla said.
IRISH: There are 5,000 to 7,000 undocumented immigrants from Ireland, said Clodagh Murphy, secretary of Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform. Murphy said 70 percent to 80 percent of Irish illegal immigrants pay taxes and medical expenses. Murphy was able to take her older brother's body back home to her parents in Ireland after he was killed in a car accident last year, but her other brother, who is undocumented, couldn't go back. "All we want is a right to live here," she said.
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POLISH: One million people in the Chicago area are first-, second- or third-generation Polish, according to Frank Spula, president of the Polish American Congress. About half of the estimated 70,000 undocumented Polish workers in the United States live in Chicago, he said. The Polish National Alliance, an organization in the Polish American Congress that has 190,000 members nationally, is pushing its members to attend the march, reaching out through Polish newspapers and radio stations. Immigration helped build the United States, Spula said, but he does not support blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants. "We should have general rules that are observed by all," he said.
Rummana Hussain
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
April 29, 2006
MUSLIMS: More than 5,000 people from Chicago's diverse Muslim community will be marching, said Janaan Hashim, spokeswoman for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. Sixty different ethnic groups are represented in the Chicago area's Muslim population of 400,000, including Bosnians, Hispanics, Arabs, African Americans and South Asians. Muslims and Arabs feel that their civil rights are slowly eroding with legislation such as the Patriot Act, but when they march on Monday, they are mostly doing it in support of their Muslims and non-Muslim Latino friends, Hashim said. "We know what it feels like to be singled out."
FILIPINOS: There are 120,000 Filipinos in the Chicago area. About 150 to 200 are expected to attend the rally, according to Alliance of Filipinos for Immigration Rights member Arnold Devilla. "Among the Asian ethnic minorities, Filipinos are most suffering from a backlog of petitioning and sponsoring family members to come over to the United States," he said. There are about 250,000 Filipinos in the United States who have "overstayed" their visit by not extending their visas, Devilla said.
IRISH: There are 5,000 to 7,000 undocumented immigrants from Ireland, said Clodagh Murphy, secretary of Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform. Murphy said 70 percent to 80 percent of Irish illegal immigrants pay taxes and medical expenses. Murphy was able to take her older brother's body back home to her parents in Ireland after he was killed in a car accident last year, but her other brother, who is undocumented, couldn't go back. "All we want is a right to live here," she said.
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POLISH: One million people in the Chicago area are first-, second- or third-generation Polish, according to Frank Spula, president of the Polish American Congress. About half of the estimated 70,000 undocumented Polish workers in the United States live in Chicago, he said. The Polish National Alliance, an organization in the Polish American Congress that has 190,000 members nationally, is pushing its members to attend the march, reaching out through Polish newspapers and radio stations. Immigration helped build the United States, Spula said, but he does not support blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants. "We should have general rules that are observed by all," he said.
Rummana Hussain
posted by Carlos T Mock at 9:50 AM
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