Saturday April 26, 2008

IMMIGRANT SOLIDARITY DUPAGE PRESENTS COMMUNITY FORUM ON IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

Immigrant Solidarity Dupage (Solidaridad Migrante Dupage) will be
presenting a bilingual community forum with two workshops on labor
and legal rights Saturday, April 26 at the College of Dupage,
Building I.C. room 1000 in Glen Ellyn at 4:30 PM.

Immigrant Solidarity Dupage, a new immigrant and refugee rights group
based in Glendale Heights, has been educating and mobilizing the
growing immigrant community and their allies in the Western Suburbs
around the issues of civil rights and cultural understanding. The
diverse group includes members from the youth, faith-based, labor and
Latino communities united in the globalist perspective that "no human
being is illegal." The group has grown since its inception late last
year presenting community forums and moral and material outreach to
some of the counties most alienated residents.

The event will include as panelists suburban community activists such
as Rita Gonzalez of Addison`s Hispanos Unidos, Erika Sanchez Northern
Illinois University activist from Villa Park, Arnoldo Fabela of
Elgin's Speak out Against Prejudice (S.O.A.P) and Ulysses Diaz of
Aurora in addition to Chicago activists Martin Unzueta of the workers
rights advocacy group the Chicago Workers Collaborative and African-
American Immigrant's Rights activist Shelby Richardson. Music will be
provided by the Puerto Rican folkloric group Ecos de Nuestra Cultura
and local folksinger Benjamin Cline. There will also be food and
drinks for all. The keynote speaker for the event will be Jorge
Mujica of Chicago's March 10th Coalition conveners of the historic
2006 May Day march for immigrant rights in which over 500,000 people
participated.

Mujica, along with Immigrant Solidarity Dupage members, sees a real
need for understanding and respect for diversity as the ethnic and
racial composition of Dupage gradually changes. "Just as factories
and jobs have moved from the big cities to smaller towns, from Cook
to DuPage and other counties, so has the Latino and other immigrant
populations. Unfortunately, traditional residents of these small
towns are not used to new immigrants and many times react defensibly
to their arrival there. This workshop will teach people on both sides
of the immigration issue our commonalities and the achievements we
can have working together."

Two trainings will be presented at the event. The first will cover
labor rights with an emphasis on the plight of immigrant workers
hosted by members of the Chicago Workers Collaborative. The focus of
the workshop will be on how workers might unite together to end fear,
stop exploitation, and improve workplaces in Illinois. The second
training will cover legal rights for immigrants with a panel
including immigration lawyer Heather Benno and members of the League
of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) among others.

Immigrant Solidarity Dupage hopes with the workshop to raise
consciousness in the local immigrant community and foster compassion
and understanding among all residents of our diverse and growing
county. According to panelist Martin Unzueta of the Chicago Workers
Collaborative, "Immigration is a very hot issue, but very few people
on either side, in favor or against, including immigrants, know the
real facts and details about immigration. That's what we will be
addressing at the April 26 Immigrant Solidarity Dupage Immigrant
Rights Workshop.
 

Media Contacts: Cristobal Cavazos (630)545-0373
Kevin Lindmann (630)690-4031, Rafael Vieyra (630)965-0145, Rita
Gonzalez (630)456-1792