On July 1, organizations in Providence, R.I. hung four large banners from bridges over a heavily driven section of I-95 through the city’s downtown. The banners had a series of messages supporting immigrant rights.
“The messages [demonstrate] solidarity with the people of Georgia . . . and declare that Rhode Island should not follow the path of hatred established by states such as Arizona and Georgia,” said a press release from the We Are All Arizona Coalition.
The coalition includes the American Friends Service Committee, the Committee of Immigrants in Action, Direct Action for Rights and Equality, English for Action, Fuerza Laboral – Power of Workers, Progreso Latino, the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), and the Rhode Island chapter of Jobs with Justice.
The messages, said the groups, “end by calling on Governor [Lincoln D.] Chafee to take a public stance against the anti-immigrant Secure Communities [agreement], signed by [Rhode Island] Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”
The Tribuno del Pueblo took this opportunity to talk to Juan Garcia, community organizer for the Committee of Immigrants in Action in Rhode Island, community organizer, to update our readers on the immigrant-right’s movement in Providence.
“On July 1st, about 150 people protested in front of the state’s attorney general’s office,” Garcia said. “We wanted to show our disapproval of the program, Secure Communities.”
Furthermore, he said, “We have been protesting in solidarity with those protesting the Arizona copy-cat law approved by the Georgia state legislature.
“Here in Providence, we continue to organize towards a path to legalization. The fight for a moratorium on deportations is reviving the movement today,” Garcia continued. “People have been very disillusioned with President Obama. If he wants our vote he needs to stop the deportations.”
