Immigrant groups march in Chicago

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stone 2013. That is not, in fact, correct. We fully expect that combat is going to continue.”

Protesters linked the war to the Camp David meeting that week of representatives of eight of the world’s top economies, known as “the G8,” for years the target of massive protests worldwide. Also led by the U.S., G8 meetings are strategy sessions of the 1% aimed at targeting the working people of the world for brutal austerity drives (or cutbacks, as it is more commonly known in the U.S.). These massive attacks on jobs and public services promote massive inequality, poverty, and the ongoing destruction of the environment. The theme on May 20 was, ”Say No to the NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda!” Organizing in the face of city obstructions The powerful May 20 action was carried off despite one of the most concerted efforts ever mounted by government officials to limit the size of a protest, which they carried out by daily violence baiting over a period of eight full months. Playing its role in the service of the 1%, the corporate media bombarded Chicagoans with scary stories about so-called protester “violence,” “terrorism,” “anarchists,” and the minutest details of the city’s denial of permits. Rarely was there discussion about issues raised by protesters—war, NATO, poverty, and the G8. Reflecting the fears of the 1% over the deepening crisis CHICAGO—The march against NATO drew thousands—including young people, seniors, families, workers, students, veterans, and people of all races and ethnicities. They brought forward their demands on the issues of war, poverty, civil liberties, and everything in between.

Several immigrant groups participated in the march. Martín Unzueta, a prominent immigrant rights organizer from Chicago, spoke at the opening rally. He highlighted the plight of the millions of undocumented workers from Latin America who are living in the United States and the need for a change in our immigration system.

Among other immigrant groups present at the march and rally were BAYAN USA, representing Filipino immigrants in the U.S., a group of Latino chaplains from Chicago providing support to the protesters, and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc), who traveled eight hours on a bus from Minneapolis to participate in the anti-NATO demonstration.

“We are here today to protest NATO and their continuing wars and military interventions around the world,” said a MIRAc volunteer who was present at the march in Chicago. “U.S.-backed military interventions have created thousands of refugees from Latin America and other areas of the globe. That’s why we’re here today marching in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and other parts of the world who have been affected by ongoing violence and war. This cannot continue; the violence needs to end now!”

MIRAc organizers also marched to protest violence and austerity at home, including the increasing militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and immigrant detention system and cuts to vital social services.

Earlier this year, MIRAc waged a campaign to fight cuts to undocumented immigrants who were receiving Emergency Medical Assistance from the state of Minnesota to help them pay for services like kidney dialysis and chemotherapy. n Socialist Action june 2012 3

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through a gift of $3 million to the PEC, which went not only for polling supplies but also for “voter awareness camDuring the campaign and afterwards, Shafiq made clear that he was the “law and order” candidate and would continue the Mubarak/SCAF regimes’ repressive policies. Shafiq spokesman Ahmad Sarhan was quoted as saying that Egyptian voters had chosen his candidate because he had promised to “save Egypt from the dark forces” and restore eral chilling quotes by Shafiq, which reinforce fears of what Mubarak regime holdovers and their wealthy allies have in store for the country. The article’s lead sentence announced that “Ahmed Shafiq said he never regretted calling former President Hosni Mubarak ‘a role model.’” In response to this statement, said the reporter, which was made at a “lunch of elite businessmen held this month by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, an umbrella group for multinationals and those who work with them,” the crowd “The well-heeled audience,” The Times reported, “cheered as Mr. Shafik suggested that he would use executions and brutal force to restore order within a month, repeatedly mocked the Islamist-led Parliament and accused, against all evidence, the Islamists of harboring hidden militias to use in a civil war.” The Times noted that Shafiq’s platform “calls for the military to play a continuing political role as ‘the guardian of the constitutional legitimacy,’” and he calls “the military’s economic activities—which include a farflung commercial empire with little military application— The Times also noted his record of anti-labor repression: Amr Nabil / AP domestic security. “erupted in applause.” ‘a strategic necessity.’” (Left) Egyptians demonstrate in Tahrir Sq. on May 29 against election results and military rule.

paigns” encouraging participation in the electoral process.

The May 28 New York Times contained a report with sev-