Filipino American Youth March on International Workers’ Day to Demand Education and Legalization for All

Press Statement
May 1, 2009
Reference: Melissa Reyes, Vice Chair, LFS-SFSU, email: lfs.sfsu@gmail.com

Photo: Darah Macaraeg

Photo: Darah Macaraeg

Filipino American Youth March on International Workers’ Day to Demand Education and Legalization for All

San Francisco—The League of Filipino Students-SFSU Chapter proudly recognizes this powerful day as youth and students march in heart and breath through the streets alongside the toiling immigrants and workers of the world. We march to staunchly condemn the criminalization and separation of immigrant families and demand genuine immigration reform from the new Obama administration.

This past election year, we saw the collective strength youth had in deciding the future of this country. Youth, coast to coast, demanded change from the horrid policies of the past eight years. Bush’s “War on Terror” and broken immigration policy created a climate of fear and intimidation towards this country’s immigrant community. With the new Obama administration, we are determined to turn our “hope” into action and ensure that genuine “change” comes in the form of a revamped immigration system.

As the mounting California fiscal deficit continues to make education unaffordable through tuition fee increases, undocumented youth and students face a limited if not completely inaccessible education merely because of their citizenship status. There have been attempts to pass the DREAM Act, which would ensure undocumented students access to higher education. However, various stipulations have hijacked the original intent of the bill by including military recruitment. This only supports the argument that our government desires to see poor and immigrant students holding guns overseas rather than pencils in the classroom.

We, as Filipino American students, are in a position to be vocal about social justice and demand immigrant rights. As children of or immigrants ourselves, we know immigrants are not to blame for the economic chaos we see today. The government continues to spend billions on war and Wall Street bailouts while conditions for workers worsen due to job loss and the rolling back of basic services. Day-to-day, we bare witness to the economic and social hardships that plague immigrant communities, all in the name of an “American Dream” that places blame on our families for its own inherit shortcomings.

This International Workers’ Day, we remind everyone that legality doesn’t determine one’s contribution to this country and that true change comes from mass action of the people.

PASS THE DREAM ACT WITHOUT MILITARY TIES!
EDUCATION FOR ALL!
CREATE A JUST AND HUMANE IMMIGRATION SYSTEM NOW!
NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL!
###

Photo: Darah Macaraeg

SF CHRP – May 1st Statement (by Rupert Estanislao)

(taken from http://kiwizzo.wordpress.com/, please share this with folks)

OFW = Overseas Filipina/o Worker

May 1st Press Statement
Rupert Estanislao,
SF Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines

(English)
From childhood well into adulthood the bitter truth I learned is that I would never be able to grow old in the country of my origin.

I came to America at age fourteen in 1993.

My mother went ahead of the family and took up work as a dental assistant while my father was a security guard and a part time hotel manager.

In his homeland, my father was a lawyer; here he was a security guard at the courthouse.

My mother was a dentist with a practice in Metro Manila, but here her degrees and experience were dismissed and deemed inapplicable.

They kept their dignity and worked diligently no matter how meager the pay, no matter how racist or petty the boss.

Leaving for work everyday at three am and coming home past ten at night left no time to eat and sit with one another as a family.

I know their bosses took advantage of their status and they being accustomed to the corrupt system of the Philippines silently complied and turned a blind eye to the violation of their own rights.

Legal or illegal, they are still immigrants.

The Struggle Continues | BAYAN-USA Statement on May Day 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 27, 2009
Reference: Rhonda Ramiro, Secretary-General, BAYAN-USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

The Struggle Continues… Even in the Age of Obama, Filipino-Americans Must Fight for Genuine Immigration Reform

Statement of BAYAN-USA on May Day 2009

The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN-USA, an alliance of 14 Filipino organizations across the United States, calls on all Filipino-Americans to commemorate May 1st, 2009 by joining the people’s continuing struggle for genuine immigration reform in the United States, and systemic change to the exploitative labor export structures in the Philippines.

On May 1st, 2006, Filipinos in the United States under the banner of BAYAN-USA were amongst the millions across the country who revived the militant spirit of May Day, an international workers holiday celebrated around the world but whose significance is suppressed and systemically erased by the US ruling elite and government. As exploitation and oppression against immigrants in the US grows worse– even in the age of the new Obama administration, which reaches its 100th day in office on May 1– it is paramount that Filipinos, coming from one of the world’s largest labor exporting countries and the poorest in Asia, express solidarity with all immigrant workers by fighting for dignity, justice, and human rights. This May 1st, BAYAN-USA remains at the forefront of the May Day rallies and street mobilizations in several US cities, and appeals to the broader Filipino-American community to join us in this righteous fight.

MAY 1st :: 1ero de MAYO

join the immigrant & worker rights march

work not war! legalization now!

may 1st  .  international worker’s day

1:30pm . dolores park [19^th & dolores]

the government continues to spend billions on the war while conditions for workers worsen due to job loss, service cuts and increased repression. this international worker’s day let’s take the streets to demand respect for our sanctuary city, equal rights for immigrants, no cuts to any services, and peace with justice in iraq, afghanistan, palestine and beyond.

deporten a la migra coalition . may 1st alliance . sf immigrant rights defense committee

for more information: 415.487.9203

únase a la marcha pro-migrante y trabajadores

¡trabajo sí! ¡guerra no! ¡legalización ahora!

1ero de mayo  .  día internacional del trabajador

1:30pm . parque dolores [19^th y dolores]

el gobierno sigue gastando billones en la guerra mientras que las condiciones para los trabajadores empeoran por la perdida de sus trabajos, los recortes en servicios e incremento a la represión. este día internacional del trabajador, tomeremos las calles para exigir respeto a nuestra ciudad santuario, derechos iguales para los inmigrantes, ¡no! al recorte de ningún servicio, y paz con justicia en irak, afganistán, palestina y más alla.

coalición deporten a la migra . alianza 1ero de mayo . sf immigrant rights defense committee

para más información: 415.487.9203

FILIPINOS CALL FOR LGBTIQ RIGHTS IN IMMIGRATION REFORM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 3, 2009

Reference: Luzviminda U. Carpenter

BAYAN-USA & GABRIELA-USA Queer Caucus Representative

(206) 859-7525

BAYANqueerUSA@gmail.com

gabrielawomen@gmail.com

FILIPINOS CALL FOR LGBTIQ RIGHTS IN IMMIGRATION REFORM

No Deportation for Shirley Tan, No Separation of Families

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA – On Friday, April 3, 2009, Shirley Tan was threatened with deportation and separation from family which included her life partner, Jaylynn “Jay” Mercado, her 12 year old twin sons, and Jay’s 76 year old mother, of whom she was the primary care giver.  Tan was unable to be petitioned for U.S. citizenship by her life partner of 23 years, Mercado, because the U.S. federal law does not recognize their union as a family based on their identification as women and their partnership as lesbians. Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-D) was able to postpone her deportation until April 22, 2009.  BAYAN-USA & the newly founded GABRIELA-USA as anti-imperialist alliances of Filipino migrants and Fil-Ams with over 14 organizations representing youth, students, artists, workers, professionals, women, and more, stand against this unjust act on the grounds that their union should be recognized as a marriage and family unit with all the rights that citizenship holds and that if deported the Tan-Mercado family will be yet another casualty to the broken bureaucracy toted as the U.S. immigration system. We recognize that this is not a unique story, but represents a staggering 37,000 others who face such heart-wrenching and unjust circumstances.

The revitalization of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Intersex, and Queer (LGBTIQ) Caucus during the 3^rd BAYAN-USA National Congress and Founding Assembly of GABRIELA-USA brought to light the unique struggles of Filipinos and Filipinas living within the U.S. and abroad that identify as LGBTIQ.  Both organizations have taken a stand to understand these struggles to become stronger for all Filipinos fighting and defending their rights here and in their homeland.  On the heels of the highly controversial passage of California’s Proposition 8, the situation of the Tan-Mercado family humanizes an issue whose core is often lost in political trickery around “family values” and religious rhetoric around “unholy unions.”  At the same time, communities of color like the Tan-Mercado family suffered from the LGBTIQ movement that did not tell stories of immigration and families being separated across borders and seas and often blamed communities of color for Prop 8 not being passed.  The civil rights of all families are being lost in the shuffle of power and blame.   With Tan’s potential deportation, there is the threat of violence from which she escaped in the past.

Sulong Gabriela! 25 Years and Forward!

SULONG GABRIELA! 25 YEARS AND FORWARD!

GABRIELA-USA Celebrates International Working Women’s Day with Month Long Activities Culminating in the Formation of the First Overseas Chapter of GABRIELA- USA

Los Angeles, CA–To honor International Working Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, Babae, FIRE, and PINAY sa Seattle will undertake a slew of activities during this March 2009. These celebrations will culminate in the National Founding Assembly of GABRIELA-USA, where Filipinas from across the nation will gather on March 29, 2009 at the University of California, Los Angeles Downtown Labor Center, to establish the first overseas chapter of the Philippine-based progressive women’s alliance, GABRIELA.  Presenting the keynote address will be GABRIELA’s renowned Secretary General, Emmi de Jesus. 

This commemoration of 25 years of GABRIELA history comes at a very challenging time for women all over the world. In the Philippines, the current global economic crisis affects Filipino families gravely as the daily struggle for wage, healthcare and basic social services become increasingly more difficult. The Philippine import-dependent and export-oriented economy is heavily reliant on remittances from overseas workers.   Filipina women, who represent over 70% of the overseas workers, are dramatically affected due to dwindling dollars impacting the welfare of families still living in the Philippines. According to the Philippine Department of Labor, over 3,770 workers were sent abroad daily for work in 2008 and in the same year, ten million overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s) remitted over $16.4 Billion USD.

The Philippine government heralds these economic gains as national successes, yet it neither recognizes the vulnerabilities and exploitation of overseas workers, nor protects individuals when they face abuse. In the past year, over 20 overseas workers were sent home in body bags labeled “mysterious deaths,” but are suspected cases of employer abuse. Despite this, the Philippine government, under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has responded by increasing the number of laborers sent abroad, rather than strengthening the local economy which might help retain talent and skills within the nation.  

The Impact of the US Recession on Education and Working Conditions of Youth in the US

Submitted by the US Delegation for the Youth Study Commission at the Third International Assembly of the International League of Peoples’ Struggles June 2008.

The Impact of the US Recession on

Education and Working Conditions of Youth in the US

US imperialism is in a perilous state as the economy has reached a point of recession evidenced by the high rates of unemployment, rising gas prices, and a failing housing market. The US government’s manic quest to remain the most dominant force around the world has translated to the massive suffering of youth across the nation in terms of education and their working conditions. The US has launched unfinished wars of aggression on Afghanistan and Iraq, which have continued to deplete the US budget of its funds; the government elects to cut spending for education and jobs amongst other vastly important items, as they increase spending on the military and terrorizes people within and beyond its own borders.

On Education Budget Cuts

For its 2009 budget, the Department of Homeland Security is requesting a massive $50.5 billion-a 7% increase over its 2008 budget. The Department of Defense has requested a budget of $515.4 billion for 2009-a $35.9 billion or 7.5% increase in over the 2008 budget. In contrast, the Bush administration has announced another slash to the national education budget. For 2009, the proposed budget of the Department of Education is only $64.9 billion-$3.7 billion less than the 2008 budget of $68.6 billion.

In California, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed $4.8 Billion in cuts to the education budget for K-14 in the 2008-2009 school year including $313 million from the California State University budget, and $400 Million in general education budget for the current year. In Georgia, there was a proposal to cut the budget by $38.8 million for career and technical education, $3.4 million for Improving Teacher Quality Grants, and $8.9 million for Georgia’s 21st Century Learning Centers for the fiscal year 2009. In Alabama, Gov. Riley’s budget cuts $400 million from the state education budget (more than half of that from four-year colleges). More budget cuts are being proposed in other states. And so, to make up for these drastic cuts, the administration steps up its privatization of education and hikes in tuition fees.