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Several dozen people gathered near the end of yesterday's workday at the front steps of the INS building. The diverse group included students and workers, parents and children, Christians and Socialists, Spanish and English speakers, recent immigrants and lifelong US citizens. They shared a single agenda: to send a message of opposition to the recent wave of raids and deportation of immigrant workers. "Why are we doing immigration raids now?" asked Michael Dale of the Northwest Workers Rights Project. "I am a lawyer, and I understand that this is a land of law. We understand that ICE has its duty to do, and that sometimes it has to carry out that duty... But [right now] Congress is considering a change in legislation that would impact many hardworking contributors to our society... and in these immigrations raids, those people are getting swept up." Organizers planned this march as a response to what they see as a fear tactic, and focused especially on recruiting non-immigrant "allies" to come out. "They say that the timing was just coincidental -- that it had nothing to do with the massive marches or what is being talked about in the Senate, said Chris Ferlazzo of Portland Jobs with Justice. "But I don't believe it for a minute."The last month and a half has seen the largest protests in US history, all focused around immigration rights. The protest took awhile to get going, and the first few chants were notably low on energy and enthusiasm. Slowly though, the group began to gain a sense of itself. "Si se puede" began to sound heartfelt instead of just repeated. MC Janice O'Malley congealed this shift with a story about the origins of the chant, recounted from her visit years earlier with Delores Huerta, the co-founder of the United Farmworkers . It had started, O'Malley explained, during the UFW's early days. A white organizer with minimal Spanish skills was expressing nervousness as to his ability to help with the struggle. "No, no puedo" he said, in a moment of doubt: I cannot do it! "Si!" was Huerta's reply: "Se puede!" Often translated as "Yes, we can," the beloved chant is more accurately rendered as, "yes, it can be done" O'Malley's story encapsulates the deep message it carries. It is the individual who, flailing and alone, says to himself: "I cannot do it!" The answer to this is not "yes you can -- but rather, "yes, it is possible! it can be done." And it is the group -- and only the group; the union of all of us together -- who can make this truth-claim. Speakers emphasized the real human consequence of the raids, including frequent instances of brutality, and the separation of families that deportation necessarily entails. This is a human rights struggle," said O'Malley. "A week or two ago a 14-year-old-came home to no parents in his house because they were deported! Do we support this?" Yesterday's protest is part of a broader effort to engage non-immigrant allies in intentional support of the movement for immigrants rights. Organizers announced plans to form a "migra-watch" -- a network of people who would be on call to respond quickly to reports of raids and document any brutality of rights violations that are going on. "We can do it!" said Ferlazzo. "We can keep these folks in check." Listen to the Speakers Archive of local immigrants rights coverage || Archive of national immigrants rights coverage
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