Eugenio H. Villasante: (646) 285-1087
Matt Nerzig: (212) 539-2882
New York, NY—Following a rally at the Federal Building in Lower Manhattan calling on Congress and the Obama Administration to reform the country’s broken immigration system, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, 32BJ Secretary Treasurer Hector Figueroa, 32BJ Vice President Leonor Friedlaender and more than thirty religious leaders and immigration rights activists were arrested during an act of civil disobedience. The group was arrested for blocking traffic in protest of Arizona’s new immigration law which criminalizes undocumented immigrants.
“Congress must prioritize immigration reform that will ensure immigrants are full participants in our country and our economic recovery,” said Hector Figueroa, Secretary Treasurer of 32BJ. “Without federal reform, we face more Arizona-like enforcement-only tactics that break up families, disrupt businesses, distract local law enforcement and drain local budgets.”
The rally was (one of three days of actions with) the second demonstration for comprehensive immigration reform held in New York City in protest of Arizona’s immigration law.
According to a recent study by UCLA, comprehensive immigration reform would grow the economy by as much as $1.5 trillion. However, mass deportation would cost over $240 billion taxpayer dollars, take decades to achieve, and tear apart millions of American families. It would also result in $2.6 trillion in lost economic activity over ten years and create further instability and job loss in the economy.
“We won’t give up until there is real immigration reform,” said Alba Vazquez, an Uruguayan immigrant whose sister died shortly after she was granted US citizenship. “We will continue marching until every worker in America is protected under the law. Laws like the one in Arizona bring fear into our communities without repairing a broken system that keeps immigrants in the shadows.”
According to the Department of Labor, workers who were provided citizenship improved their income by 15 per cent during the 1986 legalization process – a change that had a direct impact on stimulating the economy. The Congressional Budget Office also estimates that had the proposed immigration reform passed in 2006, more than 66 billion dollars would have been added to the government coffers.
“Millions of hardworking, taxpaying men and women have suffered too long and deserve a better life,” said Figueroa.
With more than 120,000 members in eight states, including 70,000 in the New York, many of whom are immigrants, 32BJ is the largest property services workers union in the country.
updated 5/24/2010
