April 24, 2006
Director of Media Relations
(413) 542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.—Amherst College La Causa and the Chicano/a Caucus are among the members of the “Western Massachusetts May 1st Coalition,” a collection of local organizations that support immigration rights, which will sponsor a rally at 12 noon on Monday, May 1 on the Amherst Town Common. The May 1st Coalition is calling for the “Great American Boycott,” which has been called for that day in support of immigration rights, organized around the themes of "No Work, No School, No Buying and No Selling."
According to Antoinette Flores, a spokesperson for La Causa, "We as a nation need to wake up and see that the failed immigration legislation is a human rights issue that needs to be addressed with compassion and humanism—not xenophobia, racism and nativism. We are part of a national movement acting locally to show our community that we are here and that we support our undocumented brothers and sisters in the area and in this nation."
Flores says that the Western Massachusetts May 1st Coalition demands that the US Senate stop the passage of house resolution HR4437, which would criminalize immigrants and those who provide them services. "We demand comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship—not a temporary guest worker program—family reunification measures, worker protection and civil rights for all immigrants."
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