El Día del Trabajador—also known as International Worker’s Day, or #MayDay if you are into social media—is an important day for workers around the world. Sadly, this day is largely ignored in the U.S., much like the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows. That is why we march every year. We immigrants want to step out of the shadows and make sure that our contributions and voices are being appreciated and heard by the rest of America. We are showing how important our work and our cultures are to us, as well as how our labor and our skills are essential to the cultural fabric of America.
This was the case on Long Island on May 1, as more than 10 organizations came together to express the need for comprehensive immigration reform and to demand respect for all our immigrant workers. La Fuente Inc., The Workplace Project, the Economic Opportunity Commission of Nassau County, the Center For Civic Engagement at Hofstra University, SEPA Mujer, Long Island Jobs with Justice, Unity Housecleaners, Make the Road NY, Asamblea Cristiana Vida Nueva, Long Island Civic Engagement Table and New York Communities for Change organized a vigil in support of all immigrants on Long Island.
We wanted to ensure that our work does not go unnoticed in Nassau as well as in Suffolk County. We will continue to fight for the justice and the legislations that will benefit our immigrant communities residing on Long Island. Whether you are undocumented, DACAmented or a lawful permanent resident, our struggles are the same because if one of us is chained, none of us are free.
