On May 1, 2007, International Workers’ day, Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition held its second successful march for immigrant and workers’ rights. 6,000 people attended the rally, standing in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in other parts of the state and nation to demand an end to the inhumane treatment of immigrants in this country through just and comprehensive immigration reform. This is a crucial time for such political action: immigrants are being terrorized by raids; families are being seperated; workers’ rights are regularly violated. We hope that the rally on May 1st, and others like it, sent a powerful message to the lawmakers who are presently making decisions which will directly effect immigrant communities in the future. Voz thanks all who showed their support and commitment to the cause by attending the march on Tuesday, and all those who showed their support in other ways- all the volunteers who made flyers, ran ads, helped up to obtain march permits, helped with the security- your contribution makes a real difference to us! We hope you will continue to take political action- the struggle and movement are far from over!

VOZ was featured in a recent Mercury story about meetings between day laborers and local businesses. The article ran right before our recent meeting for day laborers and local business owners to talk about how to share the corner where day laborers seek work. This was the first meeting of its kind, but more are sure to follow.