Protesters outshout racist Minutemen coast to coast

On Jan. 7 in cities across the United States, hundreds of activists in dozens of demonstrations against the racist and xenophobic “Minutemen” shouted in Spanish and English, “The people united will never be defeated.”

Immigrant workers and supporters confront Minutemen in Freeport, N.Y. Photo: D. Perez

The reactionary Minutemen group had called for Jan. 7 “Stop the Invasion” actions against immigrant workers in 19 states. But they brought out far more opponents than supporters.

On Long Island, N.Y., eight Minutemen showed up at the Home Depot in Freeport. They carried signs calling the day laborers who gather at that location “illegal.”

Organizers of the counter-protest from the Freeport Community Worklink Center had mobilized over the previous day-and-a-half. Fifty counter-protesters, including a dozen day laborers, gathered, chanting, “No human being is illegal.” Their signs read: “Freeport Rejects Racism”—which drew supportive honks from passing motorists. Freeport is a community that is 68 percent people of color.

Mara, an activist with Long Island School of Americas Watch, was disgusted with the Minutemen: “They spend a lot of time talking about how these workers are ‘illegal.’ These hard-working men are just trying to make a living. Being without immigration documents is just a misdemeanor in the U.S. But these Minute men don’t really care about the law. Their cars are plastered all over with ‘Support our troops’ bumper stickers, so they favor the illegal and murderous war on Iraq!”

At one point three Minutemen drove to Freeport’s legal shape-up site two blocks from Home Depot. They left quickly when the site’s coordinator took their pictures and ordered them off the premises.

Terrorizing Latino day laborers and harassing the contractors who employ them is a national Minutemen tactic.

“Who are those guys?” asked one contractor who drove by Home Depot looking for workers. Informed that the Minute men have ties to known racist groups, he said, “Look, these immigrants are just workers who need work.”

Elsewhere on Long Island, in Farmingville, about a dozen Minutemen faced 45 protesters. The anti-racists had been organized by the Workplace Project and the United Day Laborers office in Farmingville.

Carlos Canales, an organizer for the Workplace Project, said, “The Minutemen say these workers don’t pay taxes, but Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez has shown that immigrant workers contribute $270 million into the U.S. economy yearly, and for their cheap labor receive no Social Secu rity, unemployment or health benefits.”

California racists outnumbered

Vigilantes in California held their U.S. flags high and paraded their racist sentiments on cardboard on Jan. 7 in anti-immigrant demonstrations across the state. But the Minutemen were confronted and outnumbered at demonstrations in Santa Monica, Lake Forest, Laguna Beach, Glendale, El Cajon, and Rancho Cucamonga.

According to a statements released by the Minutemen, they planned their anti-undocumented demonstrations for day-labor centers or hardware/home repair stores where migrant workers gather in search of work.

Chris Newman of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in California noted that the Minutemen were outnumbered everywhere by anti-racist supporters of Latino workers.

In El Cajon in East San Diego, as around the state, members of Gente Unida, the Organic Collective, the Brown Berets, and Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST) outnumbered and outwitted the racist vigilantes and their supporters. People standing outside the store hoping for work included not only undocumented Mexicans but poor Black and white people as well.

In Chicago, there were 30 Minutemen and about 150 anti-racist counter demonstrators. (Chicago Tribune, Jan. 8)

In Denton, Texas, local supporters of the Latino day laborers stood in silent solidarity with the immigrant workers. Three times as many anti- Minutemen protesters showed up and carried signs calling Minutemen “Klansmen.”

In Denver, some 200 anti-racists faced 15 Minutemen. (Denver Post Jan. 8)

Nadia Marin Molina, director of Long Island’s Workplace Project, said of the overwhelming opposition to the Minutemen around the country: “This means that the Minutemen do not represent regular people. People don’t want to support a vigilante group with ties to known white supremacists.”

Vela reported from San Diego, Cottin from Freeport, N.Y.