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CAMPAIGNS
Past Campaigns
Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride
The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride (IWFR) was a national mobilization that focused public attention on immigrant rights and the injustices of current immigration policies. The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride took place during September 20th through October 4th of 2003.
Inspired by the Freedom Rides of the Civil Rights Movement, buses filled with immigrant workers and their community allies set out from 10 major US cities: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, Boston,Chicago and Minneapolis.
The goal of the IWFR was to demonstrate a broad national constituency for meaningful reform of immigration laws, while also encouraging civic participation by new and future citizens. In particular, the IWFR attempted to educate the public and elected officials about four key requirements of a new immigration policy:
Legalization and a “road to citizenship” for all immigrant workers in this country;
The right of immigrant workers to re-unite their families;
Protecting the rights of immigrants in the workplace; and
Protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of all
Unite for Dignity spearheaded the Miami Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride by recruiting and supporting local immigrant workers to participate in this historic mobilization for immigrant rights.
Click here to visit the official Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride site
Women Workers and Globalization” Forum during Free Trade Area of Americas Ministerial
During the Free Trade Area of the Americas ministerial in November of 2003, Unite for Dignity, in conjunction with STITCH and Women’s Edge, hosted a forum and exchange for women workers from around Latin America to discuss the effects of the FTAA on their own organizing efforts.
Cover the Uninsured Week
There are nearly 44 million Americans living without health coverage - including 8.5 million children. In 2002, the number of people without health coverage increased by more than 2 million, the largest one-year increase in a decade. Unfortunately, the problem won't get better soon. Rising health care costs continue to undermine the ability of individuals, businesses and state governments to purchase health care coverage. Reversing this disturbing trend, elevating this issue on the national and local agendas, educating Americans about the problem and providing immediate assistance to the uninsured and small business owners were the goals of Cover the Uninsured Week 2004.
Some of the most influential organizations in the United States such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, and including more than 800 national and local organizations, as well as thousands of Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia worked together to organize the second Cover the Uninsured Week to make the issue of the uninsured a focus of national discussion.
Unite for Dignity leadership development program interns participated in organizing a “Healthcare for All” rally to bring attention to the healthcare crisis in Miami-Dade County.
Current Campaigns
New American Freedom Summer
In South Florida, Haitian refugees are often detained, families are separated, and civil liberties are denied. In Arizona --where there is an anti-immigrant referendum poised for a statewide vote--immigrants face armed vigilantes, ruthless smugglers, and death in the desert. These and other acts of discrimination require a movement to empower Latino and Haitian communities through mobilizing for change.
Fifty volunteers from all around the country spent six weeks in Miami working on the following:
Making door to door contacts with immigrants to encourage them to engage in civic life;
Participating in community-based education around immigrant rights; and
Engaging in direct action “Truth Brigades” that expose the problems of our broken immigration system.
TPS for Haitians and Dominicans
Thousands of people have died and lost their homes in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as a result of recent flooding across both of these countries. Haiti’s continued political instability makes it additionally ill-prepared to deal with the current disaster. On June 16th Governor Jeb Bush stated that he is “inclined” to support the granting of TPS (Temporary Protected Status) to Haitians. On June 18th a coalition of 23 Florida organizations sent Governor Bush a letter asking him to follow through on his words and call on his brother to grant TPS. These organizations are prepared to take action again if we do not have an answer by August 5, 2004.
If there was ever a time for the federal government to grant this status it is now. TPS has been granted in the past to nationals of Sudan, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Burundi, Bosnia-Herzegovina, El Salvador and Guatemala due to political unrest in those countries. TPS was granted to Hondurans and Nicaraguans after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and to Salvadorans after an earthquake in 2001.
Unite for Dignity organized a rally in front of the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Miami on July 8th to demand TPS for Haitians and Dominicans.
A second action is scheduled for August 5th.
“Free the Children Now!” Petition to Release Haitian Children from INS Detention
Ongoing Campaigns
“Travaye an Avan” Radio Program
The “Travaye an Avan” (Workers on the Move) radio program provides outreach and education on immigrant workers’ rights issues to the Haitian community in South Florida. Through radio outreach Unite for Dignity seeks to increase immigrant community education and participation on issues that affect their communities in Miami such as living wage issues, quality of education, citizenship, and globalization.
“Travaye en Avan” is on the air on Radio Carnivale (1020 AM) every Saturday from 12:00 noon to 1:00PM.
Equal Treatment for Haitians
Despite decades of well-documented political repression and upheaval in Haiti, the U.S. government has historically discriminated against Haitian asylum seekers in the United States. The double standard and discriminatory immigration policies currently in place allow other immigrants whose homelands are in similar conditions to remain in the United States with protective status while Haitians are denied this opportunity. Moreover, INS policies allow for Haitian men, women, and children to be indefinitely detained without the certainty of knowing when they’ll be able to reunite with their families.
Unite for Dignity has supported and continues to actively support initiatives that promote equality for Haitians. Some of these local and national initiatives are:
“Free the Children Now!” Petition to release Haitian children from INS detention
HAITIAN REFUGEE IMMIGRATION FAIRNESS IMPROVEMENT ACT- These bills (S. 2187, HR 3238) would allow Lawful Permanent Residency to two groups of Haitian immigrants who were excluded from the Haitian Refugee Immigrant Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA). It would allow those who were 1) paroled with “fraudulent documents” and 2) children who have “aged out” to adjust to Lawful Permanent Resident.
One Standard Committee for Equal Rights for Haitian Immigrants - Unite for Dignity is the chair of the Miami Chapter of this national campaign run through the Trans-Africa forum.
