UFW leader risk arrest at civil disobedience action on Capitol Hill
Over 30 key leaders protest against unjust immigration policies and House GOP inaction on path to citizenship, risk arrest to signal continuing escalation of pressure
Washington, DC — More than 30 immigrant rights, labor, faith and other leaders will hold a civil disobedience action on Thursday, Aug, 1st, on Capitol Hill, protesting against the unjust immigration policies and the House GOP’s inability to pass a bill that contains a pathway to citizenship and keeps families together.
United Farm Workers National Vice President Giev Kashkooli will be among those risking arrest. The civil disobedience action will be held to send the strongest message possible to House GOP leaders that the fight for immigrant families has escalated and will continue through the August recess and into the fall until the House produces a comprehensive bill that benefits all 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Earlier in the day, Kashkooli helped deliver 224 sweet American-grown cantaloupes, harvested by immigrants in California, to each member of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of Rep. Steve King’s proposal to end the Deferred Action program for DREAMers and other uses of prosecutorial discretion in deportation cases. The cantaloupes were affixed with the message: "This cantaloupe was picked by immigrants in California" and "You gave Steve King a vote. Give us a vote for citizenship."
DETAILS of the event:
DATE: Thursday, Aug. 1st
TIME: 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION: First St. SE and Independence Ave. SE (by the Cannon House Office Building)
VISUALS: More than two dozen leaders will participate in the action. In support of the leaders, more than 100 people will be on hand, chanting and singing.
Here is a list of leaders participating in the civil disobedience and risking arrest:
**Jose Antonio Castro – Radio Personality
**Fred Azcarate – Executive Director, US ACTION
**Arlene Holt Baker – Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO
**Ryan Bates – Executive Director, Michigan United (and Allison Colberg, Lead Organizer of West Michigan and Denise Lopez, Immigration Reform Organizer)
**Deepak Bhargava – Executive Director, Campaign for Community Change
**Heather Booth – Democracy Partners & President, Midwest Academy
**Alan Charney – Program Director, US ACTION
**Sue Chinn – Campaign Manager, Alliance for Citizenship
**Larry Cohen – President, Communications Workers of America
**Petra Falcon – Executive Director, Promise Arizona
**Stephen Fotopulos – Executive Director Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
**Jess George – Executive Director, Latin American Coalition
**Sarita Gupta – Executive Director, Jobs with Justice
**Marielena Hincapié – Executive Director, National Immigration Law Center
**Josh Hoyt – Chief Strategy Executive, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
**Giev Kashkooli, Vice President, United Farm Workers
**Rachel Lazar – Executive Director, Centro de Igualdad y Derechos
**Rev. Bobby Love – Senior Pastor, Second Baptist Church of Olathe & Gamaliel representative
**Kica Matos – Director, Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice, Campaign for Community Change
**Eliseo Medina – International Secretary Treasurer, SEIU
**Andrea Cristina Mercado – National Campaign Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance (plus one domestic worker leader)
**Christine Neumann-Ortiz – Executive Director, VOCES de la Frontera
**Phil Radford – Executive Director, Greenpeace
**Ramon Ramirez, President, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste
**Jesusa Rivera – Chair, Civil Rights for all Immigrants – Indiana Organizing Project, Gamaliel affiliate
**Angelica Salas – Executive Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
**Jessica Scruggs – We Belong Together
**Frank Sharry – Executive Director, America’s Voice
**Gustavo Torres – Executive Director, CASA de MD (plus 5 local leaders: Ricardo Campos, Claudia Quiñonez, Nathaly Uribe, Paulena Saba and Alvaro)
**Miriam Yeung – Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
**HeeJoo Yoon – Executive Director, Korean Resource Center
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