Delegation of Farm Workers to Travel to New Orleans on Thursday to join #FamiliesFightBack against Litigation Delaying Administrative Relief
Farm Workers, UFW, UFW Foundation Will Join Hundreds of Immigrant Families, Allies, and Advocates to Rally and Demonstrate in New Orleans during July 10th Fifth Circuit Court Oral Arguments to Demand that the Courts #RestoreRelief
BAKERSFIELD—Farm workers from California’s Central Valley and UFW and UFW Foundation leaders will join immigrant families and other advocates from around the country in a movement-wide #FamiliesFightBack demonstration on Friday, July 10th in New Orleans. The action will take place during the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on the injunction against the President’s executive order on immigration. This federal lawsuit has delayed the administrative relief President Obama announced in November that could provide relief to millions of immigrant families.
Farm worker participants in the event represent the voices of thousands of hard working farm workers and their families, who would greatly benefit if Obama’s Executive Order were to take effect. These farm worker leaders have decided not to allow the Republican’s anti-immigrant tactics silence them, and instead they will be joining their voices with 500 other participants from 20 different states in a vigil Thursday night and a rally the following day in New Orleans.
“It has been our mission to ensure farm working families are represented and their human rights are protected. The vast majority of them [are] undocumented. President Obama’s Administrative Relief would not only help the farm working families, we currently serve, but the countless number of immigrant families throughout the nation,” said Diana Tellefson Torres, Executive Director for the UFW Foundation and UFW National Vice President. “As a Board of Immigration Appeals recognized organization, the UFW Foundation will continue to provide immigration services and community outreach to all immigrant families. The Farm Worker Movement will not rest until President Obama’s executive order is implemented.”
To find out more about the farm worker participants, please see their bios listed below:
EVENT: Farm workers from the California’s Central Valley and UFW and UFW Foundation leaders will travel to New Orleans on Thursday to join hundreds of immigrant families and leaders from national immigrant rights organizations to rally in front of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals courthouse during oral arguments. The action, called #FamiliesFightBack, is to ensure immigrant and farm working families’ voices are heard in asking the courts to lift the injunction that put President Obama’s administrative relief policies on hold and fight back against Republicans’ blatant attack against immigrant families by efforts to manipulate our justice system for their partisan politics.
WHO: Farm workers: Dora Buenrostro, Saul A. Del Toro, Diana Cecilia Sandoval Sandoval and Francisco Torres. Diana Tellefson Torres, UFW Foundation Executive Director and UFW National Vice President and other UFW Foundation leaders.
DATE/TIME: Thursday, July 9 at 3 p.m. farm workers will leave from LAX to New Orleans. They will leave from the Central Valley, on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. from Bakersfield.
LOCATION: UFW Foundation Office – 220 18th St. Bakersfield, CA
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Bios of Farm Worker Participants
1. Dora Buenrostro
Dora Buenrostro’s immigrant story is a reflection of the many brave selfless migrant women who venture with a dream of giving their children a better future. When her heavy heart left her hometown in Michoacán, Mexico fleeing violence, she reminded herself that her soon to be born son needed an opportunity for a better life. She walked endless miles through the desert 9 months pregnant to be reunited with her husband. Hopeful and hardworking, Dora and her husband worked their life in the fields of Kern County. Although life’s lows made them victims of wage theft, they gathered their savings to open up a mechanic’s shop. The death of their eldest son was a blow to the family that has left a hole in the heart of her husband, her three children and herself. She hopes to continue fighting for the American dream for the sake of her family and the country that has given her an opportunity to dream. Dora is a potential DAPA beneficiary and a UFW Foundation member in Bakersfield, CA.
2. Saul A. Del Toro
Saul Del Toro’s drive stems from the sacrifices of his immigrant mother and father. He understands his country thrives on the shoulders of his family, who has helped feed many dinner tables across the country every night. As a child, he lost his brother when a machine hit him on the back of his head, killing him immediately. Following the accident, he saw the struggles his family had to endure because of their immigrant status, he hopes to continue the dreams of his family bearing the memory of his brother. He is in the process of building his landscaping company following the entrepreneurial spirit of his father. Saul is a U.S. Citizen and will help his parents apply for DAPA. His mom is Dora Buenrostro.
3. Diana Sandoval
Diana Sandoval is proud to be a farm worker in Kern County, CA who has worked in grape, chile and blueberry fields. When she was 14, she left Zacatecas, Mexico and came to the United States with hopes of helping her family reach the American Dream. Because she has seen her family endure many injustices in the fields due to their immigrant background, she is in the process of becoming a U.S citizen and on the road of obtaining her Masters in Social Work to better address farm worker issues. Diana currently works in the fields and is a UFW Foundation member in Bakersfield, CA.
4. Francisco Torres
Francisco has worked in fields for 33 years. He works in the citrus fields, picking oranges. He resides in Porterville, CA (Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s district). Francisco is a U.S. Citizen. He is traveling to New Orleans to participate and support all the families that are undocumented. He wants everyone to have papers to help them have rights. He doesn’t want to see anymore injustices, and he doesn’t want to see people being taken advantage of at the border or by the coyotes. In 2013 Francisco risked arrest in Washington D.C. along with other farm worker leaders to help pass immigration reform. Francisco is a UFW member.