Jackie Mahendra, e-advocacy manager for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), has a piece up on AlterNet about their great Democracy Day event last Saturday on Chicago's Northwest side:
“Our Vote is Power… Our Vote is Power,” chant the hundreds of immigrants, elected officials, and leaders in the fight for immigration reform who gathered to celebrate the national “New Americans Democracy Day” this past Saturday. In a sweaty auditorium on Chicago’s Northwest side, an audience of over 300 listens as Senator Dick Durbin and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky speak about their efforts to pass immigration reform. Elected officials from both parties and community leaders share the stage and the excitement.
The diverse crowd fans themselves between cheers with posters that bear several dozen logos - a reminder of the many non-partisan, community organizations that will be working around-the-clock to turn out the immigrant vote this fall. In a nearby classroom, dozens of South Asian, South American, and Eastern European immigrants fill out the final paperwork to become citizens.
Mahendra goes on to detail ICIRR's campaign to register 20,000 new citizens in Illinois this year and to get 50,000 immigrants to the polls on November 2. The event on Saturday represented the official launch of this campaign -- dubbed "New Americans Vote 2008" -- as well as a celebration of immigrants' growing power at the ballot box. Along with Durbin and Schakowsky, several new citizens took to the stage to tell their own stories. They were joined by representatives from various national organizations working towards just and humane immigration reform.
Below are several of the speeches from the event:
Sen. Dick Durbin (7:50)
Frank Sharry - Executive Director, America's Voice (3:00)
Clarissa Martinez de Castro - Director of Immigration and National Campaigns, National Council of La Raza (3:40)
Simon Rosenberg -- President, NDN (3:10)
You can find more pictures of the event here.
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