REFORM PARTY Catherine Salgado (second from right), pictured with members of ICIRR and the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, says their next protest is the “march to the polls.”

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
(55 E Jackson Blvd, suite 2075, 312-332-7360; icirr.org)
Mission Empower immigrant communities, generate a comprehensive legal system for entry and legalization, and mobilize immigrants to vote
Victories Helped kill the federal Sensenbrenner-King bill (H.R. 4437), which would’ve criminalized illegal immigrants and smacked a felony on those who came to their aid. Lawmakers drafted the SAVE Act in its place.
Methods Nonviolent marches, prayer vigils

Whether you were eating moo shu, mole or mac and cheese, your dinner conversation on May 1, 2006, likely revolved around immigration reform. On that day, huge crowds marched through downtown streets to rally against the Sensenbrenner-King bill. It would have criminalized undocumented immigrants and turned soccer moms into felons for employing undocumented live-in nannies. Thanks to the 400,000 immigrants and activists who turned out, the bill died, reviving the push for immigration reform nationwide. The SAVE Act replaced H.R. 4437, but to the dissatisfaction of immigration-rights groups, it offered no comprehensive plan for legalizing 11 million immigrants.

ICIRR agitates for immigration reform on the state and local levels, says spokeswoman Catherine Salgado. Immigrants here “are buying homes, contributing to the economy” and shouldn’t be criminalized, she says. Salgado believes marches create unity and demonstrate an organized immigrant community to lawmakers. Their success can be measured by the “effort and organization of people coming out to march,” according to protester Rosi Carrasco. But Salgado has her eyes set on the election, contending that previous marches “will now energize our immigrant community to participate in a second march—the march to the polls.”

ICIRR prides itself on peaceful demonstrations. Salgado and Carrasco report no arrests in the group’s history of marching, even in the face of violent outbursts from anti-immigration groups like the Minutemen. And while critics assert immigrants are taking American jobs, Salgado argues there are plenty of jobs to fill. Due to a lack of immigrant work visas, “in Florida, fruit is going bad on trees because no one is picking it,” she says.

—Sarah Perdue

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