Day workers across the country plan a campaign of peacefully responding to coordinated vigilante actions organized by Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control and local cells of the so-called “Minutemen.” Groups like the Minutemen and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) have been focusing their attention on day laborer centers. Day workers across the country plan to respond to the coordinated vigilante actions organized by Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control and local cells of the so-called “Minutemen.” There is such a day of action scheduled for January 7th. List of January 7th actions on CTCIC website

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) reports that the recent wave of attacks is nothing new to the day worker community. Throughout 2005, similar attempts to incite violence and generate chaos against day laborers were experienced in Phoenix, AZ., Herndon, VA, and elsewhere. In Redondo Beach, CA, Joseph Turner, founder of Save Our State, encouraged members of his group to bring baseball bats, noting “if we're lucky, we're gonna need them.”

The NDLON says that the actions of vigilantes are motivated by, and an inspiration to, hate groups and white supremacists concerned about the changing demographics in our communities. At a recent event in Herndon, VA, a man “patrolled” a day labor corner with a t-shirt that said White Pride. “Under no circumstances can vigilante action be accepted in a civil society,” said Salvador Reza, Executive Director of Tonatierra in Phoenix, AZ. “It is our obligation to shine light on their dark motives” he added.

The NDLON says that wherever militia and paramilitary actions target day laborers, the workers and their supporters will counter them with peaceful, non-violent resistance. The network of day laborers and their supporters says that it will monitor, photograph and film the Minutemen and similar groups in order to document and prevent violence and hate crimes; defend the areas where day laborers congregate to solicit employment in order to feed themselves and their loved ones; and work to spread a message that honors the migrants and denounces the vigilantes' hatred and xenophobia. Read more

National Day Laborer Organizing Network