Immigrants, backers bring 'freedom ride' to capital

WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of immigrant workers and their supporters rolled into the nation's capital Wednesday, bringing their "freedom ride" for better treatment to the halls of Congress.

They came on 18 buses from Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, Minneapolis and six other cities -- with nearly 900 participants representing about 50 countries.

Inspired by the original freedom riders of the 1960s, who boarded buses to protest segregation, the immigrant riders used their bus tour to gain support for legalization of undocumented workers, better working conditions and reforms to hasten the reunification of families.

"This is to show that there are bad laws hurting good people," said Dave Glaser, national director of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride.

The immigrants stopped in about 100 cities and towns on their way to Washington, where they were greeted on a cool, fall afternoon with red-white-and-blue balloons, signs reading "Justice for all" and lots of food -- hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn and snow cones.

Organizers said they received mostly warm receptions along the way to Washington -- a sharp contrast to the original freedom riders, who were met with angry mobs and mass arrests.

Araceli Zarate arrived on the bus from Minneapolis and had tears streaming down her face as she talked about how she hasn't seen two of her children -- who are still in Mexico -- for six years.

"We work hard and all we want is to do is to find a future for our children," she said.

Muradieu Joseph, an immigrant who fled Haiti in 1991 and came on the bus from Boston, said he's living the American dream now with a job, a car and a place to live.

"Immigrants are not coming to bother anybody, they're coming to help build this country and make the nation greater," Joseph said.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks to sharply reduce immigration, said the new freedom ride "created a whole new category of outrageousness."

Linking their freedom ride to the 1960s "is an insult to the intellect of the American public," said David Ray, a spokesman for the federation. "First, illegal aliens thumb their noses at our immigration laws and then they try to paint themselves as victims."

Organizers declined to say how many participants were undocumented workers.

The immigrants plan to lobby Congress on Thursday before getting back on their buses and heading to a rally planned for Saturday in New York.

On the Net: Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride: www.iwfr.org

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