No Raids Committee of Queens Statement

The below is a statement written by day-laborers and members of the No Raids Committee of Queens in response to the harassment of day-laborers by the NYPD. Feel free to show support and send messages of solidarity to Noraidsqueens@gmail.com! We are planning a community forum to address the tensions that exist in the community as well as illustrating the lives of immigrant workers during an economic crisis.


To Whom It May Concern:
On Tuesday, October 20th 2008, around 11AM 10 day labors were arrested on 37th avenue and 69th street while huddled together in hopes of finding construction work. Usually, local immigrant workers congregate daily at the intersection because many of them live in Woodside. For instance, the construction workers’ children play in the same park as other kids from the community while others attend classes with other local kids. In other words, many of the people who were gathered on the morning of the arrest are your neighbors struggling as you to raise a family, give their children a better life—achieve the American dream. According to police reports, people from the neighborhood had filed multiple complaints against the day labors for gathering on the intersection and blocking the sidewalk. Like many of you probably know, there is a dangerous anti-immigrant sentiment throughout much of the United States that forces many immigrant families to recede from public life because of a constant fear of deportation. In many cases, immigrant parents have no choice but to withdrawal their children from school because of this paralyzing fear. When raids are “successful,” families are separated: dreams are shattered; survival becomes precarious. For example, that day after the police descended on the intersection like a pack of wolves and taken 10 immigrant workers into custody. A mother and wife, Olivia, with tears streaming down her smooth cheeks came to the site of the arrest asking about her husband who was arrested with the other workers, “He’s the one who works.” She said in between pants and sobs, to the New York Times reporter. “Who’s going to support the four children now?” Often in the midst of the political talk about deportation, the human element behind the immigration issue is lost. When we talk about workers gathering to work to support a family, we forget the reason and simply just notice the annoying site of a group of men standing on a corner covered in layers of clothing. But if we were to substitute the men for the women, the men for the children who they are working to support, would our perception change? This attack against the day labors of Woodside is not an attack solely against immigrant families but rather an attack against the community as whole. Because when a member of a community loses his or her rights, the community loses the capacity to develop as a collective. Whether or not the persons who congregate look differently from us, family, work, honesty, these are the values that transcend every ethnic and racial category and become the universal template for humanity. As a community, let’s have a conversation. Let’s not resort to animosity because there is much Hispanic immigrants can learn from other immigrant groups.

NO RAIDS COMMITTEE OF QUEENS in conjunction with Day-laborers present during the raid.