Immigrant rights group Union Del Barrio will be holding a rally this Sunday in their Vernon Central headquarters that will lead to the May Day march in downtown Los Angeles. Organizers of this South Los Angeles delegation decided to have a rally and meeting prior to the citywide march because of the experiences some residents have faced in their neighborhood.
“We’ve experienced harassment from LAPD, not necessarily from checkpoints,” Angel Torres, assistant organizer for Union del Barrio and member of the Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC). “But there are people who pick up their kids afterschool and they are harassed.”
The South Central delegation, headed by Union del Barrio and other organizations, will meet at their headquarters, the Central Cultural Francisco Villa beginning at 8 a.m., located on Maple Avenue. The group will begin with a rally at 9 a.m. and continue with a march to join the SCIC’s march on Olympic and Broadway.
Seeing that the South Central area of Los Angeles has a high undocumented population, there is a need for immigration work, said Torres. Union del Barrio is headquartered in Vernon-Central, where Torres says the organization has done a lot of its work, including “Know Your Rights” initiatives, and warning people about checkpoints. The neighborhood, says Torres, is “pretty aware of their rights.”
A march on May Day, which is recognized as International Worker’s Day, is crucial, according to SCIC, due to the “continued attacks against communities.”
After the May Day march, Union del Barrio plans to launch a campaign in hopes to “pressure politicians that have let our community down, to pressure them to step up and hold them accountable,” Torres said. The group’s slogan for the year he said is, “no reelection without realization.”
Further follow up actions and events are in the process of being planned.
More information:
Sunday, May 1, 8 a.m.
Centro Cultural Francisco Villa
2100 Maple Avenue (Metro Blue Line Grand Station)
Los Angeles, CA 90011
The delegation will join the march held by SCIC on Olympic and Broadway at 10 a.m.
