"Day Without an Immigrant" in New Jersey

by: Juan Melli

Mon May 01, 2006 at 02:58:03 PM EDT

The AP reports:

In Camden, most bodegas were shuttered. In Bound Brook, the traffic was noticeably down and in Trenton, protesters waved U.S. flags during the day of planned work stoppages, boycotts and rallies.
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In heavily Hispanic Perth Amboy, a normally bustling business district was quiet and still. Block after block of restaurants, record shops, cafes and produce stores were shuttered, and parking spaces abounded on the usually traffic-choked street.
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In Camden, two cab companies and almost all of the 280 independent grocery stores — most of them owned by Dominicans — were closed for the day, said Jose Bello, president of the county's Independent Grocery Store Owners.
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One of New Jersey's biggest rallies was in Trenton, where several hundred people gathered, many wearing white shirts and carrying American flags.
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In Bound Brook, a row of businesses including temporary employment agency, a diner, a taxi company and a hair salon were all closed.

"People are already feeling the impact. There are no cars in the street and no one is buying anything," said Jerry Toribio, the owner of P&P Temps, Inc.

Chanting "Si se puede" and "El pueblo, unido, jamas sera vencido, " over 400 immigrant workers, families and supporters marched through downtown New Brunswick, NJ for May Day this morning as many shops across town closed due to the general strike.

Nearly all shops in the Latino neighborhoods were closed for business, while many other shops and businesses across town that rely on immigrant labor also closed. There was widespread support for the general strike; perhaps one third of New Brunswick's residents are Latino, many from Oaxaca, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. On the door of Tido's Junkyard Dogs, a hot dog place popular with students near Rutgers University, a sign read simply, "We are closed for business May 1, 2006. We will reopen 11 am, May 2, 2006."

At New Brunswick High School, there was a mass walkout at 9 am and many local high school students attended the day's events, singing and chanting.

The 10 am rally and 11 am march, organized by immigrants rights' group Lazos, called for immediate amnesty for all undocumented immigrants and full rights for immigrants and workers. While the vast majority of participants were Latino, organizers especially thanked African-Americans and other non-Latinos for participating.

At the rally, a speaker from the IWW gave a brief history of May Day and its origins, followed by speeches in Spanish and English by members of Lazos, Mexicanos Sin Frontieras, Latino fraternity Para Siempre and Iraq Veterans Against the War. The march proceeded without incident, stretching several blocks down the primarily Latino neighborhood along Suydam Street to Commercial Avenue, ending at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.

At the church, vans and cars left in a caravan for the office of Representative Mike Ferguson (R) in Warren, NJ, a sponsor of HR4437. The ACLU also held a workshop on immigrant rights at the church, sponsored by New Labor. The fourth annual IWW May Day picnic is also planned for later in the day at Feaster Park.

For a relatively small city, seeing such an energetic turnout for May Day is inspiring, proving once more that when people want something and are united, they will have it.