NATIONAL IMMIGRANT RIGHTS STRATEGY CONVENTION

August 11 – 13^th, 2006

Holiday Inn Hillside, 4400 Frontage Rd., Hillside, IL

 

 Friday, August 11 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Saturday, August 12 from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM

Sunday, August 13 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM

 

Goal:

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To establish an independent, nationally coordinated network and promote a national strategy which focuses on the defense and promotion of workers’ and immigrants’ rights. Our struggle is for CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS and for all WORKERS’ RIGHT TO WORK
           

Objective:

• To develop a national strategy and to structure a national network
• To design ways to combat the attacks on immigrant communities by the right-wing, local, state and federal authorities,
• To promote unity among those who struggle for justice, equality and workers’ rights
• To increase coordination, communication, collaboration and action between pro-immigrant, pro-worker organizations

Conference activities:

• Strategy sessions
• Plenary on major issues
• Sessions to dialogue and exchange ideas 
• Networking

 

Friday August 11

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM        Registration
 
6:00 pm                        Welcome and Introductory Remarks

6:30-7:00 pm                 Panel presentation:  The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and today’s Immigrant rights movement

Goal:

• To learn  from past struggles
• To promote unity

 

8:00 PM -8:30 PM                   Film “March 10 in Chicago”

8:30 PM- 9:00 PM                   Grupo Musical

Saturday August 12

8:00 AM- 8:40 AM                   Opening Session

Welcome

Housekeeping/Logistics

Introductions and greetings from abroad

Review Community agreement/Ground Rules

8:45 – 9:15                    Solidarity messages/greetings (both national and international)

 

9:30 – 10:00                  Celebrating our Struggle: How far we have come

Film: Marcha de los Inmigrantes del 1 Mayo Chicago

10:00 AM – 12:00 AM            Analysis of the current situation - And what we stand

Goal:

• Establish where we are going and why
• Review the reasons and characteristics of the assault on immigrants today which produced the draconian legislation in congress?
• Discuss how and why communities responded in such numbers to the assault on immigrants. Who are the forces? What is the trajectory of the movement? Where are we since the big mobilizations
• What are the issues that we must confront today in order to advance the movement, to make our case to a broader audience, to build real local, regional, and national organizations.
• Political Power: mobilization, naturalization, voter registration, strategy to get the vote out.
• Regional Reports

 

LUNCH

 

1:00Pm- 3:00

 

Strategy Sessions:

 

A. Strategy and Tactics:

 

Goal:

•  To identify the most effective ways to achieve our goals and advance the interests of immigrants and their allies.

 

B. Labor

 

• Immigrant Labor

 

Goal:

• Determine how to empower the organization of workers
• Establish that workers rights equate with human rights
• Generate strategies on how to protect Immigrants workers of today and in the future
• Problems of Guest Worker Programs

 

C. Combating the Right Wing Attack on Immigrants

• Federal, state, local legislative initiatives that punish immigrants
• We will hear experiences and strategies from local and regional groups organizing against right wing anti-immigrant propositions, anti-immigrant racism and vigilante violence; then conduct local strategy sessions

Goal:

• Analyze  two types of attack:  1.-Institutionalized attack= Federal, State, City and,          
• 2.- Civilian attacks such as those by the  Minuteman
• To share strategies to fight at national level, city, state.

 

D. Media

 

Goal

• Determine ways to get our message across to the media, and to the mainstream population whom we seek to win to our side. The media is not monolithic on the immigration issue and it is not always our ally, just as the last few months have demonstrated. Our message needs to be that this is not only an immigrant struggle, but a struggle of all workers in a globalize economy.

 

E. Legislation

 

Goal

• This session is designed to review alternative legislative proposals and to identify a supportive legislator that will sponsor it in the Congress.
• Look at the potential of bringing the issue of immigrant Human Rights to the United Nations

4:45-6:00

Dialogue Session:

ORGANIZATION

How should the Movement be structured at the National, Regional State, and Municipal level? - ¿Qué estructura debe tener el movimiento a nivel nacional, regional, estatal, municipal

Community Power through Legislative Advocacy – Poderio Comunitario por medio de abogacia legislativa

Organizing in favor of local legislation (driver license or “permit”); sanctuary cities; worker’s rights (big box, just salaries) – Trabajo en favor de legislaciones locales pro-inmigrantes: licencias o permisos de manejo, ciudades santuario, derechos de los trabajadores indocumentados, salarios justos.

6:30 7:00

Panel presentation:

Globalization and Immigration: No one is Illegal.

Goal:

To show free movement of commodities and legal restriction of movement of the labor force.

To prepare the International Conference on 2007.

Special guests

Wal-Mart Workers

 

Sunday, August 13.

8:30 AM– 10:00 AM

Reports from working groups & workshops

 

10:15 AM – 12:00 PM

 

Moving Forward

 

• Discussion of Proposals for work and action.

12:00-1:45 pm Lunch

 

2:00 -4:00 pm

 

Networking, National Coordination and the Next steps.

 

4:00 – 5:00 pm.

 

OPEN INVITATION