Comrades,
Today we come to protest against the Imperialist war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a war that once again drags humanity backwards towards misery and towards genocide. So far close to 4200 soldiers have died, 50000 have been wounded while 1 million Iraqis have died because of the effects of the war. All victims of the lies and the greed of capitalism.
A war that has been confirmed as false, immoral, and only justified by the financial interests of this country, who used the pain and the sympathies of the American people had for the victims of September 11th. President George Bush with the collaboration of the corporate media and the Democratic Party created a great lie: that the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis would again bring us security, liberty and respect from the rest of the world.
A lie that has cost us 3 trillion dollars, a lie that has cost thousands of deaths, and affected millions, and has shamed hundreds of millions in this country and the rest of the world.
The Immigrant Workers Union opposes this imperialistic war and calls for an immediate end to it.
For immigrants, this war is the continuation of the war against the poor and exploited people of the entire world, of which we are the ambassadors in this capital of empire. Since 2003, more than 5000 people have lost their lives trying to cross the Mexican-US border. In Arizona, hundreds of thousands of people have abandoned their houses, jobs and communities because of persecution from politicians and civil servants like Sheriff Arpaio and from collaboration with Napolitano, the ex-governor of Arizona. Today they are responsible to ICE. Millions of families live each day in fear of not returning to their houses, of losing their jobs or of not returning to see their family.
In the last 9 days 30 people have been detained by Immigration ICE in Dane county, possibly hundreds have been visited by them. The immigrant community of Madison lived in fear and helplessness.
In Dane county, more than 30,000 immigrants are endangered as are the members of the families, coworkers, friends from their churches and their neighbors because of Sheirff Mahoney while Dave Cieslewicz, Katherine Falk or the Democratic party continue give money and publicly supporting Mahoney. Our history, like that of the Iraqi people is the same: victims of a war against the poor.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end until the American people first break the chains of imperialism in our own country. The war is a continuation of the methods and interests that have developed in our neighborhoods, schools and factories.
The struggle for peace today passes by the people of the United States to stop exploitation, repression, discrimination against minorities, the poor, workers and immigrants.
The Immigrant works Union would like to invite all of you to participate in our May Day March from Brittinham Park until the Court House starting at 11 am because the struggle against the war on the other side of the ocean begins with fighting the war in our homes.
United We Can.