Development & Aid, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean, North America, Population

U.S.: Mexican Torch Bearers Want Respect for Culture, Contribution

Peter Deselaers

NEW YORK, Dec 16 2003 (IPS) - ”Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!," shouts Gelacio Vargas. ("Long Live our Lady of Guadalupe!"). ”Que viva!” hundreds of Mexicans shout back in support, standing on the stairs that lead to the front portal of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.

Vargas is waving a Mexican flag in his right hand. In his left he holds a torch, which he escorted from the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, along with more than three thousand Mexican migrants.

Leaving Oct. 12, the group ran the torch 5,771 kms to Manhattan, both to honour the Lady of Guadalupe, who is celebrated by Mexican Catholics every Dec. 12, and to fight for their rights as immigrants in the United States.

According to legend, the Lady of Guadalupe appeared in 1531 to the indigenous Juan Diego – speaking in his own language, Nahuatl, and wearing traditional cloth. She was dark-skinned and had an indigenous face.

”The ‘virgen’ appeared when we were oppressed by the Spanish. Today it is the same – the Americans do not treat us fair," says Vargas.

The torch relay follows a religious tradition, but the young runners also want to raise consciousness of their problems as immigrants – both legal and illegal – in the United States.

More than 35 million Latin Americans were living in the United States at the time of the last census, 2000. ”There are at least 11 million undocumented immigrants,” says Vargas, who works for the New York-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Asociación Tepeyac.

Pablo Jimenez came to New York 10 years ago as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador. ”It took me 40 days. I suffered a lot,” he says of his journey.

”I crossed the U.S. border on the third of April. We were 40 migrants, and we hid in a lagoon for four hours waiting for the ‘migra’ (border patrol) to go away so we could cross.”

That clandestine journey became more dangerous after immigration authorities launched their ”blockade” and ”gatekeeper” operations in 1994.

The construction of huge walls and fences along traditional crossing routes and an increase in border patrol agents forced migrants to attempt to cross in harsh and desolate areas.

According to a study by the University of Houston, the moves did not halt the flow of would-be immigrants, but increased the number of deaths. More than 2000 migrants have died in the last five years; last year 342 Mexicans lost their lives attempting to cross the border.

Since he came to the United States, Jimenez has not seen his parents, who still live in Ecuador – like most of the immigrants who do not have legal resident status, according to Vargas.

That is why he stands in front of the Cathedral with a sign: ”Our Lady of Guadalupe intercede for families who are separated by borders.”

During the torch relay the young runners also collected signatures to support an initiative of two Arizona congressmen that would help immigrants obtain a legal residence. The law would not only give the status they need to legally visit their families, but it would also protect their working rights..

Today, Jimenez cleans apartments for a living, ”but I have also worked in construction and the chemical industry”. Some employers did not pay him overtime, others did not pay him at all after a week of work, but because he did not have legal papers he could not go to the police.

”Sometimes, when I was working with chemicals, the boss did not provide all the necessary equipment. We did not have gloves, so our skin got affected,” he says.

In some jobs he worked more than 12 hours a day, for the minimum wage. ”Sometimes I can stand that they exploit me a little bit,” Jimenez says, ”but when the bosses just take full advantage of us, I leave and search for a new job”.

Without resident status, immigrants cannot buy a house or subscribe to health insurance. In 37 states, proof of legal residence is required to obtain a driver’s license.

In California, recently elected governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, an Austrian immigrant himself, stopped a bill that would have allowed an estimated two million undocumented immigrants to apply for a license with their tax number instead of a social security number (only issued to legal residents).

The torch from Mexico was nearly stopped by authorities also. When the runners crossed New York’s Central Park a police officer wanted to extinguish it – no open flames are allowed in the park.