WATSONVILLE (California) REGISTER-PAJARONIAN

September 1, 2007

Huerta lauds Watsonville in fight for farm workers

BY: TODD GUILD

Dolores Huerta, a lifelong activist who worked side by side with Cesar Chavez to build the United Farm Workers Union, told a packed room in Watsonville Thursday night that a great deal of progress has been made in the quest for farm worker rights, but stressed that the fight’s not over.

“It’s great that we have so many things to celebrate, but think of all the inhumanity that is still happening to all of our undocumented people in this country,” she said. “It just makes us angry, and I think a lot of us feel helpless.”

The sold-out talk was sponsored by the Pajaro Valley Cesar Chavez Democratic Club. More than 130 people packed into a small room above the Green Valley Grill, chatting animatedly and waiting for Huerta to arrive.

“She’s a real hero of mine,” said Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly. “She’s shown people like me that things are possible. It was Delores and people like her that inspired me.”

Huerta’s speech focused on workers’ rights, but she started by talking about Watsonville.

“Thank you for making Watsonville a Sanctuary City,” she said. She added that Watsonville was the location of one of the first meeting places for the United Farm Worker meetings.

“It was on this day 30 years ago that we held a strike against the Gallo Wine Company and we won,” she said. “We’ve had some very exciting times.”

Huerta then discussed the children of undocumented workers who have been affected by recent enforcement of immigration laws. She asked the audience to think of the children who are being left behind when their parents are deported.

“What a choice for a parent to make — either I leave my child, here without his parents, or I take him to Mexico or South America, and they don’t have the opportunity to grow up to be a U.S. citizen.”

Huerta also questioned the wisdom of plans by the Bush administration to check social security numbers against names of suspected illegal immigrants.

Why has immigration become such a big issue? Huerta asked. She implied it has been made the issue “du jour,” just as abortion was two years ago, and the issue of gay rights was last year.

“When they talk about ‘undocumented,’ they’re not talking about Canadians or Europeans,” she said. “They’re talking about us, the color of coffee. When they attack undocumented workers, they’re attacking all of us.”

Recent legislation against undocumented workers has opened the gateway for many racist organizations to come forward, she said, adding that the KKK has recently experienced a 60 percent upsurge in membership.

Huerta also suggested that there’s an “anti-immigration” Congress, she said.

“We have to educate the public about where these people are coming from,” she said. “We’ve got to start fighting back.”

She suggested teaching about the contributions of immigrants in every school district.

“Immigrants built this country,” she said.

“You’ve got many people here who are working. They’re not criminals,” she said. “They’re taking care of our children, our elderly, our disabled. They’re cleaning our buildings. They’re building our buildings.”

It’s not possible to fill all the jobs without these workers, she said.

Finally, Huerta talked about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who “passed more legislation in 85 days than Congress did in a whole legislation,” she said.

Her presentation excited those in attendance.

“The talk was amazing,” said Helen Schwartz. “She has been inspiring people for years, and helping people for years. Tonight, she lit a fire for me.”

Huerta received a teaching certificate in college, but soon became disillusioned and quit when she saw many farm worker children coming to school hungry.

She soon became a founding member of the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization. She helped farm workers obtain disability insurance, the right to vote and to take their drivers’ license examination in their native language.

In addition to founding the UFW, Huerta also helped found the first medical and pension plans, and the first credit union in history for farm workers.

The UFW has campaigned for farm workers’ rights for over four decades. The organization gained national attention when 5,000 grape workers from Delano staged a five-year strike in 1965.

She now heads the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which helps residents of “under-represented” communities.