MEDIA ADVISORY   For Immediate Release: Wednesday,

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Contact: El Comité Pro Reforma Migratoria Y Justicia Social and the May 1st Action Coalition,

ph: 206.650.2106, em:  info@elcomitewa.org, Twitter Tag: #M1SEA.

Thousands to take to the streets in Seattle for the 13th Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights on Wednesday, May 1st 2013.

March to call for a community voice in the immigration reform debate, as well as an immediate cease of the E-Verify and S-Comm programs, and moratorium on all deportations.

SEATTLE – Thousands of demonstrators are expected to take to the streets of Seattle on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 for the 13th Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights. In the spirit of unity and solidarity with communities across the country, organizers in Seattle will focus on a universal theme: standing together with all workers regardless of race, class, gender, religious affiliation, sexual identity, ability, and documented status. Event details are as follows:

What: 13th Annual May Day March and Rally for Workers and Immigrant Rights

Who: Thousands of workers and immigrant rights supporters. We’ll hear testimonials from community members, and will be joined by allies from labor, social justice, and faith based communities.

When: Wednesday May 1st, 2013. Program will begin at 1:00 p.m with a rally. The march will depart from the starting point at 3:30 p.m.

Where: The march will begin at St. Mary’s Church (611 20th Ave South, Seattle, WA 98144) and will end with a rally at the Federal Building in downtown Seattle.

Background

The theme of the 2013 march will center on justice for all workers and a community-based framework for dialogue on Immigration Reform. The action on May 1st is calling for an immediate end to the E-verify and S-Comm programs, as well as a moratorium on all deportations. Nationally, immigration has returned to the fore as politicians debate several proposals for addressing a matter that has been neglected since 2009.  Congress, through inaction, has been complicit in the use of enforcement-heavy tactics such as dragnet raids, racial profiling of immigrants, and the use of discriminatory employee verification programs.Under the current administration, up to 390,000 undocumented immigrants are deported each year, with 2011 bringing the most deportations to date, according to recent statistics.  This is not the progress we envisioned when we sought to defeat xenophobic congressional legislation seven years ago.  As such, we continue to organize at the grassroots level to ensure that families are not forcibly separated and to ensure that our communities are able to live, work, and are granted the opportunity to normalize their documented status, without fear and deprivation of basic human rights.

EDUCATE, ORGANIZE, MOBILIZE.

For more information, contact the following: El Comité Pro Reforma Migratoria Y Justicia Social and the May 1st Action Coalition, ph: 206.650.2106, em:  info@elcomitewa.org, Twitter Tag: #M1SEA.