Rutland
posted
Oct 25, 2012
The Rutland Unitarian Universalist Society hosted "Driving
Towards Human Rights," a speaking tour on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 10:30
a.m. A Vermont farmworker was the featured speaker.
There has been an increased move on the part of various faith
organizations throughout the state to take up immigrant rights as a
moral issue that boils down to standing up for the fundamental
human rights for all. The UU Church is just one of several faith
groups that has begun to see the moral responsibility to welcome
and support Vermont's migrant farmworkers.
Migrant Justice was invited by the UU as part of its state-wide
"Driving Towards Human Rights Speaking Tour" where various
communities, organizations, and faith groups are hosting Vermont's
farmworkers to get to know better what life is like here for the
approximately 1500 migrant workers who put the milk and cheese on
the table.
The event on Sunday preceded a separate event on Monday by a
different group of faith-based organizations, the Vermont
Ecumenical Council, that includes leaders from several Christian
denominations in Vermont. They gathered at the Vermont State House
on Monday, Oct. 22, at 11 a.m. to call for "just and fair national,
state and local policies and action regarding immigrants."
According to Joseph Gainza, organizer of Monday's press conference,
the statement, over a year in the making, is the result of
extensive interviews, data gathering and research on the issue of
immigration and the lived reality of immigrant farm workers in
Vermont. In the Statement on Immigration the VECBS Trustees
declare: "We must recognize our complicity in creating and
maintaining unjust economic rules and practices." They call on
people of faith and good will to recognize that how immigrant
workers are treated in Vermont "is not simply a legal issue but
also a moral question."
This outpouring of support from Vermont faith communities for
immigrant rights all precedes the 3rd Study Committee for Migrant
Worker Access to Driver's Licenses that will take place at the
State House on October 26 from 9:30-3 p.m. Danilo Lopez, a Migrant
Justice farmworker spokesperson sums up the last committee meeting,
"What we learned is that there are no laws preventing Vermont from
creating access to licenses/ID for undocumented people. Now, we'll
see if the committee has the will to recommend that the legislature
create access to licenses/ID for our communities so that we can
live and work here with more dignity."
Background on Licenses
In January 2012 Senator White introduced a bill to establish a
'Vermont Guest Worker Program'. However, the Senate Agricultural
Committee quickly established that the State of Vermont has no
legal authority to create Guest Worker Programs. After taking
extensive testimony, the Senate Agricultural Committee-with
enthusiastic support from the farmworker and farmer
communities-transformed Senator White's "S-238" to address
fundamental human needs and rights within the power of the State of
Vermont to address: "The general assembly finds that migrant
workers in Vermont face significant challenges based on their
current inability to apply for Vermont driver's licenses and
non-driver identification cards, including the inabilities to
travel and access services, medical care, and purchase basic
necessities, to officially identify themselves or be identified,
and to fulfill typical responsibilities of their employment that
require them to legally drive."
