Voices of the Latina Institute: ¡Pa’lante! Continuing the struggle for social justice

Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Director of Policy and Advocacy, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
I’ve heard it all: the misogynistic comments, the anti-immigrant rants, the accusations of being a ‘bleeding heart’ socialist with no pride in ‘America’. “If you hate this country so much, why don’t you go back?!� the detractors scream. “Baby-killer!�, “Spic!� “Liberal!� But still I march and still I fight.
This is a common experience for many activists. As a person committed to reproductive justice, an activist, a woman, a Latina, a daughter of an immigrant, a queer ally and a progressive individual, I find myself being constantly confronted by hate and fear. What’s most difficult is when the fear and distrust come from within our individual movements, further perpetuating divisions within the larger movement for social justice.
I once read a blogger who harshly asserted that immigrant rights is not an issue of concern to LGBT people of color. She claimed that queer activists should stick to fighting for their own rights before joining coalitions in support of immigrant rights. This ignores the entire population of queer immigrants who are denied the right to petition for the status of their partner because the government does not recognize their relationship as valid or legal. It also ignores the reality that many movements have a common enemy. As an ally, I marched on behalf of an immigrant rights organization in the St. Pat’s for All Parade in Queens, a parade centered on inclusion of LGBT people in reaction to their forced exclusion in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan. I am neither Irish, nor queer, but felt that it was important to participate in this parade. On the sidelines, conservatives and religious zealots displayed large signs, saying “Sodomy!� and “Stop Blaspheming our Lord!� Some could easily brush that off with “they are not talking about me,� but I know that those same people often stand on the sidelines at women’s marches with images of dead babies and anti-choice rhetoric “Stop Abortion Now!� and are also at the immigrant rights rallies with “Go back to your country!� and “Deport Illegal Aliens!� Unfortunately, many good-intentioned activists don’t get the connection and disjointed communities end up fighting their own often-parallel struggles.

You cannot separate your identity or passion into clean, distinct compartments. Progressive-minded folks need to understand that you cannot be pro-woman but anti-immigrant; how can one ignore the various experiences and unique needs of immigrant women as workers, mothers, caretakers, advocates and teachers? The media has been dominated by male-centered dialogue on immigration reform that has largely ignored the issues that women face.
The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, along with the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) have formed the National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights for just this reason—to bring immigrant women’s issues to the forefront of the immigration debate. As a coalition, we are fighting to advance an equitable immigration policy that provides a path to citizenship for the undocumented, legal channels for immigrant women to work, protection for all immigrant women from exploitation and abuse, and a reduction in the family and employment-based immigration backlog. In addition, the coalition promotes reproductive and economic justice for all immigrant women. We call on all social justice organizations to join us in this struggle-the fate of million of immigrant women’s lives is at stake and we can no longer afford to remain silent!