Oberlin Students abandoned the last five minutes of their 11 a.m. classes on Monday morning and flocked into sunny Tappan Square to express solidarity with the nationwide walkout supporting im/migrant rights.

Many students, hungry for lunch, joined the long line for food while others wandered over to the table where the Oberlin Coalition of Im/migrants’ Rights organizers urged them to call their senators to express disapproval for the bill H.R.4437.

This bill, if passed by the senate, would make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant in the United States. It would also criminalize assistance to illegal immigrants such as English as a Second Language programs, employer-employee relationships, shelter provisions and many other im/migrant support programs that are currently legal. H.R.4437 also provides funding for construction of a 700-mile wall along the US-Mexican border and the funding for increased border patrol. Since its passage in the House of Representatives on Dec. 16, 2005, the bill has elicited a passionate reaction from the im/migrant community and its supporters.

Oberlin joined with the rest of the nation rallying in protest and in commemoration of May 1 — International Workers’ Day. The Oberlin rally was organized by OCIR as the culminating event of a two-week im/migration awareness series on campus.

Posters dotted the Tappan Square bandstand proclaiming “No to H.R.4437” and “No human being is illegal” in English and Spanish. College junior Lorena Lucero, co-founder of OCIR and emcee of the rally, took up the microphone and more than 300 people gathered around the bandstand.

“We have to realize that as students we’re so privileged to be here today,” said Lucero, after explaining that many workers could not afford to participate in rallies for fear of losing their jobs or being deported, while students have a certain level of security in expression.

“We need to speak for those who are silenced,” she added.

A succession of speakers took turns at the bandstand, each expressing his or her own personal rejection of the bill. Voices for Christ, a campus spiritual and gospel vocal group, sang their support for the cause.

Oberlin City Council member David Ashenhurst announced that the City of Oberlin has recently passed a resolution opposing H.R.4437 which it plans to send to Ohio Senators Mike DeWine and George Voinovich. Ashenhurst maintained that the bill violates the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. He urged that there be nationwide recognition now that it is a hideous piece of legislation, rather than after the bill is passed.

College junior Darryle Johnson spoke along the same lines.

“This is not a Mexican, black, white or Latino issue,” said Johnson. “This is a human thing. We need to recognize when our fellow human beings are not getting justice.”

He led the rally in song: “We won’t stand for no walls. We will make these damn walls fall.”

Speeches were interspersed with chants of “Immigrants’ rights are workers’ rights” and “Si, se puede” (“Yes, they can”), along with Lucero’s frequent encouragement to the crowd to take a moment to call their Congressional representatives.

This bill is being debated in the shadow of a stream of recent congressional efforts to pass legislation legalizing more immigrants. Anna Duncan, College junior and co-founder of OCIR, speculated in a later interview that H.R.4437 was created as a reaction to these friendlier legalization bills — to put an end to them.

Duncan is of the opinion that the bill was probably pushed forward in light of the upcoming elections, to allow Republicans from “hot electoral districts” to take a strong stance on immigration policy and treat it as a national security issue. College junior and President of the Oberlin College Republicans Jonathan Bruno also identified the national security issue, but noted the distinction between Republicans who support H.R.4437 because of conservative views on increased border control and those who support immigrants who go through legal channels, merely wishing to keep out the criminal element.

Midway through the rally, approximately 30 immigrant workers from the surrounding areas of Willard and Norwalk marched into Tappan carrying signs and noisemakers. Some of them shared personal stories of their difficulties as the result of anti-immigrant laws, translated from Spanish by Duncan. Their stories elicited cheers of support from the audience.

One worker named Guadalupe emphasized that immigrants are not a burden. Many pay taxes and put money into social security, but do not receive benefits. He told how he had been injured on the job and the company he worked for appealed multiple times to resist paying for his medical care.

In response to the common claim that im/migrants are taking the jobs of American citizens, one woman asked, “Does my husband’s 12-hour workday fixing swimming pools and picking apples take jobs away from you?”

Willard worker Olga was proud of her son who just graduated from high school but upset that his lack of residency hindered him from going on to college. It has been his dream to go to college since he was six years old.

One girl said through tears that she was afraid her mom would be sent back to Mexico and that she did not want her to leave.

Oberlin students offered varying reasons for attending the rally. One junior spent the last semester in Chile where he learned about the injustices of globalization. He said that he felt compelled to support the effort to raise awareness of these injustices at Oberlin, and he thought that the way the rally brought together immigrant workers and Oberlin students was wonderful. Another student grew up in the valley of Los Angeles among many immigrants, mostly Latino. He felt his childhood experience brought him close to immigrant issues. One student did not know much about the issue when OCIR members handed him a flyer, but he was interested in learning more.

Next on OCIR’s agenda is a plan to rally Oberlin students together for an organized trip to D.C. to show their continued support for immigrants’ rights in the May 19 national demonstration.