CHICAGO – Musician Tom Morello joined local immigrant rights and labor rights leaders to highlight the importance of reforming our broken immigration system and rebuilding the American Dream for all workers.  Chicago is the final stop on Morello’s Justice Tour, which spotlights local activism and celebrates social justice through music.

"The Justice Tour is proud to partner with SEIU for this May Day celebration and rally. Workers rights and human rights are absolutely inseparable and the struggle for dignity in the workplace is the struggle for a more humane and just world," said Tom Morello, the groundbreaking electric guitarist for Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, who performs acoustic folk as The Nightwatchman.

Morello will perform at the May Day Rally at Federal Plaza during the program, which starts at 1:30 p.m. Thursday May 1.

“Music has always been part of social movements. We welcome the participation of a noted musician in the struggle for equal rights for all and unconditional legalization of undocumented immigrants,” Jorge Mujica, of the March 10th Coalition.

The May Day march and rally will focus on how the rights of all working people are linked with the reform of our country’s broken immigration system. We cannot reclaim the American Dream for workers until we get serious about defending immigrant rights and overhauling our broken immigration system.  

“May 1st finds its roots in the Haymarket Square riots when workers fought for the right to an 8 hour work day,” said Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus, Executive Director. Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA). “Today, May 1st extends that symbolic moment in history to embrace immigrant rights and social justice. Because of unfair global economic policies, workers and their families are being forced from their homes. They face explotation and discrimination. Immigrant rights are human rights. Together we stand united.”  

Support for the marches comes from a broad coalition of groups representing workers and immigrants from many countries and backgrounds.  
 
“We are urging our diverse immigrant communities to be part of this upcoming march in the streets and to continue energized to march to the polls in November. It is crucial that immigrant communities show their political power on Election Day to let our future legislators know that we are civically engaged and that we will continue to demand just and fair immigration reform,” said Alie Kabba, Executive Director of  the United African Organization (UAO) and board member the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR).  “These efforts are important to bring attention to an issue that is affecting millions across the country. The following step is to show politicians that we can change the political landscape of this country.  The next march is to the polls.”

The 2008 election is a critical turning point for the immigrant community.  More than ever before, immigrants from across the country and from diverse backgrounds are getting involved in politics because they know voting is the only way to impact public policy on issues that matter—living wages, immigration reform, healthcare reform and education reform.

With this year’s May Day March for Immigration Reform, the immigrant community is turning its activism around the need for comprehensive immigration reform into political power.

“Voters are looking to the presidential candidates to bring a new vision for America, and policies that will create a new American Dream for all workers in this country,” said Tom Balanoff, President of SEIU Local 1. “In the popular slogan ‘today we march, tomorrow we vote,’ tomorrow has arrived.”