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Filipino Americans united with Latinos in CA

14:29 H | Topics: California - Culture - Immigration

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't just Latinos who were coming together in Monday's pro-immigration rallies; members of other communities united their voices in solidarity with the cause of immigrants of any race or origin.

Asian Journal reports on the outpouring of support on the part of the Filipino American community in various parts of California.

In Los Angeles:

Members of the Filipino-American community were also present during the rally. Some of them represented a particular organization, others came on their own.Even if they were not easily identified as a community compared to the Latinos, there were still there to show support.

“Ang tao, ang bayan, ngayon ay lumalaban,” chanted one group of Filipino-Americans carrying placards and bearing the Philippine flag. Roughly translated, the chant means, “The people, the nation, now are fighting.”

The Asian Journal was able to interview some of the Fil-Am rallyists between MacArthur Park and Western Avenue.

“Clearly, the Asian community is a large immigrant community, particularly the Filipino community. In fact, the Filipino community is one of the largest immigrant Asian communities in Los Angeles so it’s important that we stand united with our other immigrant communities that are here with us and support in unity with this particular issue,” Jury Candelario told the Asian Journal.

In San Francisco:

There were Filipino Americans who joined the protest march and stayed on through the afternoon and evening protests. Two of them, Jesse Baldoz, 24,and David Llorente, 19, eventually settled in front of the San Francisco City Hall entrance after the march, holding up a Philippine flag for people to see.

Aside from visibility to foot traffic and motorists, Baldoz and Llorente said their actions symbolized "the solidarity that Filipinos share with other communities in protesting laws that unfairly target the immigrant community."

"I have family and friends who have come here to live a better life," Baldoz, told the Asian Journal. "We are not criminals, we deserve better, that's why I am here... I want to do my part."

For his part, Llorente said that "if H.R. 4437 bill gets passed, all of us are going to jail, all of us, because they are going to make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant out here and it will be a felony for you to help an illegal immigrant. You know us Filipinos, we help those TNTs (tago ng tago)."

"TNT" or tago ng tago means "always hiding" in Tagalog, and is an expression commonly used to describe undocumented immigrants within the filipino community.

Filipinos, aside from sharing an intertwined history with Latin America, also share the plight of being indocumented, family separation and other immigration woes. While Filipinos aren't the first group that comes to mind when people think of immigration reform, it's important to remember that this isn't just a Latino issue.

Michael Eng, councilmember for Monterey Park (east of L.A.) and an immigration attorney, puts it plainly:

“This is very important especially to make sure that the Asian community is heard, particularly on the family preferences,” he told the Asian Journal during the rally.

He brought up the case of Fil-Ams petitioning for family members as an example of why the current immigration laws have to be changed as an example. Filipinos experience the worst backlogs in the family-based immigration category in the United States.

“If we’re going to have any amnesty or any change in the law, we need to make sure that brothers that sisters in the Philippines don’t wait for 25 years. That’s too long.And that’s one of the things that I’m against, to have immigration reform without speeding up the family unity cases.If you are a U.S. citizen and you petition your brother or sister in the Philippines it takes over 20 years. That’s unacceptable,” he said.

Related: Asians adding their voices immigration Debate(Daily Journal)

Via / Asian Journal

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