Jaime Contreras
Jaime Contreras
asked bill community general people reasons rest strike understood work
I think that for the most part, people in the community understood the reasons why . . . we asked them to go to work and go to school. Rest assured, if we don't have a bill we can live with, we will have a general strike and a general boycott.
achieve congress fed general immigrants message send strong work
What we want to achieve is to send a very strong message to the Senate, to the Congress in general and this administration that immigrants are fed up, that we are tired, that we work very hard.
community provide ready structure though
Our community has been ready to mobilize, though we have not been able to provide them with the structure and leadership. Now we are all connected. We are all coordinating through the Internet.
empower respect
If we all participate, we will empower respect and real immigration reform.
goals
We have the same goals, and that is what is going to keep up strong.
time
We could do it and do it well, but this is not the right time to do it.
community leadership provide
We have been able to provide the leadership that our community needs.
coalitions create ideas lack leader national strong
We lack a national leader and national structure. Right now you have a lot of strong coalitions with a lot of different ideas of how to create this movement.
awake close giant paying sleeping wide
The sleeping giant is awake -- wide awake -- and we're paying close attention.
reform
Any immigration reform has to be comprehensive and not mean-spirited.
truly work
Some days, work is truly a four-letter word.
message people sending shot strong
This is a movement. We're sending a strong message that we are people of dignity. All that we want is to have a shot at the American dream.
april boycott emerge given premature senate session until week
It's premature to do the boycott May 1, given that the Senate doesn't get back in session until the week of April 23. We want to see what comes out of the Senate and what compromises (with the House) emerge before we do that.
living matters
It's not what one does for a living but what one does while living that matters in the end.