16 New Haven Busloads Hit D.C. For Immigration Reform

Washington, D.C.—Julio Hernandez and his 9‑year-old son, Andy, woke up before 5 a.m. Sunday so they could arrive here by bus around 12:15 p.m. They spent about five hours on the National Mall before returning to New Haven near midnight. And Andy has school Monday.

So why did they do it? ​“Estamos aquí porque somos ilegales” – We are here because we are illegal immigrants, explained Hernandez. ​“Y queremos que Obama nos ayude” – And we want Obama to help us.

Sixteen buses, most full to their capacity of 55 people, headed down to Washington D.C. on Sunday morning to join the march for comprehensive immigration reform. That makes nearly 900 in a crowd that some estimated to be as big as half a million.

“It’s the largest rally of the Obama era by far,” said Henry Fernandez. He was one of the coordinators for the city’s effort, along with representatives from the mayor’s office, the Junta for Progressive Action, Connecticut’s 95th district, and other locally-based organizations. According to official tallies, he said, more people from New Haven attended the rally than from any other state in New England.

For her part, Samantha Alberti was shocked at the numbers. ​“I didn’t expect this many people and I didn’t expect this many cultures,” she said. ​“I’m glad I came.” Alberti, a Spanish minor at Central College in New Britain, heard about the rally from a friend and decided to take her first trip to D.C.

It was Hernandez’s first trip to D.C., too. Ten years ago, he was living in Tlaxcala, Mexico, which is about two hours from Mexico City. He earned about $50 a week working for a factory.

“At times it is very difficult to survive,” he said in Spanish, describing his life in Mexico. He struggled to support his wife and two kids, 16 and 18. At the urging of his brother, who lives in the area, he and his family began a harrowing, two-week journey all the way from Tlaxcala to New Haven. Most of that journey was on foot, with only a few stretches of relief by bus. Sometimes, with no place to stay overnight, the family slept under trees.

Now Hernandez makes $350/week working for a pizza restaurant in New Haven. (He declined to name the restaurant, since he is not authorized to work there and is paid in cash). He sends his parents some money regularly. But life still has its challenges. Since everyone in the family except Andy was born in Mexico, only Andy is eligible for Medicaid; no one else has health insurance. And there is always the fear of deportation, especially in light of the immigration raid two years ago.

So Hernandez and his son marched for access to government services – which are all tied to getting a visa. ​“If they give us a visa, we’ll be fine,” he said.

For the better part of the afternoon the crowd listened to a variety of speakers on the National Mall, from activists to congressmen to families facing deportation. One boy from Chicago told the crowd that he and his mother would soon be deported, leaving the rest of their family behind.

Mayors from various cities had a brief turn at the podium, too – including John DeStefano. ​“Let’s celebrate America by passing immigration reform!” he shouted, to wild cheers and applause.

DeStefano (pictured) said it’s been a couple years since he’s taken part in organizing a New Haven contingent at a Washington rally. ​“I didn’t know what to expect when we first started,” he said of the eventual number of New Haven residents who participated. But ultimately he wasn’t surprised at what he called a great turnout. ​“From my sense, this is as much about New Haven as it is about anything.”

Most of the event’s speakers did not reference the immigration reform proposed by U.S. Sens. Lindsay Graham and Chuck Schumer this week. But Hernandez spoke in support of it.

He would be all right with admitting that he broke the law by crossing the border, and would even be willing to pay a fine that the senators propose, ​“because we know,” he said, that they came here illegally. And he acknowledged that the increased border protections in the proposal might have made his family’s immigration to the United States impossible. But ultimately, the bill could get him a visa.