Trump’s Continuing War on Immigrants
With
Justin Flores , VP, Farm Labor Organizing Committee
Andrea Cristina Mercado, Campaign Director.

National Domestic Worker Alliance
Carlos Jimenez, Executive Director,

Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO

While a Federal Appeals Panel unanimously rejected President Trump’s bid to reinstate his ban on travel into the United States from seven largely Muslim nations, a related threat now to undocumented immigrants by one of Trump's prior Executive Orders on immigrants already in the U.S. is surfacing. Guadalupe García de Rayos , a 35-year-old mother of two, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Phoenix on February 9th and  deported to Mexico, a country she left 21 years ago, because she used a false social security card in Phoenix in 2008. Trump persists in the absurd claim that America will be safe and great again only after an assault on “bad dudes” and “criminal aliens,” like Guadalupe García de Rayos whom he has promised to arrest and remove by the millions. Building Bridges talks with three union organizers who believe that immigrant rights and labor rights are interrelated and that we must fight to defend the rights of undocumented and other immigrants.

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Former Mexican Guest Workers Seek $500 Million In Stolen Pensions 
with
Alianza de Ex-Braceros del Norte, a campaign affiliated with the International Migrants Alliance, a coalition of grassroots migrant organizations

A caravan of ex-braceros from Mexico in what they’re calling the Historic March for a Historic Debt came to the United Nations to denounce the human rights abuses of Enrique Pena Nieto’s administration that continue to this day.  The 
Bracero Program, established by the US and Mexican governments in 1942, was the country’s first guest worker program. The delegation of ex-braceros are calling public attention to the fact that millions of these workers, many of whom have died or are living under poor conditions, have yet to receive the 10% taken from their paychecks in promised pensions.  They are also calling for just immigration reform 
in the US because as the first guest workers, the ex-braceros can testify how guest worker policies legalize slavery and abuse. Currently, the Obama administration is 
pushing for a guest worker program as part of its Comprehensive Immigration Reform agenda.

http://archive.org/stream/FormerMexicanGuestWorkersSeek500MillionInStolenPensions 
play stream
http://archive.org/download/FormerMexicanGuestWorkersSeek500MillionInStolenPensions/bracerosntl.mp3
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Hundreds of Thousands Continue The March For Immigrant Rights
with
Amy Sugimori, Executive Director La Fuente
and
Laura Vasquez, Legislative Analyst, Immigration Policy Project, La Raza

There are more than 11 million immigrants in the country, and efforts to fix the current immigration system have failed in recent years. Liberals have sought a path for citizenship for undocumented workers, while conservatives have been just as adamant in opposing what they have called plans for amnesty. Both the Democrats and the Republicans do support efforts to secure the border with Mexico, albeit with some tactical differentiation and degree of militarization. But, what is the agenda of the masses of protestors carrying banners as they massed in Washington recently to march for immigration reform, & what are the prospects for their achieving progressive legislation?

Plus
REV. JESSE JACKSON'S SPEECH AT THE MASSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM MARCH IN WASHINGTON D.C. ON MARCH 21, 2010

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Obama Inherits Bush ICE Policies, But Won’t Let Them Thaw Out!
with
Marielena Hincapié, Exec. Director, Ntl. Immigration Law Center

Hunter College Cafeteria Workers Can’t Stomach AVI Food Systems
with
Deborah Johnson, Hunter College Cafeteria Worker
Gilbert Palacios, Lead Organizer, Local 100, Unite-HERE

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Obama Inherits Bush ICE Policies, But Won’t Let Them Thaw Out!
with
Marielena Hincapié, Exec. Director, Ntl. Immigration Law Center

American Apparel in downtown Los Angeles (you know their
immigration slogan, "Legalize L.A.") had a quarter of its workforce,
about 1,800 employees fired as the Obama administration authorized
federal investigations of employers seeking "irregularities in the identity
documents the workers presented when they were hired." A crackdown
that forces 1,800 taxpaying would-be Americans into joblessness in a
dismal economy as a solution to the problem of undocumented workers
— 1,800 down, millions to go — it’s ludicrous.
**********

Hunter College Cafeteria Workers Can’t Stomach AVI Food Systems
with
Deborah Johnson, Hunter College Cafeteria Worker
Gilbert Palacios, Lead Organizer, Local 100, Unite-HERE

AVI Food Systems came to Hunter with the promise of improved food service operations. What they didn’t mention is that they would refuse to continue providing the same health and pensions benefits that the cafeteria workers have received for years.

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Constitution On Ice: Immigration Home Raids
with
Peter Markowitz, Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic

How much security did $1 trillion buy?
Part 6 of the ongoing series
Rethink Afghanistan
by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films

download or listen

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Constitution On Ice: Immigration Home Raids
with
Peter Markowitz, Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic

A cowboy mentality and racial profiling prevailed as armed federal immigration agents illegally stormed into homes of Latinos in New York and New Jersey in hundreds of predawn raids and violated their own agency rules as well as the Constitution, according to the newly released study by the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law.
******
How much security did $1 trillion buy?
Part 6 of the ongoing series Rethink Afghanistan
by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films

The war in Afghanistan is increasing the likelihood that American civilians will be killed in a future terrorist attack. three former high-ranking CIA agents on the record to explain why, there is no “victory” to be won in Afghanistan

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WBAI Radio's Building Bridges:
Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, December 22, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM
********************************
United We Stand Against Hate Crime:
In Memoriam of Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhanay

A Secretary for Labor?
with
Thea Lee, Director of Policy, AFL-CIO

From The Picket Line:
Strikers Claim Stella D'Oro Cookies Leave You With A Sour Taste
Play or download 58 minutes

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United We Stand Against Hate Crime:
In Memoriam of Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhanay

Thirty-one year old, Ecuadorian immigrant Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhanay died December 12, after being viciously hit over the head with an aluminum baseball bat on a Bushwick sidewalk. Mr. Sucuzhanay and his brother were walking home, arms around each other when three men jumped from a utility vehicle and attacked the brothers yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs. One of the men broke a bottle over Jose Sucuzhaney’s head and when he fell to the ground another began beating him with the baseball bat as they kicked and punched him. No one has been apprehended for the homicide at this time. This attack came just five weeks after the stabbing death in Patchogue of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero. Building Bridges attended an “International Immigrants Awareness Day Vigil: United We Stand Against Hate Crime” at the very spot that Jose Osvaldowas brutally attacked.
***************
A Secretary for Labor?
with
Thea Lee, Director of Policy, AFL-CIO

Jubilant is the word that comes to mind for the reaction of the labor
community to the selection by President Elect Barack Obama of Rep. Hilda
Solis to become the new Secretary of Labor. The daughter of immigrants,
from a union family, Representative has been described as having a resume
a mile long concerning the rights of workers, women, and the environment.
To provide us with greater insight about that the new Labor Secretary and the
work cut out for her, protecting, and extending workers rights in the economy,
stopping the hemorrhaging jobs, and growing the economy we’re joined by
Thea Lee, Director of Policy of the AFL-CIO
***************
From The Picket Line:
Strikers Claim Stella D'Oro Cookies Leave You With A Sour Taste

The 135 workers of Stella D'Oro, the biscuit producers, most of whom are women and Latinos, now in their fourth month on strike are confronting a difficult Christmas on the picket line. The company has refused to negotiate their demands to eliminate holidays, vacation and sick pay,slash wages and pension benefits, and impose crushing healthcare premiums. They are demanding that the workers return to work without a contract in an effort to break the union. The workers are standing strong and none have broken the line to return to work.

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WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, November 24, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM ****************************************
Washington to Detroit - Drop Dead?
with
Frank Hammer, Former Pres., UAW Local 909, Warren, Michigan
and
Warren Brown, Auto Columnist, "Washington Post "
********
Agriprocessors' Immigrant Worker Exploitation
with
Rev. Paul Ouderkirk – Pastor, St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, Postville Iowa

And
Agriprocessors' Union Busting Kosher?
with
David Young, Organizing Director, Local 342, UFCW

listen or download

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Washington to Detroit - Drop Dead?
with
Frank Hammer, Former Pres., UAW Local 909, Warren, Michigan
and
Warren Brown, Auto Columnist, "Washington Post "

When auto executives and unions leaders came to Washington last weekto ask for a $25 billion bailout, they expected a cold shoulder from Bush, but got one from the Congress as well. Is the Federal government really willing to take the risk of adding more than a million auto workers to the unemployment lines that snake throughout the Midwest? And, what would happen to the wages and working conditions of auto workers that might keep their jobs with the big three companies, or other auto workers across the region and nation?
********
Agriprocessors' Immigrant Worker Exploitation
with
Rev. Paul Ouderkirk – Pastor, St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, Postville Iowa

On May 12, 2008, US Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested approximately 400 workers at the Agriprocessors, Inc. meat-processing plant. Family members of those arrested were terrified to return to their homes. For almost a week after the raid, hundreds of family members sought refuge in St. Bridget's Church. This and other raids are sweeping across the country, wreaking havoc on families, communities and businesses. Father Paul Oudekirk, Pastor of St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa gained national recognition for his work with the families of the immigrants who were arrested in the largest workplace raid in Iowa history and spoke to us during a recent trip to New York.

And

Agriprocessors' Union Busting Kosher?
with
David Young, Organizing Director, Local 342, UFCW

In 2005, workers at the Agriprocessors warehouse in NYC voted to unionize. The Rubashkin family owners of Agriprocessors refused to recognize the union,ironically alleging some of its workers were undocumented. Despite three rounds of judicial rulings that Agriprocessors must recognize the union, the Rubashkin family continues to flaunt the law and super-exploit its workers.
********************************************************

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WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, November 17, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM
58:50
****************************************
Anti-Immigrant Hate In Suffolk Responsible for Stabbing Death of Ecuadorian
Laborer Marcelo Lucero
with
Rev. Allan Ramirez, Pastor, Brookville Reformed Church, & noted immigrant advocate

How To End The Recession
with
Robert Pollin, Economics Professor, & founding Co-Director of
the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Mass.
Co-author of Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs &
Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy

Fighting Governor Paterson's Budget Cuts
with
Nancy Wackstein, Exec. Director, United Neighborhood Houses
Judy Wessler, Director, Commission on the Public's Health System
Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

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Anti-Immigrant Hate In Suffolk Responsible for Stabbing Death of Ecuadorian Laborer Marcelo Lucero
with
Rev. Allan Ramirez, Pastor, Brookville Reformed Church, & noted immigrant advocate

Jeffrey Conroy, and 6 other teens declared that they were going to "attack
a Mexican" and headed to the village of Patchogue to hunt, according to
their friends and the authorities. They found Marcelo Lucero, a 37-year-old
immigrant from a poor village in Ecuador who had lived in the U.S. for
16 years, worked in a dry cleaning store, sending savings home to support
his mother, a cancer survivor. After the boys surrounded, taunted and
punched Mr. Lucero, the authorities say, Mr. Conroy plunged a knife into
his victim's chest, fatally wounding him. While County Executive Steve
Levy, himself distinguished for anti-immigrant legislation, would like to
isolate the attack to what he is now calling "white supremacists" others
believe the attack is a reflection of widespread anti-Latino sentiment and
racial intolerance in Suffolk County.
*******
How To End The Recession
with
Robert Pollin, Economics Professor, & founding Co-Director of
the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Mass.
Co-author of Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs &
Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy

The recession is certainly here, so the question is how to diminish its
length and severity. A large-scale federal stimulus program is the only
action that can possibly do the job. The economy needs a shot of public
investment – and if it's green, the payoff will be greatest. What does a
green stimulus look like; should there be an auto industry bailout and what
happened at the world economic summit?

*******
Fighting Governor Paterson's Budget Cuts
with
Nancy Wackstein, Exec. Director, United Neighborhood Houses
Judy Wessler, Director, Commission on the Public's Health System
Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

NYS Governor Paterson has proposed that the State Legislature cut $2B
from the State Budget this year and $3.2 B the next by slashing health care,
education and social service funding. Now hundreds of unions & community
groups have banded together in new coalitions 1 NY and Better Choice
Budget Coalition to demonstrate in Albany this Tuesday to demand that
we stop the cuts by raising taxes on higher income people as we did
successfully in the 2003 recession.

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WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, October 27, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM ****************************************
District Court Finally Serves Justice to Saigon Grill Restaurant
Delivery Workers
with
Saigon Grill Workers,
Josephine Lee, Coordinator, Justice Will Be Served Campaign
Representative of the Chinese Staff and Workers Association

Indigenous Columbian Leader In US To Testify Against Uribe
Government Policies
with
Rafael Coicué who was the indigenous Governor of Corinto in
Northern Cauca and a representative of the Association of
Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, Colombia (ACIN)

Post-Mortem: 55 Years After the Execution of His Co-Defendants,
Convicted “Atomic Spy” Morton Sobell Confesses – But to What?
with
Robert Meerpool, Youngest Son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
and Executive Director of the Rosenberg fund for Children

Play or download



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District Court Finally Serves Justice to Saigon Grill Restaurant
Delivery Workers
with
Saigon Grill Workers,
Josephine Lee, Coordinator, Justice Will Be Served Campaign
Representative of the Chinese Staff and Workers Association

A victory for all NYC delivery workers occurred when 36 employees of the
Saigon Grill Restaurants, after more than one and a half years of battling
with its owners Simon and Michelle Nget, were awarded $4.6 million for
federal and state labor law violations. The 36 worked at Saigon Grill
restaurants until they were fired in March 2007, in retaliation for
organizing a union and planning to bring a lawsuit against the owners. ****************************************
Indigenous Columbian Leader In US To Testify Against Uribe
Government Policies
with
Rafael Coicué who was the indigenous Governor of Corinto in
Northern Cauca and a representative of the Association of
Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, Colombia (ACIN)

The mass upheaval of the indigenous people of Cauca has been met
with military force resulting in 3 deaths and 122 wounded. Coicué recently
testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the
OAS about the militarization of indigenous lands, the US-Columbia Free
Trade Agreement, the failure of President Uribe’s administration to honor
accords with the indigenous communities and the current repression of
Indigenous protests in Cauca.
****************************************
Post-Mortem: 55 Years After the Execution of His Co-Defendants,
Convicted “Atomic Spy” Morton Sobell Confesses – But to What?
with
Robert Meerpool, Youngest Son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
and Executive Director of the Rosenberg fund for Children

Morton Sobell, now 91 years old and the only living defendant in the
Rosenberg “Atomic Spy” case , 55 years after his co-defendants Ethel
and Julius Rosenberg were put to death in the electric chair at Sing Sing
prison, admitted transferring U.S. military information to the Soviets. But,
what did Sobell actually confess to and what are the essential lessons of
the “atomic spy” trial that keeps this case alive?

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Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
********************************************
ICEd in the Biggest Immigration Raid Yet
with
Bill Chandler, Executive Dir., Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA)

Dr. Phillip Butler knew McCain as a fellow POW
by Robert Greenwald and the Brave New PAC team

Play or
download

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ICEd in the Biggest Immigration Raid Yet
With
Bill Chandler, Executive Dir., Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA)

In the biggest workplace immigration crackdown yet, federal officials raided a
factory in Laurel Mississippi detaining almost 600 workers they claimed were
in the country illegally. Numerous agents from Immigration and Customs
Enforcement descended on a factory belonging to Howard Industries Inc.,
which manufactures electrical transformers, among other products. **********************************************************
Dr. Phillip Butler knew McCain as a fellow POW
byRobert Greenwald and the Brave New PAC team

John McCain has been exploiting his prisoner of war experience every
chance he gets. He has used this story to justify everything from not knowing
how many homes he has to his healthcare plan to his marital infidelities to his
taste in music. The McCain campaign is even using his POW story in paid ads.
But now a veteran who was a prisoner with McCain in Vietnam is explaining
loud and clear that being a POW does not qualify McCain to lead our country. **********************************************************
Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI, 99.5 FM in the N.Y.C
Metropolitan area on Mondays from 7-8pm EST and is streamed, archived
and pod cast at http://www.wbai.org/

Building Bridges National Edition is regularly broadcast over: WGOT - Gainesville, Florida.
WUOW - Oneonta, N.Y.
WWUH, - West Hartford, CT
WVJW- Benwood, WV
KRFP, Moscow, ID
KCSB, Santa Barbara, CA
WXOJ, Northampton, MA
KSOW,Cottage Grove, Oregon
WKNH ,Keene, NH
CKDU, Halifax, N.S., Canada
KRFC, Fort Collins, Colorado
WRPI, Troy, New York
WNRB, Wausau, WI
KRBS, Oroville, CA
WHLD, Buffalo, NY
Radio Free Olympia,Olympia,WA
KQRP Salida, California
East Hill Radio, Snoqualmie, WA
KGHZ, Aberdeen/Hoquiam and Olympia, WA.
KSKQ, Ashland, Oregon

as well as internet stations:
Radio Veronica,West Point, PA
The Journey Radio
WXXE
Seattle Radical Radio
Radio for Peace International
Radio Labourstart
AmericanFM.org
RadioDriftless.org
Grateful Dread Public Radio

=========================================
For archived Building Bridges National Programs go to http://www.archive.org/details/building_bridges
For archived Building Bridges program go to our new website:
http://www.buildingbridgesradio.blogspot.com/

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