'No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice' Tours US Defending Dignity of the Undocumented EFE
go to original August 30, 2012

Housewives, students, construction workers, activists and mothers walking several U.S. states, which started almost a month ago under the slogan "undocumented and unafraid" to urge others to leave the "shadows". (EFE)

ATLANTA - Housewives, students, construction workers, activists and mothers set out on a bus tour from Arizona a month ago and are traveling through several U.S. states on their No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice.

Not that the ride has been easy. They had to leave behind families and jobs while knowing they might be detained or deported at any time, but there is no sign that any among them are sorry about their choice or wish to leave the tour after long hours on the road.

Maria Cruz Ramirez is a 46-year-old who decided to board the "UndocuBus" to show her three kids how much she wanted to "defend their dignity."

"I'm here to fight for the civil rights and dignity of my children and teach them that even though we don't have papers, we all have rights and we won't be trampled on," the Mexican immigrant told Efe.

Cruz said it never crossed her mind that she might become a pro-immigrant activist in her days as a hair stylist back in Mexico.

Even after discovering her new vocation, she admits it's hard to raise her voice and tell other moms and dads to get out there and defend their children's rights.

"This trip has changed me a lot and I've learned much more than I ever thought I could learn in my life from my fellow activists and the communities we've been to," Cruz, who has lived in Arizona for 11 years, said.

Gerardo Torres said he knows what it is to be discriminated against, both because of his undocumented status and for being gay. This construction worker and promoter of community health decided to get on the UndocuBus to demand his rights.

"We want the community to realize they have the power to defend their rights because now we're tired of politicians talking about our lives as if they were some kind of experts, when the truth is they have no clue about our daily lives," Torres, who has lived in Arizona for the last 18 years, told Efe.

As a member of the pro-immigrant movement Puente Human Rights and the 3rdSpace group, which defends the rights of gay and lesbian immigrants, Torres seeks in this tour to raise awareness of the problems affecting this group.

Like the rest of his companions on the trip, he says that becoming an activist wasn't in his plans, but acknowledges that from now on he feels it his duty to inform others about their rights.

"It's been a beautiful experience because we've been able to live together and we've realized that at the end of the day we're all fighting against the same thing. We've realized that we're more alike than we ever thought," he said.

The tour began July 29 in Phoenix and will wind up next week in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the city hosts the Democratic National Convention.

The No Papers No Fear riders have taken part in a series of events in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.

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