I. What is Respect Us Movement?

1) A multi-ethnic national support network of campus youth activists; immigrant, community and peace & justice groups for supporting long-term grassroots community-based immigrant solidarity campaigns.

2) A multi-year popular educational program to aim at the campus youth and community about the importance of immigrant rights is human rights, respect the work of immigrant workers, and highlight their contributions to the society, and link immigrant solidarity movement is an unrepeatable part of the anti-war/global justice movements.

II. Key strategies include

1) Visit and support the immigrant communities the activist doesn't usually go and help, such as: American rural area, southern states, the "red" states, bible belt.

2) Linking global and local issues, organize community dialogue, and offer volunteer work/logistic supports to the local immigrant workers organizations.

3) Create basic, simple messages to advertise our policies. Using arts, education materials, talking points, film showing and community forum as medium, to educate and recruit people who are not familiar to the issues, help them overcome their racism and ignorance, to our side.

4) Formulate a simple and fun training program to build leaderships for the campaign, so they can carry their work locally and help them create their local affinity groups for sustainable movement.

5) Organize community "fact finding tour" "alternative summer camp" to bring youth and community activists to visit the immigrant communities and support their work.

6) Building useful day-to-day skills/experiences for activists who want to overcome complex cultural dynamics and language barriers, when they are trying to work with immigrant workers communities.

III. Main Messages

WE ARE ALL HUMANS! NO ONE IS ILLEGAL!
Respect Us! Respect Our Work!

IV. How This Will Help Us to Build A Better World?

There's a direct link between when U.S. attack other on countries, and the attacks on our immigrant community.

That's no secrets that domestically; "War Against Terror" is in fact oppressions against immigrants and Muslims.

The activists and organizers in this country have a particular responsibility to point out the links between Katrina's impact, immigrant rights, civil liberties, labor rights and the U.S. war in Iraq. Understanding the connections between our individual conditions of life and the lives of people everywhere in the world allows us to come together and organize across all borders. We need to make the connections between: wars in Africa, South America, Asia, Iraq, Palestine and Korea, and sweatshops in Asia as well as in Los Angeles and in New York; international arms sales and the WTO, FTAA, NAFTA & CAFTA with AIDS, hunger, our reproductive rights, child labor and child soldiers; multinational corporations and economic exploitation with racism, anti-homophobia and poverty at home--then we can win the struggle!

V. Major Constituencies to this Campaign

Our main focus groups include:
- Immigrant day-labor centers
- Community-based immigrant solidarity groups

Our main allies include:
- Peace and justice groups
- Student & youth organizations
- Interfaith communities
- Labor organizations

VI. Inspired Organizing Models That We Will Follow

1) Coalition of Immokalee Workers - Taco Bell Boycott Campaign

2) Code Pink

3) School of the Americas Watch

VII. What is our strength?

1) Strong determination, clear & focus target

2) Wealth of organizing experience

3) Network of national contacts/allies

4) Full of passions

For more information about the Respect Us! movement, please contact:

Tel: (213)403-0131

e-mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org