May Day rally at Veterans Park supporting immigrant and refugee rights

For more than 100 years, May Day has been a day for marches, rallies and other events to celebrate the rights of workers.

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MANCHESTER, NH – A rally for immigrant and refugee justice will be held Monday, May 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. in Veterans Park in downtown Manchester.

Shayo
Lina Shayo

“For more than 100 years, May Day has been a day for marches, rallies and other events to celebrate the rights of workers.  But for at least a dozen years, it has also been a day to show support for immigrants and refugees who seek a better life in America,” said Eva Castillo, of the New Hampshire Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees.

The Manchester event is one of many May Day rallies, parades and demonstrations throughout the country in support of the immigrants and refugees who seek a better life in this country.  Many of them are already a part of our workforce, realizing their dream of a life in America.  Some face the threat of detention and deportation. 

Others, many fleeing war and famine, are barred by country-based entry bans.

Pontoh
Rev. Sandra Pontoh

“Join us as we commemorate May Day and say ‘No’ to detentions, deportation, walls and travel bans,” said Castillo.

Speakers at Monday’s rally include: Manchester immigration attorney Lina Shayo; Concord Imam Mustafa Akaya; Harrisville resident Lina Hervas; the Rev. Sandra Pontoh of the Indonesian Community Support in Dover ; the Rev. Joe Gurdak, pastor of St. Anne and St. Augustin in Manchester; the Rev. Eric Jackson, president of the Greater Manchester NAACP, and NH AFL-CIO President Glenn Brackett.

Sponsoring organizations are: NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees, American Friends Service Committee-NH Program, Granite State Organizing Project, ACLU-NH, Welcoming NH, Sisters of Mercy, NH COSH, NH AFL-CIO, NH State Employees Association/SEIU Local 1984, and Indonesian Community Support.

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!