(Submitted by Maumee Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation)
Internationally-Known Labor Leader, Baldemar Velasquez, to Speak on the Nation’s Growing Crisis Over Illegal Immigration
When: Sunday, April 9, 12:30 PM until 2:00 PM
Where: Maumee Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 20189 N. Dixie Highway (Route 25) Bowling Green, OH. The church is located 6 minutes south of Levis Commons on Route 25, between Perrysburg and Bowling Green.
Transportation: BGSU students needing free transportation to the event can call (419) 885-1162 to make arrangements.
Details: Marches and protests against immigration policies have a benefit, but now is the time for action, according to Baldemar Velasquez, President and Founder of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. Velasquez has called on the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and on the Toledo community to “adopt” families at risk of deportation and assist with taking care of children and property left behind.
“We need to act proactively and take care of our people,” he said, adding that he and his wife will be the first to commit to adopting a family if necessary.
Proposed immigration policies by the Trump Administration have prompted a lot of fear around the country and locally, according Velasquez.
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality estimates that Toledo has between 6,000 and 10,000 immigrants who are living here without documentation.
A draft proposal from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security calls for members of the National Guard to assist in the round-up and deportation of immigrants who are in the US illegally.
Baldemar Velasquez is an internationally-recognized leader in the farmworker and immigrants’ rights movements.
Born in 1947, Velasquez grew up in a migrant farmworker family based in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
As a small child, he would work in the fields, planting, weeding, and harvesting crops like pickles, tomatoes, sugar beets, and berries. The family eventually settled in Ohio and he worked in the fields seasonally through his high school years to help support the family.
In 1969 Baldemar Velasquez became the first member of his family to earn a college degree, graduating from Bluffton College with a BA in Sociology.
Incensed by the injustices suffered by his family and other farmworkers, Velasquez founded the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) in 1967. Under his leadership, FLOC has set international precedents in labor history, including being the first union to negotiate multi-party collective bargaining agreements, and the first to represent seasonal guest workers under a labor agreement.
His commitment to justice and human dignity has led to recognition by many labor, government, academic, and progressive organizations, including a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, a Development of People Award by the Campaign for Human Development of the U.S. Catholic Conference, an Aguila Azteca Award by the Government of México, and Honorary Doctorates from Bowling Green State University, Bluffton University, and the University of Toledo.
The event is free of charge and open to the public. Anyone 18 years of age or older is encouraged to attend. There is no need to pre-register.
Velasquez’s appearance is the next in a series of “Sunday Specials” offered by the MVUUC.
