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Vigil picks up steam
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Posted on Oct 30 2011
“Occupy USCIS” out, “prayer vigil” in.
To give the foreign workers’ 24-hour rally— currently entering its seventh day today at the USCIS office in Garapan—a nonviolent tone, United Workers Movement CNMI president Rabby Syed said he would rather it be called a “prayer vigil.”
“‘Occupy USCIS’ is not a suitable name. It’s more of a prayer vigil and it’s a peaceful rally so that we can extend our request to be granted parole-in-place for all alien workers after Nov. 27 [2011],” he said.
Syed is also pleased to announce that the peaceful rally has picked up steam in the last couple of days even as individuals and companies continue to show their support by donating food and drinks.
He said they’ve been averaging 109 attendees per day since the group started keeping tabs on the number of people taking part in the peaceful rally.
“We had 99 on Tuesday, 161 on Wednesday, 126 on Thursday, 123 on Friday, and 140 yesterday [Saturday],” said Syed, who explained they were not able to keep a list on Day 1 of the prayer vigil last Monday.
As of 5pm Sunday, some 75 have already taken part in the vigil, according to Syed, who said they continue the rally until Nov. 27, 2011, the deadline for umbrella permits.
[B]‘Dollar for Lawyer’[/B]Syed, meanwhile, said he supports the “Dollar for Lawyer” campaign initiated by some foreign workers to fund a future class action lawsuit and help pay for a lawyer or lawyers.
After initially distancing himself from the drive Saturday, Syed, in a phone call yesterday, that he now believes the drive is for a good cause, and like other similar campaigns initiated by foreign workers, it has his full support.
Lisa Avendano, who has been in the CNMI the past 24 years, said she initiated the “Dollar for Lawyer” campaign to help defray costs when foreign workers in the future decide to file a lawsuit against the CW final rule and its implementation.
She said they already put safeguards on how the money is collected and that whatever is raised will be made transparent and accountable.
