It has the typical story framework of the Indian H-2B guest workers trafficked to the US to work for little money and live in cramped quarters. Except in this story the guest workers have fought back with a strategic two year grassroots campaign, culminating in Washington DC this week.

Sepia Mutiny has been following this story over the past few years (March 07, March 08) about the Indian guest workers that were trafficked to the Gulf Coast…

Signal International, a marine and fabrication company with shipyards in Texas and Mississippi, hired approximately 300 laborers from India as welders and pipe fitters in Mississippi under a guest worker program. In addition to decent wages, Signal allegedly promised good accommodations and steps to permanent US residency to its guest workers. But some of these workers have protested that Signal did not live up to any of its promises, and that they’ve been subjected to “slave” conditions. [Sepia Mutiny]

In the past year, this group of of workers have really organized, and organized well with the support of the New Orleans’ Workers Center for Racial Justice.

On March 6, 2008, over 100 Indian shipyard workers walked from their jobs in Pascagoula, Mississippi, located on the Gulf of Mexico…The Pascagoula workers who participated in the walkout, all highly skilled men from India who had paid recruiters to bring them to work in the U.S., contend that they have been subject to human trafficking. [Samar Magazine]

From Mar 18-27, 100 workers held a satyagraha or truth in action, in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, traveling from New Orleans to Washington DC, to reveal the truth of the guest worker program that is being used to sanction forced labor by migrants and to further disenfranchise the most vulnerable American workers. [Press Release]

On May 14th, the workers launched a hunger strike in front of the White House, The hunger strike ended this past Thursday, after eight days of fasting. Their demands? A continued presence in the US or the duration of the Department of Justice investigation into their case, a Congressional hearings on the abuses of the guest worker program, and a just immigration system. Most importantly, they are organizing to shed light on the abuses of the U.S. government’s H-2B guest worker program. Continue reading →

Live from the University of California, I am here to give you instantaneous word on the activities of the APIA Presidential Townhall Forum going on right now. It’s 1pm, and I just got here. Volunteers, press, and community leaders are quietly milling around – HRC has a outreach table all set and as of this moment, the McCain and Obama tables are still empty. A group of Cambodian veterans just walked in and a small group of Pacific Islanders sit quietly in the corner.

If you want to check out the activities for the day – you too can join in. The Punjabi community has generously donated internet space – you can access the live feed at the Passion for Truth website here. I’ll be back with word as the day goes forward – but as of now there will be a Clinton simulcast and an Obama phone call. I’ll keep you posted! Continue reading →

Like the movies Back to the Future, Lord of the Rings, and Scream, I too have returned for Part III – my third stint as a Mutineer. And like every good trilogy, I have a plot line that resuscitated me from the dark basement of the North Dakota bunkers – the exciting 2008 Presidential Elections.

Here in Southern California, the Asian and Pacific Islander community is all abuzz with the upcoming Presidential Townhall Forum to be held at the University of California, Irvine this Saturday May 17th at 4pm. In the works for the past few months, the Townhall will bring the candidates together and hold them accountable to OUR community in a historic first time ever event. At least 4,000 members of the APIA community are expected to come out, and it will be a great opportunity to have OUR issues finally highlighted in this important election.

The million dollar question – are the candidates really coming? Angry Asian Man says…

I’ve heard a pretty reliable rumor that the Clinton campaign has confirmed their participation for the event, but the organizers have yet to hear from the Obama and McCain campaigns. Dude, they better be there. Barack, where you at? And McCain, if you are indeed interested in courting the Asian vote, it might be a good idea to show up… this is Orange County, after all.[angryasianman]

McCain should pay attention — in Orange County, 47% of all Asian American voters are Republican. And why should Democratic candidates care? 46% of South Asian voters in Orange County are registered Democratic — the only APIA group in Orange County to have more registered Democrats then Republicans.

Continue reading →

Today is Election Day. Not only are we here to remind you to go out and vote, we are also here to remind you that voting is your right and there are safeguards in place to protect it.

I’ve already been asked a few questions already, in anticipation of today’s election…

What do I do if I requested an absentee ballot/registered to vote and haven’t received anything yet? You should go to your polling place and vote in person, and if they don’t have your name, you should vote provisionally. They have to give you a provisional ballot – they’ll verify over the next week to see what the problem is and if they count it. If you’re too far from your polling place, call your Secretary of State’s office or the hotline.

What if I have my absentee form, but I forgot to mail it? Take your absentee form to your local polling place and drop it off in person.

What if I go to vote and they don’t have my name? Vote provisionally. If you have your voter registration receipt, that is your proof of registration. And call the hotline.

Do I need to bring ID to vote? It depends on what state you live in, though as organizers we feel that asking for a voter ID is a form of disenfranchisement and are continuously battling this. But here in CA, I’m pretty sure if you are a first time voter that didn’t put down a CA DL number or SS # on your reg form, they will ask for your ID (the law changed in CA this year, slightly). If they ask for your ID, and you live in a state/situation where you don’t need an ID, call the hotline.

What if I don’t know where I’m supposed to go and vote? Simple go to the polling place locator.

I didn’t get any information from my registrar’s info on who I’m voting for. What should I do? You should still vote, at your nearest polling place. To figure out what you are voting for before you go to your polling place, go to Project Vote Smart. With a quick submit of your zipcode, they can find you all the candidates and propositions for your district. If they don’t have your name in their list, VOTE PROVISIONALLY.

It’s already 7:30 pm, and there will be this long line at the polls, and by the time I get there, I’ll be turned away… Most employers will give you two hours to go vote today, be sure to ask to see if you can get out early, or do it on your lunch break. Polls are open from 7am to 8pm. All you have to do is go stand in line before 8pm – as long as you are in line before 8 p.m. they can’t turn you away. If they try to, or if they closed your poll early, call the hotline.

If I haven’t made it clear, there are things you can do if you have voting problems today. Here in Los Angeles, the Asian American community is sending out hundreds of poll monitors to keep an eye at the polls. But if you have a problem that arises, and no trusting poll monitor is in site, there is a national hotline for you to call (if anti-phone, you can use the website VoterStory.org). I HIGHLY recommend that you scrawl this number on the back of your hand before leaving the house today.

1-866-OUR-VOTE is the only national voter assistance hotline staffed by live call center operators trained to provide state specific assistance to all voters. Lawyers, poll monitors and additional volunteers will be mobilized in 16 key states across the nation to assist voters in the days leading up to the election and on Election Day. Led by People For the American Way Foundation, the NAACP, and the Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, Election Protection (EP) has operated in every election cycle since 2001, and is the nation’s most far-reaching nonpartisan effort to provide voter assistance and protect voter rights.

National call centers will be located in Washington, New York, Baltimore, and San Francisco. Local call centers will be hosted in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Minnesota. [link]

What are some forms of violation of voter rights? I swiped the examples below off of the Election Protection 365 website, but there are a whole list of violations in different states already listed on the site as well as hourly updates coming through today.

Continue reading →