Vigils Focus on Low Wage, Immigrants and the Homeless

Three vigils took place simultaneously around Nashville (this afternoon/yesterday) to focus attention on the rights of illegal immigrants, the city’s homeless and low-wage workers.

“Yes we can. Sí se puede.”

In what’s now a phrase linked tightly with immigrant advocates, roughly a hundred supporters chanted at War Memorial plaza and shared personal stories. The vigil was meant to honor the 80 illegal immigrants in Columbia, Tennessee, who’ve been deported by immigration officers in a series of raids.

Norma Martinez is a legal immigrant living in Columbia but says many of her family are here illegally and living in fear.

“We come here to get ourselves to be better, to have our dreams come true and this is not the dream of people who come here. This is like a nightmare.”

Participants in the vigil asked that immigrants, legal or not, be treated with more dignity.

At the same time, a group gathered at Nashville’s riverfront to honor victims of street violence against the poor and homeless.

And on the Vanderbilt University campus, the issue was low-wage workers. Those who came to the vigil were some of the same people who’d been fighting for a living wage on campus. Organizers say Vanderbilt’s willingness to raise starting pay could make it an example for other private employers to follow. But the group wants more though. They’re asking that a low-wage employee be put on the search committee to replace chancellor Gordon Gee.

The three vigils were organized by United Methodist Women and local advocacy groups.