The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition (J4I), a broad formation comprised of Filipino organizations and individuals from New York and New Jersey, raised their banners and flags high in a sea of multinational representation in front of Manhattan’s City Hall.

“We are the third largest immigrant group, and second largest Asian population in the U.S. Over 60,000 Filipinos migrate to the U.S. every year. We migrate not because we have dreams or illusions of luxury. None of us choose to leave our loved ones behind and live a life substandard to the rights, freedoms and opportunities afforded to citizens. Our migration is forced by an economic crisis rooted in and fueled by U.S. foreign dictates that prevent the self-determination, economic development and industrialization of our home country and others,” stated speaker Berna Ellorin of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, a member of the Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition, on the main stage.

Berna Ellorin was the only Filipino speaker during the April 10 rally.

The Filipino contingent convened and marched from Wall Street in Downtown Manhattan and eventually joined the broader Queens-based Immigrant Communities in Action contingent that marched to the main rally site in front of City Hall.

A large Philippine flag marked the contingent alongside the flags of J4I member groups Anakbayan, Migrante International, Philippine Forum and Bayan USA.

Several Filipinos passing by and working in the Wall Street area noticed the Philippine flag flying high within the massive crowd and joined the J4I Contingent on site.

Among the coalitions concrete demands are legalization for undocumented persons, swift family reunification, no to the criminalization of immigrants and their supporters, and full worker protection and rights for immigrants.

The coalition is also adamantly opposed to and denounces the passing of U.S. House Resolution 4437 (HR 4437) last December.

“We Filipinos must assert our basic human right to live in dignity and with the opportunity for economic prosperity, and will tolerate no immigration system that sees us as subhuman and treats immigrants as modern-day slaves. Filipinos are joining this growing and unstoppable immigrant rights movement in the U.S., even as the Arroyo government back home is shamelessly bowing down to U.S. dictates and not lifting a finger to protect us,” Ellorin continued.

Marchers in the broad Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Contingent on April 10 included members of Filipino American Human Services Inc. (FAHSI), Sandiwa National Filipino-American Youth, Sumisibol, Anakbayan, Philippine Forum, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Migrante International, Bayan USA, Movement for a Free Philippines, Kinding Sindaw and the Critical Filipino/Filipina Studies Collective.

J4I is actively calling on all Filipinos to participate in a Filipino community vigil for immigration reform on April 23, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Philippine Forum Office, 54-05 Seabury Street in Elmhurst, Queens.

The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition is also organizing a Filipino contingent to join the next massive, nationally-coordinated immigrant rights rally on May 1, 4 p.m., in Manhattan’s Union Square.