Members of CASA in Action and 32BJ SEIU held a funeral procession this week to state GOP headquarters to warn Virginia Republicans of impending electoral doom if they continue to oppose immigration reform. The march featured All the Saints Theater Company members, Republican rat puppets, stanzas from a Latino funeral dirge, a procession of skulls, and much more, to symbolize the death knell of extremist policies in the home state of GOP leaders Eric Cantor and Bob Goodlatte.
This week, Virginia was the focus of national attention as Democrat Terry McAuliffe defeated Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the closely-watched gubernatorial race. McAuliffe prevailed partly thanks to Latino and Asian voters, who supported him over Cuccinelli by a 2-1 margin after being turned off by Cuccinelli’s comments on immigrants and immigration.
The funeral procession in Virginia is part of a number of events around the country this week, protesting against Republicans for blocking immigration reform and calling on Congress to take action. In Chicago, hundreds of activists were arrested after blocking a downtown intersection. In other cities across eight states, women with We Belong Together are conducting acts of civil disobedience calling for immigration reform and the end of the separation of families.
As Raul Benitez Reyes, an immigrant activist who participated in the Virginia funeral procession, said in a statement today:
We are marching today to the Republican Party headquarters to bury the extremist thinking of the party and to invite the party to rise from the dead by respecting immigrants. That they respect us not just with words but by ensuring that Eric Cantor schedules a vote on immigration reform.
