A coalition of about 20 Black and white laborers protested Tuesday afternoon outside of the gates of Brookfield and Dutch farms for allegedly employing illegal immigrants at its companies.
The men protested in a peaceful and orderly manner outside of the farms’ headquarters, 700 E. 107th St., holding up signs that read: “What Part of Illegal Don’t You Understand,” and “We’re Talking Illegal Immigration; They’re Talking Race. Who’s The Racist?”
The Rev. Anthony Williams, pastor of St. Stephens Lutheran Church, led the coalition.
“You have citizens here from Roseland and the Minutemen, who are working in conjunction with the Roseland Black Men Coalition,” Williams said as to why he came out to lend his support. “We got an anonymous tip that these companies have at least 50 illegal aliens working for them.
“The issue for a lot of young Black males and females is that we can’t get jobs in our own communities because of illegal aliens working jobs there. And this is not an issue about race. It’s time for the Black community to take a serious look at this in terms of the impact this has on the Black community.”
Brian Boomsma, who the coalition members identified as the owner of Brookfield Farms, refused to comment on how many illegal immigrants work for his company.
“We had a very good discussion, and I have to administer a couple of things,” Boomsma said. “That’s all I have to say at this moment.”
Williams said that Boomsma told him that the workers were hired through a temp agency, and that he has to investigate whether they were illegal or not.
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“And this is just not about low wages,” Williams said. “These illegal aliens will take construction jobs that pay about $34 per hour. But guess what? The employers will hire these illegal immigrants and bust that pay down to $10 per hour, and they will work all day.”
Mark Carter, a member of Voices of the Ex-Offender, also know as VOTE, said he can’t understand how illegal immigrants can openly break the law, march and get U.S. lawmakers to discuss giving them amnesty, but ex-offenders can’t get the same concern from their government.
Carter said the illegal immigrants aren’t just Mexicans who are taking jobs illegally, but there also many European illegal immigrants in the African American communities doing much of the new construction work in those neighborhoods.
“And also, I’m insulted that they (Hispanics) say this is bigger than the Civil Rights Movement,” Williams said. “Our parents and grandparents endured water hoses, dogs being put on them and being beaten by brutal police so that (Hispanics) could march peacefully. So they owe us that. At the same time, we don’t want to get into the issue of bashing our brown brothers and sisters. It’s not about race. It’s about the law. And nobody is above the law, not the president of the United States, not the mayor of Chicago or myself. No one is above the law.”
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