Freedom Riders register, fire up voters

Charly Leuze was happy to see the Minnesota Freedom Ride roll into Willmar Sunday, with its message to immigrants about registering and voting.

?Just the other day, I had a woman say to me, ?Hispanic people cannot vote,?? Leuze said. ?She assumed that they were not citizens. It is very important to get the correct information out.?

In fact, more than 1,000 of the approximately 3,500 Latinos living in Willmar are citizens, according to the 2000 U.S. census, and Leuze believes the number has risen since then. On Sunday, she joined members of the Minnesota Freedom Ride in registering voters in a trailer park neighborhood.

Youngsters played in front of a get-out-the-vote poster at the West Central Integration Collaborative, a local organization that hosted the Minnesota Freedom Ride in Willmar.

Since last Thursday, a busload of immigrants and supporters has been crisscrossing the state, visiting communities with large immigrant populations and spreading a message of hope and empowerment. The Ride?s goals include mobilizing people to vote in this year?s elections, and urging Congress to reform federal immigration laws and policies.

The Ride concludes today with a rally at 4 p.m. on Government Plaza in downtown Minneapolis.

At each stop, riders have connected with organizers and activities in local communities. In Willmar, Leuze is director of the West Central Integration Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that works on multicultural issues in education, health and economic development.

Her organization has been registering voters at the Jennie-O Turkey Store, the area?s largest employer, and distributing fliers at churches, Leuze said. They also reach the Latino community through a small Spanish-language newspaper and through Spanish programming on cable TV. Still, she said, ?It is difficult for our population because of the lack of resources.?

Jesus Alcantar (in yellow shirt) and Yer Yang (behind Jesus) registered a voter in Willmar.

Many of the Freedom Riders are immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and other Spanish-speaking countries. Participants also come from Laos, Liberia, Somalia and other countries.

In addition to Willmar, their journey has taken them to the Twin Cities, Winona, Rochester, Worthington, Moorhead and Pelican Rapids. In Moorhead on Saturday night, they met with a group of recent Bosnian immigrants. A group of young people performed traditional Bosnian dances, which the riders greeted with cheers and chants of ?Si se puede!? (Yes we can!)

Liz Valdez, a rider from Crookston, said she was proud to be able to vote on Nov. 2. ?Encourage one person other than yourself to vote,? she urged.

Zoe Massaquoi, a rider who emigrated from Liberia, is not yet a citizen. She said immigrants like her are counting on the support of others. ?Those of you who are eligible to vote, please help us to repair the broken immigration system,? she said.