ANSWER: Grant working immigrants amnesty.

The ANSWER Coalition, a group that fights for immigrant rights, says no human is illegal.

By Delana Gbenekama
The 4-1-1 Express

LOS ANGELES - They crowd the streets to protest war and racism. The ANSWER Coalition can be found on the streets of Los Angeles, demonstrating in support of illegal immigrants who they say should be treated as human beings and not criminals.

ANSWER members stand opposite Minutemen in a counter protest at a Minuteman rally. Photo: Delana Gbenekama
A demonstrator holds a sign up in support of illegal immigrants in the U.S. Photo: Delana Gbenekama

"Undocumented workers don't come here because they want to. It's because they have to," said Ian Thompson, an organizer for ANSWER. "The economic policies put forward by the United States government force people off their land and out of their homes in order to survive."

But some Americans do not agree with that assertion. They believe undocumented workers force Americans to work for lower wages. However, ANSWER says employers should be punished for not paying their employees proper wages.

"It's not the fault of the immigrants. It's the fault of the employers and the government that sets the wages," Thompson said. "They want to exploit as cheap a class of labor as they can. So our job, instead of condemning somebody, is to fight for higher wages for everybody on an equal basis."

Thompson said ANSWER does not support the president's proposed guest worker program, because illegal immigrants would have to leave the country before being able to apply for citizenship. He said undocumented workers and their families should be able to remain in the country.

The organization declared that no human being is illegal, no matter where they are from. "There is no class of citizens that should be considered higher than the other. It's like Jim Crow South," Thomspon said.