New Freedom Riders rally for immigrant workers
9/26/2003. Detroit Free press
On the surface, the backgrounds of Rigoberto Valdez and Doreetha Fuller Evans couldn't seem more different. Valdez is a 31-year-old immigrant from Mexico who grew up speaking Spanish and now works as a union organizer for the AFL-CIO in San Francisco. Fuller Evans is a 53-year-old African-American who grew up in Stockton, Calif., and now works as a custodian at San Francisco City College. But both share the harsh experience of working as field laborers in California as youngsters, and that bond is what's bringing them to metro Detroit this weekend....

Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride stops in Salt Lake
9/26/2003. Casper Star Tribune
About 250 marchers participated in a Salt Lake City rally Thursday as the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride transcontinental bus trip made a stop en route to Washington, D.C. The Freedom Riders were met by scores of sign-waving supporters plus a few puzzled commuters. The activists said they are seeking a clear road to citizenship and decent working conditions. Lt. Gov. Olene Walker told the group that Utah is an immigrant-friendly state. She was applauded as she cited policies that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses and attend state universities for the same tuition rate as resident citizens....

Border Patrol Stops 'Freedom Ride' Buses
9/26/2003. Associated press
Two buses carrying nearly 100 people making a "Freedom Ride" to bring attention to mistreatment of undocumented immigrants were stopped for nearly four hours Friday at a U.S. Border Patrol station. The riders were asked to leave the buses and were questioned, said Hilda Delgado, a spokeswoman on the buses. All were later released, and the buses were back on the road to San Antonio by about noon. ...

Immigrant Workers' Freedom Ride comes to Alabama
9/26/2003. The Auburn Plainsman
Auburn journalism students will travel this weekend to Montgomery to interview participants of the Immigrant Workers' Freedom Ride....The freedeom ride began Wednesday in Tuscon, Ariz. Hundreds of immigrants and their supporters sang "We Shall Overcome" in the spirit of the civil rights advocates of the 1960s....

Immigrant Activists Stopped by Border Patrol
9/26/2003. WOAI.com
A convoy of two busloads of people on their way to Washington D.C. to lobby for citizenship for illegal aliens working in the U.S. was stopped today by the U.S. Border patrol just outside El Paso in west Texas. The buses were released and continued on their journey....

Cross-country caravan stops in Utah to rally for immigrants' rights
9/26/2003. Salt Lake Tribune
Tears rolled down Esperanza Martinez's cheeks and fell onto the steps of the Utah Capitol, where hundreds of immigrants and their supporters stood Thursday to let their voices be heard.... "Our only sin was to come to the land of liberty," the Salt Lake mother told participants of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. ...

Riding for Rights
9/26/2003. Santa Fe New Mexican
Like many Mexicans, Jos� Manuel Cazares left home and moved to the United States to look for work more than three decades ago. He spent a majority of those years as a farm worker in California, picking grapes, lettuce and other fruits and vegetables so he could support his family. He was undocumented at the time, and on Thursday he recalled the struggles he endured....

200 from here to join ride for immigrant workers
9/26/2003. Chicago Sun Times
About 200 Chicagoans will be among 1,000 people who will ride 15 buses leaving from 10 Midwest cities to join tens of thousands of others in demanding legal status for illegal immigrant workers, restoration of labor protections, a clearer path to citizenship and respect for the civil rights and civil liberties of all immigrants....

Groups Ride Buses To Highlight Immigrant Plight
9/26/2003. NBC 13
Hundreds of people are participating in this week's Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride to 95 communities across the country. Buses will also make stops in four Alabama cities this weekend....

Freedom Ride comes to Memphis
9/26/2003. WMC-TV Memphis
Hundreds of Immigrant workers from the West Coast are on buses heading towards Memphis. Their journey was inspired by a similar ride through the south for Civil Rights. When their journey ends, they will have traveled thousands of miles to Washington D.C. ...