Women Riders on the “Undocubus” Show the Power of Courage
Posted August 24th, 2012 by Lisa MooreA small bus is making waves as it rolls across the country, showing us all what is possible when communities that are being pushed into the shadows come out and reclaim their human rights and dignity. The riders of the “Undocubus: No Papers, No Fear Ride for Justice” are mothers, students, and sisters. They are leaders in their communities and workers whose labor fuels this country. They are also undocumented immigrants who are tired of living in fear and have recognized that their voices are their greatest strength.
As they travel across the country, the riders of the Undocubus are publicly declaring that they are undocumented and unafraid. They are offering up their personal stories of what it means to raise families in this challenging time, with no pathway to citizenship for the vast majority of immigrants, and when the politics of division and exclusion have come to dominate the public debate about immigration. They are breaking through silence and asserting their dignity. And they are calling on all of us to stand with them.
On August 14, We Belong Together hosted a national telephone briefing to hear from some of the courageous women on the bus. We heard from mothers who are tired of the fear they face when taking their children to school or to the doctor. We heard from Natally Cruz who has witnessed immigration raids in her Arizona neighborhood and wondered if either of her parents will return home at the end of the day. We heard from Leticia Ramirez who boarded the bus to work for a future where her three young children will not have to endure the racial slurs that tainted Leticia’s own childhood in Arizona. We heard from Ireri Unzueta Carrasco who has struggled to maintain focus in school while bombarded with news of immigration raids and family separation in her community in Illinois. And we heard from Maria Huerta, an undocumented domestic worker in California, who has been doubly pushed to the shadows by immigration policy and by labor laws that explicitly exclude the workers who care for our country’s most valuable assets—our homes and our loved ones. Together, these riders illustrate how this country’s current immigration policies are threatening families and communities from coast to coast. In the words of Undocubus rider, mother and domestic worker Manuela Esteva, “I am on the bus because, as a mother, I believe that my daughters and I have the right to safety and happiness.”
The riders on the Undocubus are also riding the powerful trajectory of “coming out,” inspired by the actions of undocumented youth who are publicly demanding the right to fully participate in the country that is their home. President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals has now gone into effect, a direct result of their courageous actions. And domestic workers from New York to California are also coming out of the shadows, building visibility for this once-hidden workforce, and are on the verge of winning the historic California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.
As their bus rolls through some of the states that have passed anti-immigrant policies, undocumented women, mothers, students and workers are putting their very bodies on the line. They are showing us that we will all benefit from a world where no one must live in the shadows. As the Undocubus prepared to leave Arizona, Carlos Garcia of the Puente Movement said, “We have declared that we will not comply with hate. Every single person and institution must make the same evaluation.”
Now is a chance for all of us to do just that by standing with the brave riders of the Undocubus.
Together, let’s show the riders of the Undocubus that we share their vision, and that we are many. Please sign on to We Belong Together’s Women’s Statement of Support.



11 Comments
August 29, 2012 at 1:56 pm by JulieMy Japanese-born grandparents came to the US at the beginning of the 20th century. They worked in agriculture and domestic jobs, were interned during WWII (while sending their sons to war in the US Army) and not allowed to become citizens until 1952. Throughout all those years they remained loyal to their adoptive country and always acted as good citizens. We need to learn from the lessons of the past and do better for today’s American immigrants.
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August 29, 2012 at 1:09 pm by SarahLisa- Thank you so much for sharing the story of these brave women. Go Undocubus!!
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August 29, 2012 at 1:06 pm by RuthWow.Very brave. What a nightmare for the families that wonder if their parents will be coming home at night. Thank you for sharing this powerful post.
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August 29, 2012 at 12:48 pm by Monifa Bandele“As they travel across the country, the riders of the Undocubus are publicly declaring that they are undocumented and unafraid.” – Awesome!!
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August 29, 2012 at 12:19 pm by Claire Moshenberg“We have declared that we will not comply with hate. Every single person and institution must make the same evaluation.”
Amen! Thank you for sharing this post Lisa! I definitely stand with the riders on the Undocubus and applaud their bravery and courage.
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August 29, 2012 at 2:37 am by AnitaI’m grateful to these women for sharing their stories. It’s important to build a working immigration policy based on the reality of how our economy and culture actually function.
Also, at the MomsRising blog, we moderate comments to encourage respectful and intelligent dialogue. To the extent that comments don’t meet those simple criteria, they will be deleted.
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August 28, 2012 at 10:15 pm by Elisa BatistaThe women on that bus ARE contributing to their communities and our country. They are working some of the most difficult jobs and not for much money or any benefits.
We all benefit from undocumented labor every time we buy produce, wear clothes, go out to eat or buy cheap goods. It is so easy to attack a group of people we don’t know and have no rights. Good on these brave women for boarding that bus and speaking up. It’s criminal how we have scapegoated them.
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August 28, 2012 at 9:24 pm by Mary OlivellaThank you, Lisa, for bringing forward the story of these brave individuals.
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August 24, 2012 at 9:42 pm by BethRHow courageous of these women to go cavorting off on a cross-country road-trip flipping-the-bird at the federal law of the nation they CHOOSE to be in while there are native women in this country who work 2+ jobs and still can’t feed their own children. How “brave” of these women! What a contribution to our society they are making! ( this article and it’s premise are utterly ridiculous and nothing less than debasing to AMERICAN society). Thanks &$;/$&@!
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Anonymous Reply:
August 29th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
@BethR, yes, there’s definitely something terribly wrong in the United States when a mother has to work two jobs and still can’t feed her children, but it’s not undocumented workers. This country’s economic power and vitality was born and continues to rest on immigrants, starting from the English, Irish, Italians and Chinese. We need to appreciate this and figure out a way to make the entire immigration process better, instead of using immigrants as scapegoats for misery for which there are many, many other much more legitimate causes than undocumented workers, such as companies shipping jobs overseas. The women on this bus are displaying all the wonderful qualities America has benefited from immigration – courage, sacrifice, community, family values, dignity. I applaud them.
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Maybe the Undocubus can swing by Senator Harry Reid’s office to thank him for preventing closure of a loophole in the US tax code that allowed over $4 billion in tax credits to go to undocumented immigrants last year and poised to top $7 billion this year. We definitely need to increase taxes on the rich so that we can continue US Treasury’s handouts to Undocubus passengers and the other undocumented immigrants while cutting Medicare and Education.
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