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Our 9 month series, New Hampshire's Immigration Story explored just that... the vast history of who came to New Hampshire, when they came, why they came, the challenges they faced once they landed on Granite State soil and the contributions that they brought to our state. The Exchange, Word of Mouth, and our News Department looked at the issue of immigration from its first arrivals to the newest refugees calling New Hampshire home.We saw how immigration affects our economy, health care, education system, culture and our current system of law. We also looked at what's going on in New Hampshire today, as we uncovered the groups, societies and little known people who are making an impact all over the state.Funding for NH's Immigration Story is brought to you in part by: New Hampshire Humanities Council, Norwin S. and Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation, The Gertrude Couch Trust0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff89e10000

'Have A Plan' Says Immigration Attorney At May Day Rally

Emily Corwin
/
NHPR
Father Joseph Gurdak of St. Anne-St. Augustin Parish in Manchester spoke to the crowd.

There was singing in three languages, chants, even a prayer Monday night at Veterans Park in Manchester. There, demonstrators gathered in a chilly rain to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The administration had created a new urgency for this annual May Day rally.

Father Gurdak oversees a Catholic church in Manchester with a largely Latino membership. Into a microphone, he described an immigrant worker’s dilemma. "What do we force them to do? We force them to use fake documents. And they are called criminals because they use fake documents. We made them do these things."

Soon after, an immigration attorney beseeched unauthorized residents to "have a plan." 

Eva Castillo has helped organize the event every year for about a decade. The point of the rally, she said, is to get everyday people to see immigrant workers not as statistics or criminals, but as human beings.

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