Pro-Immigrant Radio Host

In an era the features shock jocks and TV celebrities like Lou Dobbs complaining about undocumented immigration, Arizona offers one radio host with a pro-immigrant slant.
Elias Bermudez sat in a quiet radio station one morning last week, getting ready to start his daily talk show on illegal immigration.

He looked a little ragged. His eyelids drooped and his voice was still hoarse from the day before when he led thousands of immigrants in a large and boisterous rally at the state Capitol.

The station manager gave a signal, and Bermudez, suddenly energized, leaned into the microphone.

“Si, se puede, Raza. ¡Si, se puede!” Bermudez bellowed, sounding a lot like a farm worker organizer as he assured everyone that it can be done.

Within minutes, callers lit the red lights on the switchboard in front of him.

“The power of this movement is not the leaders,” Bermudez said. “It’s not the organization. It’s in the people. A million thanks to every person who took time off to come to the rally.”

His discourse is not typical around the AM dial where talk-show hosts often portray undocumented immigrants as lawbreaking invaders taking jobs from Americans and driving down wages.

With the charisma of an evangelical minister, Bermudez delivers in Spanish what amounts to a pro-immigrant sermon. He sings their praises as essential workers contributing to the economy by doing jobs shunned by others.

And while others talk about building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, Bermudez has made federal immigration reform giving undocumented workers the chance to work legally in the United States a daily mantra on his program. His positions are well known throughout the state.

But it was the rally that raised eyebrows. Some lawmakers were floored on Jan. 9 to see the throng sprawled across the Capitol lawn on the day Gov. Janet Napolitano gave her State of State address, which focused heavily on immigration issues. 

By tapping into the frustrations and fears of undocumented workers over the airwaves, Bermudez has managed to quickly mobilize thousands of undocumented workers and supporters into a powerful new organization known as Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras, or Immigrants Without Borders, a well-financed and organized group that some say is helping shape the debate in Arizona over illegal immigration.

Source: Arizona Republic, Jan. 17, 2005

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