The Socialist Party USA - NYC Local calls on the United States Department of Immigration to immediately terminate all deportation proceedings against Chilean exile Victor Toro. For the last 23 years, Victor Toro has lived in the United States and made a great contribution to the struggle of immigrant workers for human rights. Victor came to the U.S. after the criminal coup carried out against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende forced him into exile. He was seized in July of this year by officials of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while returning from a conference on immigrant rights and now faces deportation proceedings.

In the 1960s, Victor Toro helped to facilitate the revolutionary upsurge in Chile by organizing land seizures among indigenous groups in addition to spreading the ideas of militant action among the Chilean working class. This activity eventually lead to the formation of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionario (MIR), a key revolutionary organization which pushed the Allende government from below towards more rapid nationalizations and the recognition of the claims of the homeless and landless. When the coup against the democratically elected Allende government occurred in 1973, the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet listed Victor Toro as one of the 13 most dangerous people in the country.

Informers eventually revealed Toro's whereabouts to the dictatorship and he then faced nearly three years of torture and imprisonment. He was exiled to Europe in 1976 and passed through various countries until he crossed the Mexican border in the mid-80s and settled in the South Bronx. Here, he helped to found Vamos al la Pena del Bronx, a group dedicated to providing food and clothing to the poor, struggling for immigrant rights, sheltering battered women and providing much needed support for those afflicted with HIV/AIDS.

The Socialist Party USA - NYC Local believes that the overthrow of the government of Salvador Allende by the Chilean military was an illegal action made possible by the actions and assistance of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency acting under the orders of then President Richard Nixon. The Socialist Party USA - NYC Local therefore believes it is now the minimum responsibility of the U.S. government to provide shelter to the victims of all such policies.

The Socialist Party USA - NYC Local also believes that Victor Toro's case is emblematic of the plight of many of our immigrant brothers and sisters. We therefore forcefully argue that no human being can be classified as illegal. If capital is allowed to freely cross international borders so to should labor. We therefore call for an end to the deportation proceedings against Victor Toro and for a general amnesty for all immigrant workers.

Finally, the Socialist Party USA - NYC Local pledges to support the campaign to defend Victor Toro and intends to use whatever means in its power to secure his freedom and the continuance of his important work among the people of the South Bronx.

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