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Imagine that every time you drove your car you were worried about being pulled over, arrested or deported. Imagine waiting ten years to bring your wife, husband, son, or daughter to this country. Imagine not being able to drive your children to school or leave your neighborhood to get a better job.

These are just some of the stories plaguing immigrants living in the northwest Chicago neighborhood of Albany Park. Problems with immigration force many people to live with a daily fear of deportation or harassment because they lack the proper documents. Immigration issues can tear families apart and often force others into a life of poverty.

Over the past few years, The Albany Park Neighborhood Council has built itself on campaigns that focus mainly on neighborhood safety, education and capital improvements for this northwest side Chicago neighborhood. The Council has consistently turned out 200-300 people for every public meeting and has won concrete improvements for the community.

So when the Council addressed immigration issues for the first time at a public meeting this past summer, we were shocked when twice the normal amount of residents attended. With over 90% of adults living in the neighborhood of Albany Park born in another country, it became clear that we had touched the self-interest of this community and brought to the surface the daily suffering of people affected by immigration issues.

The neighborhood of Albany Park is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in all of Chicago. 51% of the residents are Hispanic, 25% are White Ethnic (including Serbian and Bosnian), 15% are Asian, 5% are Indian and Arab and 4% are African American. The many complicated problems associated immigration stood out as an issue from the start that could unite this diverse community.

From the start, Albany Park staff and leaders knew immigration issues tapped a central nerve within the neighborhood. A local organizing movement was jumpstarted when Albany Park leaders took part in a workshop at the 2001 National People's Action Conference detailing how undocumented immigrants couldn't obtain driver's licenses. From then on, Albany Park staff used public meetings and one-on-ones with neighborhood leaders and heads of local institutions to develop a clear picture of what issues are affecting the community.

For most Latinos in the community a new amnesty is the first priority. Other priority issues for them include the need for undocumented workers to obtain driver's licenses; better conditions for day laborers and getting college financial aid for undocumented children.

Immigrants from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Africa have shown concerned with long wait times for family members to receive visas, paperwork delays that last year after year, and problems with services at the department of Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS).

This broad group of issues allowed us to recruit local institutions that serve specific ethnic groups in the neighborhood such as the Iraqi House mutual aid association, the Islamic Center of Chicago, the First Vietnamese United Methodist Church and Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. The support of these institutions helped our leaders win the trust of the groups they serve.

With the combined efforts of leaders, institutions, and staff we successfully identified strategies for each issue and won our first steps toward victory, including:

—The support of local, state, and federal officials around amnesty and driver's license issues;
—A meeting with the regional director of the INS department;
—The support of local alderman to co-sponsor an ordinance for the Chicago City Council for improved conditions to stop abusive practices by temporary agencies.

The people of Albany Park came together and won significant victories. By deciding to take on immigration issues we brought a whole new group of leaders, mainly lower income undocumented people, into the organization. In the coming years the push for a new amnesty and other Immigrant Rights issues will strengthen NPA and will continue to drive our local organizing efforts.