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The Bermudez Triangle

The immigrant rights movement needs Elias Bermudez, only there's a problem: A lot of his own people don't trust him

This may be because the message wasn't well received. The day he announced his idea on the air, people called in to ask why he's quitting. He listened to them, making notes to himself on a legal pad as they spoke.

One thing Luis Avila, Bermudez's fellow broadcaster, does give him credit for is the fact he puts himself out there on the air for people to criticize.

Elias Bermudez
Giulio Sciorio
Elias Bermudez
Elias Bermudez faces down a demonstrator. He's known for his controversial leadership in the immigrant rights movement.
Zuma Press/Newscom
Elias Bermudez faces down a demonstrator. He's known for his controversial leadership in the immigrant rights movement.

"He's brave for taking on people who don't like him. It's like a politician going on the air and talking to his constituents," he says. "I give him respect for that."

This particular day, the phone is ringing off the hook with people who want to respond to his "go back to Mexico" statement. There's only one person answering phones and he can barely keep up. He answers, whispers the name to Bermudez, who keeps a list as calls come in, and moves on to the next caller.

Toward the end of the show, one man sums up the general feeling.

"I am disappointed that Elias Bermudez is giving up," says the caller. "People are looking to you."

Bermudez shakes his head, says something to the man in Spanish, and then repeats it in English off the air.

"I want him to call me on Friday with the good news," he said. "The reasons why we should be happy. My sky is not pink; my sky right now is dark."

But only a few weeks later he's changed his mind again.

He's fresh off a weeklong leadership retreat in San Diego, and he says it's changed his life. In the course of one morning, he says "I'm a changed man" at least five times.

Indeed, he projects the image of a man trying to unpack and put away years of baggage. But with Bermudez, it's so hard to tell if he's being real or putting on a show. He may mean it; he may not. Either way, he's back to his old self — a born salesman, whether he's selling labor, legal services, or the idea of immigration reform.

"I'm taking a lot of heat. I'm taking heat from the other side and from members of my own community because they don't think I'm genuine," he says. "Well, I am. I put my life on the line. Yes, I am going to receive benefits, but I don't have to do anything. If I don't lift a finger and [immigration reform passes], I'm still going to have the same benefits. I want everyone to benefit. If you come back later and you didn't lift a finger and something comes positive to us, it's not going to be worth anything to you. You're going to give it up in the first DUI you get.

"I don't like freebies. I give you this in exchange for that. That dignifies the person who receives it.

"Put up or shut up."

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