Huge LA Anti-Immigration Law Protests

[C Ruiz <Cseniornyc@xxxxxxx>]

These protests may forecast serious  racial/ethnic confrontations as the 
right wing shows its ugly face .Even some in  the left are in favor of the 
proposed laws a la Paul Craig Roberts and  Counterpunch.



>From the Los Angeles Times
THE  STATE

500,000 Pack Streets to Protest Immigration Bills

The rally,  part of a massive mobilization of immigrants and their 
supporters, may be the  largest L.A. has seen.
By Teresa Watanabe and Hector Becerra
Times Staff  Writers

March 26, 2006

A crowd estimated by police at more than  500,000 boisterously marched in Los 
Angeles on Saturday to protest federal  legislation that would crack down on 
undocumented immigrants, penalize those who  help them and build a security 
wall along the U.S.' southern  border.

Spirited but peaceful marchers â ordinary immigrants alongside  labor, 
religious and civil rights groups â stretched more than 20 blocks along  Spring 
Street, Broadway and Main Street to City Hall, tooting kazoos, waving  American 
flags and chanting, "SÃ se puede!" (Yes we can!).

Attendance at  the demonstration far surpassed the number of people who 
protested against the  Vietnam War and Proposition 187, a 1994 state initiative 
that sought to deny  public benefits to undocumented migrants but was struck down 
by the courts.  Police said there were no arrests or injuries except for a 
few cases of  exhaustion.

At a time when Congress prepares to crack down further on  illegal 
immigration and self-appointed militias patrol the U.S. border to stem  the flow, 
Saturday's rally represented a massive response, part of what  immigration advocates 
are calling an unprecedented effort to mobilize immigrants  and their 
supporters nationwide.

It coincides with an initiative on the  part of the Roman Catholic Church, 
spearheaded by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony,  archbishop of Los Angeles, to defy a 
House bill that would make aiding  undocumented immigrants a felony. And it 
signals the burgeoning political clout  of Latinos, especially in California.

"There has never been this kind of  mobilization in the immigrant community 
ever," said Joshua Hoyt, executive  director of the Illinois Coalition for 
Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "They have  kicked the sleeping giant. It's the 
beginning of a massive immigrant civil  rights struggle."

The demonstrators, many wearing white shirts to  symbolize peace, included 
both longtime residents and the newly arrived, bound  by a desire for a better 
life.

Arbelica Lazo, 40, illegally emigrated  from El Salvador two decades ago but 
said she now owns two businesses and pays  $7,000 in income taxes each year.

Jose Alberto Salvador, 33, came here  illegally four months ago to find work 
to support the wife and five children he  left behind. In his native 
Guatemala, he said, what little work he could find  paid $10 a day.

"As much as we need this country, we love this country,"  Salvador said, 
waving both the American and Guatemalan flags. "This country  gives us 
opportunities we don't get at home."

On Monday, the U.S. Senate  Judiciary Committee is scheduled to resume work 
on a comprehensive immigration  reform proposal. The Senate committee's version 
includes elements of various  bills, including a guest worker program and a 
path to legalization for the  nation's 10 million to 12 million undocumented 
immigrants proposed by Sens. John  McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward M. Kennedy 
(D-Mass.)

In addition, Senate  Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has introduced a 
bill that would strengthen  border security, crack down on employers of illegal 
immigrants and increase the  number of visas for workers. Frist has said he 
would take his bill to the floor  Tuesday if the committee does not finish its 
work Monday.

Ultimately, the  House and Senate bills must be reconciled before a law can 
be  passed.

President Bush has advocated a guest worker program and attracted  
significant Latino support for his views.

In his Saturday radio address,  Bush urged all sides of the emotional debate 
to tone down their rhetoric,  calling for a balanced approach between more 
secure borders and more temporary  foreign workers.

Largely in response to the debate in Washington,  hundreds of thousands of 
people in recent weeks have staged marches in more than  a dozen cities calling 
for immigration reform.

In Denver, police said  Saturday that more than 50,000 people gathered 
downtown at Civic Center Park  next to the Capitol to urge the state Senate to 
reject a resolution supporting a  ballot issue that would deny many government 
services to illegal immigrants in  Colorado.

Hundreds rallied in Reno, the Associated Press  reported.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people were estimated to have  staged school 
walkouts, marches and work stoppages in Los Angeles, Phoenix,  Atlanta and 
other cities.

In addition, several cities, including Los  Angeles, have passed resolutions 
opposing the House legislation. At least one  city, Maywood, declared itself a 
"sanctuary" for undocumented  immigrants.

Despite the significant opposition to the crackdown on  illegal immigrants 
shown by the turnout in recent rallies, a recent Zogby poll  found 62% of 
Americans surveyed wanted more restrictive immigration policies,  and a Field Poll 
last month found that the majority of California voters  surveyed believed 
illegal immigration was hurting the state.

"Polling has  consistently shown that Americans don't want guest workers or 
amnesty," said  Caroline Espinosa, spokeswoman for NumbersUSA, a 
Washington-based immigration  control group that says its e-mail list of 1 million and 
140,000-member roster  of activists have more than doubled in the last year.

Espinosa said  current levels of both legal and illegal immigration would 
push the U.S.  population to 420 million by 2050, "leading to a tremendously 
negative impact on  the quality of life in the United States."

According to a U.S. Census  Bureau survey a year ago, the nation's 35.2 
million immigrants â legal and  illegal â represent a record number. California 
led the country with nearly 10  million, constituting 28% of the state's 
population overall and one-third of its  work force.

The swelling number of immigrants has clearly influenced the  political 
calculus of those involved in the issue, including political and  religious groups. 
The Republican Party, for instance, is split among those who  want tougher 
restrictions, those who fear alienating the Latino vote and  business owners who 
are pressing for more laborers â mostly Latin Americans â to  fill 
blue-collar jobs in construction, cleaning, gardening and other  industries.

Some Republicans fear that pushing too hard against illegal  immigrants could 
backfire nationally, as with Proposition 187. Strong Republican  support of 
that measure helped spur record numbers of California Latinos to  become U.S. 
citizens and register to vote. Those voters subsequently helped the  Democrats 
regain political control in the state.

"There is no doubt  Proposition 187 had a devastating impact on the 
[California] Republican Party,"  said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political 
consultant. "Now the Republicans  in Congress better beware: If they come across as 
too shrill, with a racist  tone, all of a sudden you're going to see Republicans 
in cities with a high  Latino population start losing their seats."

The effects of the nation's  growing Latino presence also are evident in 
religious communities. This week,  for instance, the president of the 
30-million-member National Assn. of  Evangelicals is scheduled to issue a statement 
supporting immigration reform,  including a guest worker program. It will be in 
concert with the National  Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said the Rev. 
Samuel Rodriguez,  conference president.

Rodriguez, whose Sacramento-based group serves the  nation's 18 million 
evangelical Christian Latinos, said it took "a lot of  persuasion" to broker the 
joint statement with Ted Haggard, president of the  evangelicals group. 
Rodriguez said he warned the group that failure to support  comprehensive immigration 
reform would have long-term political  repercussions.

Latino evangelical Christians voted for Bush at a 40%  higher rate than 
Latinos overall, he said, but they would probably turn away  from conservative 
candidates and causes without support on  immigration.

"I had to do a lot of asking: Will Hispanics ever vote for  conservative 
candidates again, or partner with white evangelicals if they were  silent while 
our brothers and sisters and cousins were being sent out of the  county on 
buses?" Rodriguez said.

Churches were just one force behind  Saturday's rally.

Several immigrant advocates said that the ethnic media  were a significant 
factor in drawing crowds. News outlets repeatedly publicized  it and even 
exhorted marchers to wear white shirts. Churches announced the rally  too. Although 
a police spokeswoman estimated the crowd at 500,000 based on  helicopter 
surveillance, rally organizers said it was closer to 1  million.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa briefly addressed the  rally.

"We cannot criminalize people who are working, people who are  contributing 
to our economy and contributing to the nation," Villaraigosa  said.

In contrast to demonstrations 12 years ago against Proposition 187,  
Saturday's rally featured more American flags than those from any other country.  Flag 
vendors were soon overwhelmed by demonstrators holding out dollar  bills.

Father Michael Kennedy, a longtime immigrant advocate and pastor  of Dolores 
Mission Church in Boyle Heights, said that past demonstrations were  more 
heavily Mexican or Mexican American, but the House bill had rallied  protesters 
across religious, national and ethnic lines.

One was Korean  immigrant Dae Joong Yoon, executive director of the Korean 
Resource Center in  Los Angeles. Yoon said the Korean community was more 
inflamed over the House  bill than Proposition 187 because it would penalize not only 
undocumented  immigrants but also businesses that hired them and anyone who 
helped  them.

He said the Korean-language media has intensified coverage of the  House bill 
in recent weeks.

"The Korean community is shocked and outraged  over this inhumane 
legislation," Yoon said. "Everybody would be affected by it."