Posted on 03/26/2006 5:54:35 PM PST by EternalVigilance
Blaring car horns, racist slurs and angry fisticuffs punctuated a volatile encounter of protesters and counter-protesters Saturday morning outside Bank Calumet.
"God bless America! Stay out of our business!" yelled members of the locally based Indiana Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.
"Go home (expletive) Nazi racists!" yelled members of an opposing group of circling counterprotesters.
The federation, a public interest organization advocating what it calls immigration policies with an impact, demonstrated against bank loans for undocumented aliens, echoing six similar previous local protests.
Several members of the Chicago Minuteman Project joined the federation, hoisting protest signs to passing motorists and exchanging verbal jabs with visibly angry counterprotesters.
"We're not racists, we're LEGAL Americans," Minuteman members yelled under American flags whipping in a fierce wind. "Those people are Communists."
The counterprotesters -- some from the Progressive Labor Party of Chicago, others from Purdue University Calumet or there on their own -- chanted in bilingual defiance: "¡Obreros unidos jamas seran vencidos!" or, "Workers united will never be defeated!"
Susana Findley, a Gary native whose parents were born in Mexico, said illegal immigrant workers arrived here for the same reason federation members' ancestors arrived: To find work and a better life.
"But those racist immigrants forget about that," said Findley, nodding toward the federation's camp.
Several counterprotesters arrived earlier than the scheduled 10 a.m. federation protest, setting up shop at the corner of Calumet Avenue and Ridge Road.
When 63-year-old Chicago Minuteman member Rick Biesada arrived and pulled out his protest sign, he claimed that two counterprotesters yanked it from him. When he yanked it back, the men assaulted him, knocking him to the ground, he said.
The Lindenhurst, Ill., resident was treated by paramedics at the scene for a gash over his eye and dizziness, spending a few minutes inside an ambulance before returning to the protest.
"I wished he fell to the ground harder," Findley said.
Munster police Sgt. Nick Hudak, one of several officers showing up to stand between the opposing groups, said no arrests were made and no other injuries occurred.
Protesters on both sides said the escalating debate over U.S. House Bill 4437, the so-called Border Security bill, may have inflamed the controversy of offering bank loans to illegal aliens.
The bill, which would strengthen enforcement of existing immigration laws and enhance border security, has already passed the House and could be voted on by the Senate as early as this week.
Federation co-founder and Valparaiso resident Cheree Calabro, while passing out fliers to motorists, said similar demonstrations at Bank Calumet had no such problems with counterprotesters.
"I think they're feeling more emboldened with all the national protests (supporting illegal immigration)," said Calabro, whose group is the Indiana chapter of the national Minuteman Project.
Watch out... These immigrant protests could merge into the Antiwar protests.
hispanics in NM have been there for generations and many consider themselves to be Americans and have a strong dislike for illegals
The proof is in the fact that the illegals who protest generally do so by flying Mexican flags, not American ones.
The communists who assisted them in this recent spate of protests passed out tons of US flags to try and somewhat mitigate this PR-wise, but that doesn't change the truth of what I'm saying.
ok i am going to sleep now
They're already being organized by the exact same communist agitators: ANSWER, the World Workers Party, Move On, the AFL-CIO, Democratic Party, et al...
And I don't think the speculation about Mexican government involvement is unreasonable.
The current mayor of Los Angeles answers to Mexico City.
Goodbye and good riddance.
Awesome!
Your bravery is to be lauded. Shame so many refuse to tackle the issue head on with the same attitude, as you did with with your illness .
That's the difference between true survivors with principle, and those who prefer to roll over and take it in the shorts.
Everyone should take your example, learn from it, and live life with the zest as you have seen it.
God bless you!
Let's take it one step further....who does Mexico City answer to?
It pays to study history. Never forget this phrase: "Zimmerman Telegram"
If A=B, and B=C, then the answer is "5".
those 500,000 arent followers of Aztlan
2. Capitalize "I."
3. Capitalize and spell "Hispanics" correctly if you are going to defend the invaders.
4. Learn to spell the word "where."
5. Learn how to spell San Bernardino County if you are going to insult it.
6. Learn to use an apostrophe.
7. Don't end a sentence with a preposition.
8. Learn to spell "the."
Other than that, your posts are brilliant.
i know there is a real wish here to think that Mexians are violent, expansionist people like Muslims, but they arent
san bernadino county is crap i dont care how much houses there cost
Those 500,000 protesters, as long as they carry Mexican flags and defend illegal immigration, might not KNOW they are followers of Aztlan, but they ARE followers of Aztlan.
Not necessarily.....history doesn't repeat itself THAT closely, but it does repeat itself.....
Could be same plot, different cast of characters.....
The border cities remain corrupt. This year the drug wars seem to be in Nuevo Laredo.
I have some hispanic friends who will not cross into Mexico at all. A lot of the deadly hits are in restaurants in broad open daylight.
Neither government is going to do anything about this. It has been going on for too many years.
i am against a worker program becausee i think people are naive if they think the workers will only come from Mexico, you can pay an Algerian or a Morroccan 1/2 what you pay a mexican
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.