Posted on 03/28/2006 10:10:51 AM PST by BurbankKarl
Edited on 03/28/2006 10:15:04 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Police herded students off an access road leading to the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro on Tuesday as demonstrations continued against possible immigration reforms. Student marches were also staged Tuesday morning in Bellflower and Compton.
Despite rain and a lockdown in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a group of about 200 students massed near 223rd Street in the Harbor Gateway area in San Pedro and started walking south on Avalon Boulevard shortly after 8 a.m. A separate group of students in San Pedro tried to get onto the Vincent Thomas Bridge, but police stopped them and turned them around, detaining a few.
In the San Fernando Valley, students reportedly walked out of Birmingham High School.
Los Angeles Unified campuses are locked down Tuesday, but the immigration bill that sparked two days of protests will be a topic of classroom discussion, officials said.
More than 36,000 students from 26 school districts throughout Los Angeles County skipped classes on Monday and marched through streets and on freeways to protest the immigration bill being debated by the U.S. Senate.
About 1,000 students rallied for much of the day at Los Angeles City Hall, with several representatives meeting privately with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor later spoke to the students, saying their voices were being heard, but urging them to return to class.
Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton said Monday's rainy forecast would also likely prevent any more mass walkouts by students.
LAUSD officials said middle and high school classes throughout the district would have classroom discussions on Tuesday about a bill introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., which would crack down on employers hiring illegal workers and people smuggling illegal immigrants into the country.
"We will have in-class teachings for students so that they can have conversations to deal with this issue in a very productive way," said Rowena Lagrosa, executive officer of educational services for the district. "We are being proactive so that those students will show up for school tomorrow."
The class discussions will also address freedom of speech, civil protests and events in U.S. history that have involved public protests, according to a district statement.
In addition to the lockdown, police presence will be beefed up on LAUSD campuses, district officials said.
Students who took part in the mass demonstration on Monday and last Friday could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from cebtain school-sponsored functions, Lagrosa said.
The LAPD was placed on citywide tactical alert during Monday's protest, which led to five arrests during a demonstration at Van Nuys City Hall, LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon said.
Some students also snarled traffic when they marched on the Harbor (110) and Hollywood (101) freeways in downtown Los Angeles. Other students were reported marching on freeways in San Pedro and Orange County.
"We may be illegal immigrants, but we are human," Metropolitan High School senior Melania Preciado said at City Hall as she waved a Mexican flag. "We deserve the same rights as everyone else, not be treated like criminals."
The Sensenbrenner bill, HR 4437, would require employers to verify Social Security numbers with the Department of Homeland Security, increase penalities for immigrant smuggling and stiffen penalities for undocumented immigrants who reenter the United States after having been removed.
Under the bill, approved last December by the House of Representatives, local law enforcement agencies would be reimbursed for detaining illegal immigrants. Refugees with aggravated felony convictions would also be barred from receiving green cards.
The U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee softened the immigration reform bill on Monday by voting to create a path for some of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens without first leaving the country.
Under the version voted on by the committee, additional foreign workers would be allowed to enter the United States temporarily under a program that also could lead to citizenship.
Additionally, the committee adopted an amendment by Sen Richard Durbin, D- Ill., that would protect charitable organizations and churches from criminal charges for providing aid to illegal immigrants.
The bill will now move to the Senate floor, where an intensive debate likely to find Republicans fighting each other is expected to begin this week.
I know that (used to work at a school), but was trying to be a wiseguy and say most of us used to call "nutrition time" recess. Got corrected that it was lunch time, and was pointing out that 10:00 was a bit early for lunch. Guess when I have to explain it all, it's not very funny!! ;>)
Probably a lot more!! ;>)
Yes, the anchorperson asked if that was a big concern (when the kids walk out, the school doesn't get paid). The spokesperson said those figures will be out later today. It is a problem for the schools, apparently. And, good call on the 10 a.m. thing. That's probably how it works.
I checked zillow.com and it said $1.7M for that 3100 sq ft house with nice views. Ouch!
Calm down, calm down. I don't want you getting violent now.
It is the fact that they are working that makes their presence here illegal.
Are we going to demand that they all pay back taxes on the under the table income? Are we going to require that they pay the hospitals and medical clinics where they were treated and where they had their children? These people are all going to be given defacto tax amnesty but no American citizen would be given such a free ride.
American citizens who don't pay their taxes are thrown in jail as an example to others. How many illegal aliens who have dodged their tax obligations have ever gone to jail or been ordered to pay fines and back taxes? I suspect very few, if any.
The school district will extend the school year for the kids who cut class. That's how they make up the lost money. Plus the school year is a set number of days.
Yep!
It's PC for "time to eat the tasteless gruel that the Food Nazis deem appropriate, not what the student finds delicious and enjoyable";)
One of the biggest reasons why school children today are so messed up. They have nothing to fear. I'm with you.
Carlos Zelaya, 18, a student at Fresno High School, looks out among the crowd of protestors after giving a speech in front of Fresno City Hall.
Cindy Rios, left, a Reedley High senior, pumps her fist as she and other students cheer at a rally in Pioneer Park, during a walkout Monday in Reedley.
Students from almost a dozen (Central) Valley schools have walked off campus for a second day to protest immigration reform. Hundreds of kids braved the rain today to walk to Fresno's City Hall.
Hi your own self! :)
Police kept yelling "Stop! Go back to your classes"
Unfortunately, none of the students understood English.
LOL, good one. Isn't interesting how selective their english is. They can understand it when they want.
Sorry, senor, no entiendo inglés.
If amnesty goes through I'm never voting again. Simple as that.
Just never vote for anybody who supported it.
I would not give up my right to vote to a bunch of Mexicans...ever!
Braved?? Oh pleased, braved nothing, they got a free shower.
More like it. Now leave me alone. I must run a Very Important Errand! :)
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