Bumper Sticker
Posted on 04/02/2006 10:45:08 AM PDT by digger48
SOLANA BEACH, Calif. - Manuel Aguilar feels uneasy in supermarkets and other public spaces, and he's careful not to drive over the speed limit for fear that a traffic stop could lead to his deportation.
But the 22-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico feels so strongly about a proposed overhaul of national immigration policy that he plans to join a protest next weekend in a San Diego park and is even helping organize the event.
Aguilar, who makes $380 a week at a flower nursery in the ultrawealthy San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe, speaks with anger and disbelief about the House bill that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally.
"It's not a crime to work," said Aguilar, who has been in this country about five years. "We are not criminals."
He is hardly alone in his move from the shadows to the streets. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants have demonstrated in cities across the nation in a rare burst of activism that surprised even organizers.
Aguilar, living in a part of Southern California suburbia where sentiment against illegal immigration has been rising, was moved to act by the blessings of the Roman Catholic Church and the comfort of protesting in large numbers.
It's unclear whether the protests will influence Congress or if this is the beginning of a social movement with staying power. But Eliseo Medina, a prominent union official, considers it a pivotal time because the marches have drawn people from all ages and economic backgrounds.
"People finally said 'If that many people are going out, I'll go out too and make my voice heard,'" said Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union and an early leader of the United Farm Workers.
David Locher, a sociologist at Missouri Southern State University who studies crowd psychology, suspects the street action will fade.
"A true social movement builds up gradually over time," he said. "As far as I can tell, this is more a spontaneous thing."
Like many of the new activists, Aguilar appears uninfluenced by established politicians or immigrant advocacy groups. But something changed last week when he attended St. Leo Mission Catholic Church in Solana Beach, a small oceanfront suburb of multimillion-dollar homes north of San Diego.
It was the day after enthusiastic reports about a large Los Angeles rally, which the Catholic Church supported.
A church worker invited parishioners to stay after Mass to plan a demonstration. Organizers expected 20 people, but about 100 showed up, including Aguilar, who attends services three times a week. Many of the participants live in northern San Diego County, a stronghold of activism against illegal immigrants.
The church members plan an April 9 protest at San Diego's Balboa Park.
"We stayed quiet for a long time, but the water rose above our necks," said Arnoldo Marin, a handyman who moved to the United States from the Mexican state of Jalisco in 1986 and became a legal resident. "If you feel yourself drowning, you have to do something."
Folks are so afraid to be labeled racist, they are afraid to organize....
but when illegals act racist with all that Azatlan crap....they are cheered for their "power"
we deserve to crumble
They definitely NOT hiding in any shadows, they're right up in our faces, by the millions. Many of them men DO work, they work for cash, work for less than an American can, they don't pay much in taxes, their wives all collect freebies, they all get free medical care, their kids get free schooling, along with breakfasts and lunches. Coming to all other states soon if this amnesty/guestworker crap isn't stopped in its tracks.
Great deal for them, financially ruinous deal for us, yet the president and his OBL cronies think it's great. Their loyalties are showing, and those loyalties are not with the American taxpayer...
That's like 3 days of work for me and I'm struggling so he can have this break?!
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