Posted on 04/11/2006 7:26:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
They invoke the names of Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez, but the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have marched nationwide are not following one charismatic leader.
Instead, they're loosely guided by Hispanic advocacy groups, churches and labor unions - organizations that have helped transform what began as isolated campaigns in major cities into a broad movement with a coordinated strategy.
"It's a shared leadership among people who we don't even always know," said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American Political Association, a central organizer of rallies in Southern California.
The young movement is still morphing, allowing both for a broad reach and quick reactions to a dynamic political situation. The marches by hundreds of thousands of people in dozens of cities Monday illustrated its scope and sophistication - the events were timed to the first day of a two-week congressional recess so lawmakers would be home to feel the impact.
It's a long way from two months ago, when a lively meeting east of Los Angeles resulted in a simple plan: Derail congressional efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants and push for a law to give those already here a chance at citizenship.
Since then, Roman Catholic churches have accelerated their campaign of preaching to immigrants and pressuring politicians, unions have blanketed hotels and restaurants with fliers and Hispanic community leaders have enlisted Spanish-language deejays to convey protest instructions: wear white, remain peaceful. When marchers were criticized for carrying Mexican flags, organizers spread word to carry U.S. flags instead.
If any one person deserves credit for the movement, organizers say, it's a man who surely didn't seek the distinction.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., sponsored legislation which the House passed in December that would make being in the country illegally a felony instead of a misdemeanor and criminalize people who help illegal immigrants.
The bill provoked a groundswell of anger among illegal immigrants and their advocates. But while many groups held small protests in January, except for the Catholic Church's "Justice for Immigrants" campaign most efforts had no overarching vision.
That led a handful of civil rights groups in Southern California to convene a hastily arranged one-day national summit in Riverside on Feb. 11.
Hundreds of e-mails between groups foreshadowed a potentially contentious meeting in which disparate groups might insist on their own agendas.
About 500 people from unions, civil rights groups and religious organizations came from around the country, according to organizers, jamming a large room at the Riverside Convention Center.
"For about the first 30 minutes it was chaotic with everybody raising their hands and speaking," said Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights, an umbrella organization for Hispanic activist groups in Southern California. "Then we got on track."
Organizers said they set aside fundamental divisions over whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay or given guest worker status and agreed on a series of mass mobilizations through April 1, in anticipation of the Senate taking up its own immigration reform legislation. The protest themes would be twofold: Opposition to the Sensenbrenner legislation and a call to give the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants the right to live in the U.S.
"I got the feeling like this was the beginning of a national movement," said Angela Sanbrano, executive director of Carecen, a Hispanic civil rights group in Los Angeles. "Everybody was talking about what they were going to do when they got back."
Discussions about what to wear or what flag to wave would come later - often with the coaching of Spanish-language deejays, whose potential impact was highlighted by a Chicago delegation of activists.
Ema Lozano, president of Chicago's Center Without Borders, said she told organizers in Riverside that popular Spanish-language disc jockey Rafael Pulido deserved much of the credit for a rally last July against immigration laws that separate families.
The first day Riverside attendees targeted March 10. While organizers in major cities such as Los Angeles weren't able to launch a protest, about 100,000 marched in Chicago.
In addition to radio, much of the communication was through e-mail, Web sites and cell phones.
"This was a high-tech march," said Antonia Zavala, an education coordinator with Casa Aztlan, a Hispanic activist group in Chicago.
Chicago served as an example - two weeks later, about 500,000 protested in Los Angeles.
By then, the Catholic Church and the Service Employees International Union were flexing their organizing muscle.
Hundreds of SEIU members have helped control crowds at California rallies. Ahead of Monday's march in Phoenix, the union's Washington, D.C., headquarters received a call from organizers who were having trouble getting a permit because of insurance issues.
"So we called around. We found a policy. We wrote a check," said Ben Boyd, a union spokesman.
The planning is far from over.
Organizers promise major voter registration drives and are promoting May 1 as a day on which immigrants are asked stay home from work and school, and refrain from buying U.S. products.
"It's great," said Magdalena Schwartz of Immigrants Without Borders in Phoenix, "because we see now we are not alone."
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Associated Press writers Anna Johnson in Chicago, Rachel Zoll and Erin Texeira in New York, Dan Goodin in San Jose, Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix, Peggy Andersen in Seattle and Ron Fournier in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Saving all of my Summer shopping for May Day!
No mention of the Marxists / A.N.S.W.E.R. commies behind the scenes fomenting discord for their own purposes and for their political lackies benefit..
Key dates of protest movement taking off nationally
http://www.bakersfield.com/119/story/45667.html
Dec. 16 - House of Representatives passes sweeping legislation to crackdown on illegal immigrants.
January - Angered by legislation, numerous groups around the country begin small protests.
Feb. 11- About 500 Hispanic activists, labor, and religious leaders from around the country attend summit in Riverside, Calif. They decide to coordinate protests nationwide in anticipation of the Senate considering immigration legislation.
March 10 - Over 100,000 people march in Chicago, galvanizing nationwide efforts.
March 25 - About 500,000 march in Los Angeles, followed by a week of student walkouts and numerous smaller protests.
April 8 - Summit with about 100 leaders in Phoenix to plan other national events.
April 10 - Hundreds of thousands rally in over 100 events across the country.
May 1 - "Day Without An Immigrant" campaign calls on immigrants to stay home from work, school and refrain from buying American products. Plans also being coordinated with groups in Mexico.
The coverage is positively giddy.
AP writer on pay of whom? Reads like he just copied some pr points.
No mention of the money behind these groups.
And if they get violent, we can just say, "See, we don't really want these people, do we? They are just violent thugs. We have to realize we hold the upper hand here. If we could only convince the effing dems to back us up. But that will never happens. They will be pandering votes while these folks are hopping out of the car trunks or out of the 50 passenger vans. Do they still swim across? They'll offer them Mexican flags and towels with "Vote Democratic! Hate is not an American value!" Free cab rides to the voter registration and free fake ID.
1) Enforce the current laws.This plan offers no form of reward or amnesty and clearly sets forth both a positive and a negative incentive for these people to leave and begin obeying our laws. Something like this MUST be done soon
2) Come down on any company hiring illegals aliens immdiately and dry up the draw. Fine them, make them pay for the deportation of any illegals they have hired, and put the owners or managers who knowingly hire illegals on some sort of probation, where a repeat offense causes the crime to be permanently on ther record, and the only way to keep it off their is to not repeat for 5-10 years.
3) Begin rounding up, arresting and incarcerating for a short period, in work camps near the border (working the able bodied hard at helping build the fence), any illegals we can find, then expel them.
4) Build a serious two layer fence across the entire southern border, allowing for normal crossings for legal immigration and valid green card holders. If we seriously did these four things, we wouldn't need to worry about catching them all, most would leave on their own.
5) After executing the above four points rigorously for 90 days, offer the remaining illegals the following:a) If you voluntarily report at a border station or any INS office, you will be held and then immediately deported, but while so doing, after we take a DNA sample, and if you pass a background check, we will consider your future immigration request favorably if you get in line with everyone else and apply through the standard, legal method.
b) If you fail to report voluntarily and we have to catch you, or if you enter illegally again, then we will use your DNA to enusre that you are NEVER considered for immigration to the United States, then you will be incarcerated for 90 days abd expelled. If you are ever caught again after that, you will spend 20 years incarcerated, on work gangs before again being expelled.
Anyone know what Soros is up to these days?
Oh, the joys of spontaneous protest ... all holding preprinted signs, brand new flags all the same size, cute matching tee shirts and the same slogans, city to city, state to state.
The "grassroots" must be psychic.
They're not going to get violent. They're counting on YOU to get violent.
And, from some of the talk on this board the last couple of days, that's exactly what you're going to do.
The Mexican constitution does not allow foreigners to participate in the political affairs of the country.
That ban applies to participation in demonstrations.
"They invoke the names of Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez"
They also protest against President Bush, which makes them look like like fools, unaware of the world in which they live in since Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez had the opposite beliefs and the president is on their side.
As a union leader Cesar Chavez knew very well the destruction of wages by uncontrolled illegal immigration and was against it.
Regarding civil rights; Martin Luther King Jr protested for the enforcement of Federal laws which the states refused to obey. While the illegal immigrants lobbies are insisting on abolishing Federal laws in favor of the sanctuary laws that have been established by many local governments whose net effect is to continue the exploitation of cheep labor akin to slavery enforced by the threat of poverty.
Don't forget that May 1st is also a day for Antiwar actions.
Also, on Apr 29th, there is a joint Illegal Immigrant Rights/Antiwar rally in NYC.
THE MSM IS INTENTIONALLY CONCEALING THESE "RALLYS" ARE BEING COORDINATED BY THE COMMUNIST PARTY USA.
THE MSM IS INTENTIONALLY CONCEALING THE GROUPS BEHIND THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION RALLYS ARE THE USUAL ANTI AMERICAN SUSPECTS.
THE MSM MEDIA IS INTENTIONALLY WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM THE PUBLIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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