Posted on 04/27/2006 9:29:02 AM PDT by VU4G10
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pro-immigration activists say a nationwide boycott and marches planned for May 1 will flood Americas's streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as it tackles reform.
But while such a massive turnout could make for the largest protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, not all Latinos, nor their leaders, were comfortable with such militancy -- fearing a backlash in Middle America.
"There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We're going to close down Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno," said Jorge Rodriguez, a union official who helped organize earlier rallies credited with rattling Congress as it debates the issue.
Immigration has split Congress, the Republican Party and public opinion. Conservatives want the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to be classified as felons and a fence built along the Mexican border.
Others, including President George W. Bush, want a guest worker program and a path to citizenship. Most agree some reform is needed to stem the flow of poor to the world's biggest economy.
"We want full amnesty, full legalization for anybody who is here (illegally)," Rodriguez said. "That is the message that is going to be played out across the country on May 1."
Organizers of the May Day marches, which have strong support from big labor and the Roman Catholic church, vow that America's major cities will grind to a halt and its economy will stagger as Latinos walk off their jobs and skip school.
Teachers' unions in major cities have said children should not be punished for walking out of class. A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District said school principals had been told that they should not try to keep students in class but instead should walk with the children to help keep order.
In Chicago, Catholic priests have helped organize protests, sending information to all 375 parishes in the archdiocese.
CRITICS CHARGE INTIMIDATION
Chicago activists predict that the demonstrations will draw 300,000 people -- compared to the 100,000 who turned out on March 10 to clog downtown streets. Minneapolis-based agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. said it will close seven meatpacking plants so workers can participate.
In New York, leaders of the May 1 Coalition said a growing number of businesses had pledged to close and allow their workers to attend a rally in Manhattan's Union Square.
But some Latinos have expressed ambivalence about the boycott and marches, saying they could stir up anti-immigrant sentiment amid an incendiary atmosphere surrounding the issue.
Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles archdiocese, who has emerged as an outspoken champion of immigrant rights -- even calling on priests to defy laws aimed at those who would help illegals -- has lobbied against a walkout.
"Personally I believe we can make May 1st a 'win-win' day here in Southern California," Mahony said in a statement. "Go to work, go to school, and then join thousands of us at a major rally afterward."
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the son of a Mexican immigrant who has long fought for immigrant rights, has taken a low profile on the issue. A Villaraigosa spokeswoman said the mayor expects protesters to be "lawful and respectful" and wants children to stay in school.
Critics have accused pro-immigrant leaders of stirring up uninformed young Latinos by telling them that their parents were in imminent danger of being deported and accuse them of trying to bully Congress.
"It's intimidation," Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman volunteer border patrol group, said of the May 1 events. "It's intimidation when a million people march down main streets in our major cities under the Mexican flag."
"It angers the people you are trying to impress," he said. "This will backfire just like the Mexican flag parades backfired."
(Additional reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman in Los Angeles, Dan Trotta in New York and Michael Conlon in Chicago)
It will be easy to get that many in Los Angeles, look at these stats!
1. 40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County has 10 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3's of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L.A.County 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish (10.2 million people in L.A.County).
(All 10 from the Los Angeles Times)
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 29% are on welfare.
http://www.cis.org (This web site has information galore!!! Interested? Check it out.)
Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration.
The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year, [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University].
The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE
29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.
I don't know if God sees it as a sin or not. It's a murky issue with me. There was the matter of sanctuary, but that was OT. Helping people break the law is definitely a sin unless it is an unjust law. That's the part I'm having trouble with.
Personally, I'm annoyed about it, but am still torn. They are human beings with just as much worth in God's eyes as I have, maybe more because I have had advantages they have not. With me it's kind of a cultural thing and their taking jobs that Americans would do if they paid what they used to like in the meat packing industry, for example. They have driven wages down.
All I know is that it is a problem and we should stop the flow for now because it is the only thing that makes sense. Then work on the rest of it.
Amnesty? I might have been for that, but now they've got me mad with their conquistador and entitlement mindset. I would be scared out of my wits to be so flagrant about my status in another country, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'd be sent home and probably be expected to pay back the expenses of doing so.
I'm also dealing with a little bigotry on my part which I'm trying hard to overcome. Some of them are wonderful people, but they don't think like my cultural mindset. That doesn't make them bad. I know some of them were treated really mean years ago when they did come here legally. One told me how she'd been treated growing up in a small town in an Hispanic section of it.
I'm boycotting mexican resturants on cinco de mayo.
(and the rest of the time too)
YES. They are starting in LA and planning for the rest to shut down across the country.
Los Angeles- Port of Los Angeles
La Collectiva del Troqueros del Puerto
E-Mail: ejnevarez@sbcglobal.net
12,000 Troqueros working the Port and local rails will shut down and congregate at Banning Park. Solidarity from most other Ports in the nation expected."
Teamsters have decided to honor. Wouldn't that include union truckers, railroad, etc.?
Perhaps that should read: Tell your congressman how much you enjoyed a day without illegal aliens.
I'm hoping they extend their boycott to 365 days a year...
What I am planning to do:
Make an effort to list all of the businesses (particularly restaurants) in my neighborhood that are closed on May 1st. These would be businesses who have closed because, 1) the employer is supporting the boycott, or 2) the employer employes illegal aliens who are out supporting the boycott.
Report each and every one of those businesses to the local INS office as suspected employers of illegal aliens and demand that they be investigated and U.S. laws enforced.
Provide employer/business with copy of my letter to the local INS office and advise employer that I am permanently boycotting said business and challenging friends, family and neighbors to do the same.
Restaurants closed on May 1 will be expecting to make up for their revenue losses on May 5th 'cinco de mayo' celebrations. Choose to either boycott the restaurant or protest outside the restaurant and encourage other patrons will follow suit. After what we will be seeing on tv May 1, I don't expect any probem!
I need a sign with one of those big red circles and a line through it that says SI SE PUEDE!
After seeing the list of sponsoring organizations for these marches such as the Communist Workers Party it's important that we always include the communist element when discussing the rhetoric associated with these protestors......picking May 1 for this new boycott speaks volumes for what the agenda really is for this nonsense.
On bended knee, I beg of you criminal invaders of my country, please, please do this!
Huh? We often post that we hope the Democrats or the unions are 'dumb enough to do something too'. Does that make us racist too?
We don't mind immigration as long as it is controlled and the immigrants have a desire to assimilate. Asians find a way to do it while still maintaining their cultural heritage - why can't latin americans?
Careful what you wish for there, Zippy.
Cardinal Mahony is the most dangerous priest in the USA!
...or maybe the world!
Also, your hopes that rage and tension will rise for Americans against illegal immigrants disgusts me even more than your simple labelling of said immigrants as 'the illegals'.
If you believe the Catholic Church believes in "no borders" just try moving into Vatican City!
Could you also remind us again just how many social services you and your amigos receive courtesy of hard working American tapxayers and why we should continue subsidizing ungrateful illegals across this country?
This is incredible. Does noone in America except those on FR care about what is happening?
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