Latin Hollywood actors back immigrant boycott

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hollywood stars, including Edward James Olmos and Salma Hayek, have joined ranks with a boycott planned for May 1 to protest the proposed tightening of US immigration laws.

Activists have called for immigrants and their supporters to abstain from work, studies or purchases Monday, following on massive demonstrations they staged around the United States in the past month.

May 1 is not a holiday in the United States, where Labor Day is celebrated in September.

"The protest will be very important, because it will teach a lesson to politicians and the rest of the United States," Olmos, who is of Mexican descent, said of the action.

Oscar-winning Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla and Colombian actor John Leguizamo also lent their names to the cause.

Hayek, who is Mexican, said she knows herself what it means to "open a path" in the United States, as she told the Mexican press.

Before departing on a European promotional tour, Hayek was considering how she could support the May 1 boycott, a source close to the actress said.

"We have to demand respect and dignity, because we are all workers and because we are already part of the DNA of this country," Santaolalla, Oscar winner for the score to "Brokeback Mountain," told AFP.

Leguizamo, who played in "Moulin Rouge" (2001) and "Carlito's Way" (1993) among other films said that the was "proud of the protests" in which millions of Latinos took to the streets in recent weeks to protest some of the tougher immigration measures being debated in Washington.

"It is insulting that the law would call an immigrant a criminal," he said. "It's horrible."

In Washington chances improved that lawmakers would strike a compromise between those who would criminalize unapproved entry into the United States and build a wall along the Mexican border, and those who would admit guest workers or offer a path to citizenship to some illegal immigrants already working here.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security rounded up more than 1,100 undocumented workers last week, and plan to round up more.

Participation in the May 1 "Day without Immigrants" is uncertain, however, as some immigrant advocacy groups have warned that a boycott and strike could trigger mass firings and a backlash.

"Americans respect those who struggle, those who don't cow down," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, director of Latino Movement USA in Los Angeles, who supports the boycott.

On the other hand, the National Council of La Raza, the largest pro-Latino group, does not oppose the May 1 action, but suggested that instead of taking the day off, marches take place after school or work.

And Eva Longoria, of "Desperate Housewives," has also spoken out for the cause, but is careful to see both sides of the benefits of immigration, as well as the need to secure the US border.

Salma Hayek's Biography

Salma is the daughter of a Spanish-descended mother and a Lebanese-descended father. She was born and raised in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico in 1968. When she was twelve, her parents sent her to a catholic boarding school in Louisiana. Even though Salma proved that she was attentively studious and properly religious, she was suspended and sent home after just 2 years. The fact that she also had an aptitude for mischief, usually directed against the nuns who ran the school, played a key roll in her dismissal. Two years after her return Salma finished high school and was sent away again. She went to live with her aunt in Houston until she was seventeen.

When she returned to Mexico, Salma relocated to Mexico City to attend college, where she studied international relations. She had harbored her desire to become an actress for years because she knew her parents would never approve of such a chancy vocation. Finally she confronted her parents and told them of her aspiration. Despite their disapproval, Salma quite college and pursued her acting career. She found work in plays at neighborhood theaters, which led to jobs in television commercials, which in turn yielded a casting in Nuevo Amanecer, a popular daytime TV serial. She was then cast as the title character in an extraordinarily popular soap opera, Theresa. Salma's popularity grew quickly and soon she was the most fervently adored actress in Mexico.

Not content to settle for the comparatively meager rewards of mega-stardom in Mexico. Salma set her confident sights on Hollywood, and moved there in 1991. She initially took an 18 month hiatus from acting to climatize herself to Hollywood. She took English lessons, taught herself how to drive a car and got aquatinted with L.A.'s maze of freeways. She also studied acting under famed drama coach Stella Adler.

Initially Salma's acting credits were little more than bit parts, mostly on television. But it was an appearance on a Spanish-language cable-access talk show, which led to her big break. Mexican-American director Robert Rodriguez tuned into Hayek's talk show appearance while flipping through channels. He was so impressed with the sparkling charisma and dazzling appearance of Salma that he immediately tracking her down and cast her in the female lead in "Desperado". She received rave reviews for her exceptional performance and sizzling sexy style. She landed small rolls in "Fair Game" and "Fled", which didn't do too well at the box office. However, Salma's performances provided much-needed zip for both movies.

She was cast in From Dusk 'Til Dawn with George Clooney where she did the famous snake dance scene, and in the 1997 comedy Fools Rush In, co-starring Matthew Perry and marking her first leading role. That same year, Hayek charmed audiences with her role as Esmeralda in a TNT rendition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She was no stranger to the role, as she portrayed Esmeralda in Disney's Spanish version of the film.

Hayek's film repertoire only continued to expand, with a role as a coke-sniffing dancer in 54 (Fifty Four), a tribute to the popular 70's nightclub. She also starred opposite Kevin Kline and Will Smith in the big budget disappointment Wild Wild West.; the controversial Dogma, co-starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Later she starred in The Velocity of Gary, as well as Frida, the biography of painter Frida Kahlo. In 2003 she

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