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L.A. mayor picks NFL talks over immigrant boycott
Reuters ^ | 04/29/05 | Aarthi Sivaraman

Posted on 04/29/2006 12:28:36 PM PDT by Starman417

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles' first Latino mayor in the modern era, will skip huge pro-immigration rallies planned for Monday to meet with pro football officials in Dallas, leaving organizers feeling like "a ship without a captain."

Oscar Sanchez, an organizer of the Great American Boycott in Los Angeles, said the mayor's office previously told the group he would speak at a downtown Los Angeles rally on Monday -- then backed out.

Instead, the mayor will be in Dallas speaking with National Football League officials about the possibility of bringing a team back to Los Angeles.

Activists said the rallies, which could become the largest protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, would shut down major U.S. cities and serve as an indicator of their economic power, with or without the mayor.

They have predicted that 2 million to 3 million people would flood the streets of Los Angeles alone.

"It has been advertised everywhere and he is the mayor of the second-biggest city of the country where a boycott is going to happen. It would feel like a ship without a captain," Sanchez said.

A spokesman for Villaraigosa said the mayor had never promised to be present at Monday's immigration rallies -- part of a nationwide boycott and demonstration -- and that his Dallas trip had been in the works for a long time.

Villaraigosa, the son of a Mexican immigrant, has long championed immigrant rights. But he has urged restraint in the May Day event, asking protesters to be "lawful and respectful" and children to stay in school.

"He is not making us, he is not breaking us," Sanchez said. "This march is about the people, not about the mayor. I'd be hurt if people didn't show up."

An immigration rally on March 25 in Los Angeles drew at least 500,000 people and was credited with rattling Congress as it debates the divisive issue.

Immigration has split Congress, the Republican Party and public opinion. Conservatives want the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants returned to Mexico and a fence built along the border.

Others, including President George W. Bush, want a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: chicken; cluckcluck; illegalimmigration; immigration; losangeles; mecha; tonyvillar; unodemayo; villaraigosa
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1 posted on 04/29/2006 12:28:39 PM PDT by Starman417
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To: Starman417

Me must have heard it's gonna get ugly on Monday.


2 posted on 04/29/2006 12:30:08 PM PDT by Crawdad (So the guy says to the doctor, "It hurts when I do this.")
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To: mainepatsfan; MikefromOhio

NFL ping fodder.


3 posted on 04/29/2006 12:33:00 PM PDT by Terpfen
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To: Starman417

Villaraigosa also known as Mayor La Raza.


4 posted on 04/29/2006 12:33:11 PM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: Starman417

Smart politician.


5 posted on 04/29/2006 12:33:40 PM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: Crawdad
Me must have heard it's gonna get ugly on Monday.

Makes me wonder if the police chief is going to stay in town.

6 posted on 04/29/2006 12:36:41 PM PDT by DumpsterDiver
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Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: ncountylee; SortaBichy
They have predicted that 2 million to 3 million people would flood the streets of Los Angeles alone.

I wonder how the food vendors will do....

8 posted on 04/29/2006 12:38:07 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (Meep Meep)
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To: Starman417
According to this article, the meeting with the NFL owners is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2nd.
9 posted on 04/29/2006 12:38:43 PM PDT by hole_n_one
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To: CWOJackson

Whimping out.


10 posted on 04/29/2006 12:40:50 PM PDT by stopem (To allow a bunch of third world country nationals to divide Americans is unconscionable!)
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To: Starman417
"Conservatives want the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants returned to Mexico and a fence built along the border.

You better believe. Pass HR4437!

11 posted on 04/29/2006 12:43:04 PM PDT by stopem (To allow a bunch of third world country nationals to divide Americans is unconscionable!)
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To: Starman417

Looks like one of the highest profile Latinos in LA will be working on Monday. Go figure.


12 posted on 04/29/2006 12:44:47 PM PDT by HitmanLV (Don't stomp so hard! Your dentures will fall out!!)
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To: CWOJackson
Smart politician.

Absolutely.
Can't pass the California State Bar, but can put the finger to the wind.

And wants to be AWOL when a couple million Angelenos erupt over
the massive traffic jam that will occur when the march gets underway
at 4PM.

The illegals will be doing an excellent job of alienating a
large number of Angelenos that would be sympathetic to them otherwise.
13 posted on 04/29/2006 12:45:43 PM PDT by VOA
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To: Baynative

Just scoring the touchdowns and committing offside penalties that American football players won't do.


14 posted on 04/29/2006 12:47:02 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Remove card rapidly)
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To: Starman417

Keep an eye on this guy Villaraigosa. He is VERY ambitious.He has already come East----met with NYC RINO Mayor Bloomberg on some pretext.

Villaraigosa is making cozy with hyphenates all over the place. I guess el presidente Vicente won't be happy til he has his own kind in the WH (snicker).


15 posted on 04/29/2006 12:48:04 PM PDT by Liz (We have room for but one flag, the American flag." —Theodore Roosevelt)
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To: Starman417
He only cares about his political future. And after his speeches at the earlier rallies, especially the one where HE yells into the crowd "WE CLEAN YOUR TOILETS!!", we non-illegals have HAD it with Mayor Villareconquista.

John and Ken, on KFI AM 640, had their listeners send to City Hall THOUSANDS of new toilet brushes. Who does he think he is?? I think he got the message. If his "WE" is we illegals and the ugly "YOUR" is us Americans, then he is not "our" mayor, is he?

16 posted on 04/29/2006 12:48:24 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: Liz
Keep an eye on this guy Villaraigosa. He is VERY ambitious.

Indeed. More dangerous than the gang-ruled streets of Compton is any place in L.A. between Villaraigosa and a camera.

17 posted on 04/29/2006 12:49:36 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: All

Not to worry. Mexico is sending some of their government officials to fill in.


18 posted on 04/29/2006 12:58:34 PM PDT by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: ncountylee

Yeah, you Mecha he is.

He's a member of Mecha, which supports California being the first of a number of states to break away and become a new nation called Aztlan.

I think he has higher aspirations and is afraid of the political backlash. He's right about that.

He attended some of the earlier demonstrations and some of us will NEVER forget.


19 posted on 04/29/2006 1:01:49 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (The United 'Door Mats' of America! Go ahead, scrape your feet on it. Everyone else is.)
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To: VOA
Vilar is an anchor baby and from my perspective, just as illegal as those fresh from Mexico without a visa.

California is not a melting pot. It's a tax payer supported golden goose/magnet/sponge for Mexico's poor. Vilar is just the tip on the iceberg getting rich, full time, at the taxpayers expense.

The US should export them all starting with the politically inclined anchor babies Vilar, Bustamante, Nunez and Cedillo. They should be walking in front of a long line of ICE buses headed south on Monday morning.

20 posted on 04/29/2006 1:04:49 PM PDT by Amerigomag
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