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.
Me must have heard it's gonna get ugly on Monday.
NFL ping fodder.
Villaraigosa also known as Mayor La Raza.
Smart politician.
Makes me wonder if the police chief is going to stay in town.
I wonder how the food vendors will do....
Whimping out.
You better believe. Pass HR4437!
Looks like one of the highest profile Latinos in LA will be working on Monday. Go figure.
Just scoring the touchdowns and committing offside penalties that American football players won't do.
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).
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?
Indeed. More dangerous than the gang-ruled streets of Compton is any place in L.A. between Villaraigosa and a camera.
Not to worry. Mexico is sending some of their government officials to fill in.
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.
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.
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