Posted on 05/02/2006 7:09:29 AM PDT by LouAvul
LOS ANGELES - Illegal immigrants and their supporters vowed to keep up the pressure on Congress for reforms after more than 1 million people stepped out of the shadows and poured into the streets in a nationwide show of economic clout.
From Los Angeles to Chicago, Houston to Miami, a "Day Without Immigrants" Monday meant a day boycotting work and school in favor of rallies and marches with waves of red, white and blue filling streets for miles.
"We have far exceeded our expectations," said Mahonrry Hidalgo, chairman of the Immigration Committee of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. "The events are intended to show solidarity and, at the same time, send a message that injustice against the immigrant community is unacceptable. This is not the end of our struggle. It is the beginning."
The boycott was organized by immigrant activists angered by federal legislation that would criminalize an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants and fortify the U.S-Mexico border.
While some businesses suffered, the marches were festive — despite divisions among activists who argued a boycott would alienate federal lawmakers.
In all, police departments and local officials in more than two dozen U.S. cities contacted by The Associated Press gave crowd estimates that totaled about 1.1 million marchers.
Two major rallies in Los Angeles attracted an estimated 400,000, according to the mayor's office. Another 400,000 marched through Chicago's downtown business district, police estimated. The list was long: As many as 30,000 in Houston, 50,000 in San Jose, 30,000 more across Florida. From New Mexico to Tennessee to Massachusetts, smaller rallies attracted hundreds more.
Marchers standing shoulder-to-shoulder sang and chanted and danced in the streets wearing American flags as capes and bandanas. In most cities, those who rallied wore white to signify peace and solidarity and waved signs reading "We are America" and "Today we march, tomorrow we vote."
In Los Angeles, marchers held U.S. flags aloft and sang the national anthem in English as traditional Mexican dancers and Korean drummers wove through the crowd. In Philadelphia, about a thousand people from different marches converged in the historic area near the Liberty Bell.
In Washington, D.C., rallies were scattered but the White House took note — spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush disapproved of the boycott.
While most demonstrations were peaceful, a Santa Ana rally of 5,000 in California was marred by people hurling rocks and plastic bottles at officers. Police made several arrests, but it was unclear if they were protesters.
Two people were arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Both men had been throwing rocks and bottles at police, Officer Jason Lee said.
And a march in Seattle was disrupted when a car struck a group of marchers, though injuries were minor: The driver was arrested, five other people were arrested for possible weapons violations and one person was arrested for obstructing.
Industries that rely on immigrant workers were clearly affected, though the impact was not uniform. There was low attendance at hotels in Indianapolis, construction sites in Miami and plant nurseries and landscapers across a wide area.
Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, shuttered about a dozen of its more than 100 plants. Eight of 14 Perdue Farms chicken plants also closed for the day.
The rallies shut down 29 branches of Chipotle Mexican Grill, a Denver-based fast-casual dining chain. Goya Foods, which bills itself as the nation's largest Hispanic-owned food chain, suspended delivery everywhere except Florida in what the company called a gesture of solidarity.
In the Los Angeles area, many restaurants and markets were dark and truck traffic at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the nation's busiest — was off 90 percent, said spokeswoman Theresa Adams Lopez.
The construction industry was hard hit in Florida. More than half the workers at construction sites in Miami-Dade County did not show up, according to Bill Spann, executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida.
"If I lose my job, it's worth it," said Jose Cruz, an immigrant from El Salvador who rather than working his construction job protested with several thousand others in the rural city of Homestead outside Miami. "It's worth losing several jobs to get my papers."
About 35 to 40 anti-immigration demonstrators got into shouting matches with pro-immigration marchers as they were leaving a Denver park. Among them were Ron and Marge Mason of Thornton, a Denver suburb.
"We're tired of seeing the illegals coming in," Ron Mason said.
College Republicans at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte staged a rally of their own Monday, demanding tougher enforcement of existing immigration laws. The GOP group sold $5 bricks symbolic of a wall it said was needed to secure U.S. borders.
The impact on some school systems was significant. In the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, which is 73 percent Hispanic, about 72,000 middle and high school students were absent — roughly one in every four.
In San Francisco, Benita Olmedo pulled her 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son from school.
"I want my children to know their mother is not a criminal," said Olmedo, a nanny who came here illegally in 1986 from Mexico. "I want them to be as strong I am. This shows our strength."
"Wall up the border, but in the meantime use the military to stop intrusions. It won't be the first time we have maintained a border protection but it seems to help a foreign country with their borders is more important than ours."
And that's the part that I still don't get. How is it that we do not have a significant military presence down on the border. Imagine if it was Putin and the Russian politicians that were uttering what is coming out of Mexico and South America; that Iron curtain would be back up in no time.
I certainly hope they will continue their boycott indefinitely.
"You give aid and comfort to those who would paint all anti-illegals as racist."
I'm always annoyed by people who speak of themselves in the third person. It's a rather pompous habit.
Guess what comes next, now that so called peaceful demonstrations with American flags aren't getting the desired result. Violence. The organizers/geniuses who nixed Mexican flags and figured singing the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish would prove their hearts were in the right place, won't be able to hold the loonies in check. They'll burn and loot and there'll be more state sponsored anti-American violence down in Mexico and threats from Fox vis a vis selling oil to the US. (Plus lots of tut-tutting from the EU about US racism.)
While some businesses suffered, the marches were festive — despite divisions among activists who argued a boycott would alienate federal lawmakers. Sounds like any other Dem event.
"I want my children to know their mother is not a criminal," said Olmedo, a nanny who came here illegally in 1986 from Mexico
Do you feel the same way about people who are in Mexico illegally Olmedo?
How will Olmedo's kids know that their mother is or isn't a criminal? She doesn't give two hoots if they learn to read and write.
Bingo!!!!
Exactly what is it that they are asking for? Is it the right to stay and work indefinitely, without becoming citizens, amnesty followed by going through normal channels, or do they just want the law changed so that Mexicans can cross the borders at will and work with no documentation.
Sorry for my ignorance, but I was just wondering if the "demands" were specific. I gather that the organizers of the protests have a leftist agenda, but haven't been aware that they were open about it.
One third of illegals are already on welfare, and once on, it's very hard to wean them off. They're getting a free ride. What's not to like? Go back to Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Costa Rica? Are you nuts? They'll say we 'owe them' that for stealing their country and vote dem party lines for social welfare programs until the cows come home. The cultural divide between Mexicans and Americans is like the Grand Canyon -- it would take generations to assimilate them, which isn't what they want anyway. (Not to mention the absence of English on their to do list.)
It's about oil.
I know, but it makes me feel better.
LOL!!
I'm always annoyed would be more like it.
"Wait until the leftist moron becomes president of Mexico.
We had better have some kind of border plan in place by then."
Doubtful -- he'll be voted in by July. We're in for it, when his ruinous economic policies inevitably lead to an even bigger surge of illegal immigration.
I suspect this is part of the problem. Just make vague demands and let people insert their own interpretations. I don't think that many really came here wanting citizenship or they would have gone about it differently. (However, I also think many changed their mind later.) My impression is that they mainly want to work so they can send the money back home or save it and go back later. Much like some people go to work in Saudi Arabia or the Alaskan pipeline, for example, get paid more than they would otherwise for a few years then come back.
but where was your car? was it an evil, manslaughtering SUV?
Forget symbolism, help build a real wall.
It was getting a little sticky and out of hand yesterday in LA. Fox showed the shuffle between the illegals and the police. Not pretty.
What kills me is: we worked hard all our lives for our rights and now they just want to walk across the border and handed everything. This is BS! Nothing was ever handed to us! Why should they be any different? And let them learn ENGLISH!
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