Posted on 05/14/2010 2:53:40 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
McALLEN — A protest dubbed “A Day Without Mexicans” could have devastated Rio Grande Valley retailers Thursday if people had participated in large numbers.
Ramiro Cienfuegos, president of the Reynosa Chamber of Commerce, said only a few Mexican nationals avoided crossing international bridges and shunned U.S. stores in protest of Arizona’s divisive new immigration law.
“This was above all a protest against the Arizona law,” he said. “A symbol.”
If successful, the boycott would have assailed stores in the U.S. But in an area where the economy is not bound by borders and Mexicans traditionally spend more than $1 billion per year shopping on the U.S. side of the frontier, the boycott appears to have been a small hiccup.
“Just look at La Plaza Mall and look at the license plates,” said Alberto Davila, chair of the economics department at the University of Texas-Pan American. “(They) will just basically postpone purchasing.”
Tamaulipas business leaders said they hoped Thursday’s boycott would not sever relationships with their Texas counterparts.
“This is not against Texas or the United States government,” said Alfonso Simon Treviño Salinas, with Nuevo Progreso’s chamber of commerce. “We are uniting with our neighbors, who also don’t want this law to prosper.”
Set to take effect in July, Arizona Senate Bill 1070 requires police to check for proof of citizenship or legal residency if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the country illegally.
Gov. Rick Perry has already said he wouldn’t support such a measure in Texas, and prominent law enforcement officials in the Valley have previously said they would never check for residency and become immigration police. To do so, they have said, would jeopardize other police work by making residents — some who are in the country illegally — afraid of turning to the police for help.
Steve Ahlenius, president and CEO of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, said while he understood the protest, it is misguided to punish South Texas businesses for the sins of Arizona.
“I can understand their frustration … but I don’t think anybody in our region would be supportive of that,” he said of the bill. “It’s not in the state of Texas, it’s not in this region, and I think it’s a little misguided.”
Mexican nationals spend a lot of money in South Texas. In a 2005 study by the Center for Border Economic Studies at UTPA, researchers concluded that Mexican nationals spent an estimated $1.1 billion in Cameron and Hidalgo counties in 2004.
Perhaps the boycott was not as successful as it might have been because fewer Mexican nationals are shopping on any given day due to violence in northern Mexico and the persistent recession.
“They’re not coming at all,” said Juan Treviño, an employee at Colors Name Brand Clothing in downtown McAllen.
Apparently Reynosa is about to host the Narco War Games Invitational!
“This was above all a protest against the Arizona law,”
So why target Texas retailers?
A Day Without Mexicans NATIONALS has big message, but little chance of being addressed truthfully.
Country last.
Wouldn’t it be great if all those who do support the law closed up shop for a day? Call it a Day without Americans Day.
There was a coffee shop that I ate breakfast and dinner at for years. Then on May 1st several years ago, I arrived for breakfast to find the place closed for the day so they could boycott me and folks like me. No notice. Just screw you. I haven’t been back since.
—”a day without Mexicans”—jails with empty cells, schools with plenty of space and higher academic achievement, hospital emergency workers standing around twiddling their thumbs waiting for action, etc., etc.,-—
Because alot of Mexicans seem to think that all Hispanics must think alike, and all non-Hispanics are against them. They’ve picked sides, and the one they picked are the thieves. It astounds me that they are so darn proud of a nation that treats them so badly.
Ramiro One Hundred Fires? One hell of a name there Ramiro.
Gov Perry’s a jerk.
No kidding. Your gripe is with Mexico.
I thought Juarez had that locked up.
Apparently Washington’s Gov. Gregoire is being considered by Obama for Solicitor General.
Yes. God help us all. That bug-eyed moron is worthless.
¿Quién sabe?
Ignorance beyond the pale...
If Perry actually said he would not support such a measure in Texas as Arizona did......then he needs to go.
He is saying that because half of Tx is Mexican.
He wants reelection.
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