Free Republic

Beyond the speeches, rallies and marches, the expected flood of immigrant activism Monday will be felt by many Northern San Joaquin Valley businesses. Owners of businesses that employ many Latinos said they expect at least some of those workers to skip their jobs Monday — affecting operations. "It's going to be creating a lot of problems for everyone," said Manuel Tovar, owner of Tovar Landscape Maintenance in Ceres. He said he expects three of his five employees to miss work Monday, although he's got work appointments to keep. Owners and managers of local dairies and chicken processing plants are expecting...

Chicago police are expecting as many as 300,000 demonstrators Monday at an immigration rights rally downtown, but officials said they are hopeful the event will be orderly. However, even if all goes as expected, authorities said Thursday that they anticipate traffic gridlock in the Loop, crowded train stations and street closings that could change from moment to moment.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pro-immigration activists say a nationwide boycott and marches planned for May 1 will flood Americas's streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as it tackles reform. But while such a massive turnout could make for the largest protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, not all Latinos, nor their leaders, were comfortable with such militancy -- fearing a backlash in Middle America. "There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We're going to close down Los Angeles,...