Thousands march for immigrant rights

Immigration and our Borders Forum

Schools, businesses feel impact as students, workers walk out

Monday, May 1, 2006; Posted: 5:35 p.m. EDT (21:35 GMT)

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Huge crowds of immigrants and their supporters packed city streets across the country Monday while leaving businesses and schools empty on what organizers said would be a nationwide "Day Without Immigrants."

From Florida to Chicago, New York to Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated peacefully to protest Congress' attempts to toughen immigration laws.

Television pictures from Los Angeles and the town of Homestead near Miami showed turnout in the thousands, many people wearing white shirts as requested by organizers.

"We are the backbone of what America is, legal or illegal, it doesn't matter," Melanie Lugo, who with her husband and their third-grade daughter was among thousands attending a rally in Denver, Colorado, told The Associated Press.

"We butter each other's bread. They need us as much as we need them," she said.

Some 300,000 people marched through Chicago's business district, according to official estimates, many carrying flags and signs.

"We're not terrorists," one read.

"We build your homes," said another.

In New York, some workers walked off the job at 12:16 p.m. to symbolize December 12 -- the day a controversial bill sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill, which stalled in the Senate, would make felons of the illegal immigrants and calls for new walls on 700 miles of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

Farmworkers in California also downed tools, said officials from the United Farm Workers union.

The call to not work, not go to school, not go shopping was heard in many other cities too.

Diners heading to the Top of the Hill restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, were greeted by closed doors and a banner reading, "Todos somos Immigrantes! We are all Immigrants."

Proprietor Scott Maitland estimated he was likely to lose $12,000 in sales but said immigrants were an important part of his staff and society as a whole: "Our willingness to open up makes us American."

School officials in Washington, D.C., and Chicago reported higher than usual absences. Chicago schools with high numbers of Latino students were mostly empty, officials said.

In San Diego, California, Benita Olmedo told the AP she had pulled her 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son from school to join a march there.

"I want my children to know their mother is not a criminal," said the nanny who told the AP she came here illegally in 1986 from Mexico. "I want them to be as strong I am. This shows our strength."

The message of the day spread beyond the U.S., with some Mexicans planning to call for a boycott of American businesses in Mexico City as part of the May Day celebration there.

In Washington, a coalition of Hispanic-American groups held a news conference to stress that the protesters do not represent all immigrants.

"We understand the importance, contribution immigrants have made to the economy and the industry of this great nation," said retired Col. Albert F. Rodriguez, a veteran of World War II and the Vietnam War.

"But the difference is that we and millions of others like us did it legally. We're all here today to tell all those illegal protesters, 'You do not speak for me.' "

About 7.2 million illegal immigrants hold jobs in the United States, making up 4.9 percent of the overall labor force, according to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C.

Undocumented workers make up 24 percent of farmworkers and hold 14 percent of construction jobs, the study found.

Other estimates put the number of illegal immigrants in the United States at more than 11 million.

Political division

The immigration debate has split Republicans as midterm elections approach.

President Bush, taking pains to woo Latino voters to the GOP, has called for a guest-worker program and a way to legalize the status of people in the United States illegally.

A bipartisan measure backed by Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, would include the proposals Bush has advanced.

Critics have denounced any legalization plan as "amnesty" and vowed to oppose it.

A compromise Senate bill backed by Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Mel Martinez of Florida would make the legalization process tougher for illegal immigrants who have been in the country less than five years. That bill also has stalled.

CNN's Ines Ferre, Lydia Garlikov, Keith Oppenheim, Scott Spoerry, Kristi Keck and Harris Whitbeck contributed to this report.

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Telling you, these peeps need to check out 'Gangs Of New York'. Now those immigrants knew how to protest.

-HECK!

Yeppers. They knew what was up!

I don't get it. These people have tons of energy and they have the huge numbers to get attention. How come they don't use that energy and numbers to protest in their own country? How come they don't demand that Mexico resolve some of its problems so that they can have a decent life there? Is that an oversimplification of the situation? It probably is. Just a thought.

Because La Policia would have used a little bit more force than our boys in Blue up in 'Merica.

-HECK!

My view is simple, ALL illegals need to be shipped back to their country. Doesn't matter where they are from. I would like to go to Japan and live for awhile, if i do it illegally they would put me in a box, label it, and airmail me back to the U.S.

If i wanted to live in Mexico illegally, they would either shot me, or put me in jail. Did you know that those crossing into Mexico's Southern boarder illegally are shot on sight?
There is, in tulsa oklahoma, Several areas that have been shut down due to illegals living in the areas. There is one area so bad its called "Little mexico" and someone is shot or found dead there every couple days.

In Liberty NC, there is a section of town that is now so over run by illegal Mexicans (nothing against legals here lets get that straight), that certain areas have no other races in the shopping centers. My sisters property value has actually DECREASED by 38% since illegals have moved in by stampede.

One thing is for certain, illegals need to learn English. They refuse to though. I see interviews on TV with people that claim they have lived in America for years yet the interview is in Spanish.
There is no reason I should have to learn spanish. i speak English. i do not live in mexico, therefor i do not speak Mexican - its commonsense.
Remove all the Spanish options and that would force them to learn English. As of right now, they have no reason to learn English because we accommodate them with Spanish options at the bank, with the power company, at some stores, with the cable company.
Now i do speak Japanese. I would like to have signs in Japanese at the bank, on the road way, option 3 for the power company, why don't we have Korean options too? Or French, or German? Because these people normally LEARN English - or at least enough to get by.

doko ga nihongo no shusha desu ka.
where are my japanese options?

We have had a HUGE fire, burning in San Diego county, since last Sunday. It's burned like 17,000 acres, and we have like 1500 fire fighters, from all over, battling this blaze.

Guess who started it? Illegal migrants.... didn't put out their camp fire. But, their camp site was found, and this is where it started from.

PISSES ME OFF! I'm all for people living wherever the hell they want... as long as it's LEGAL!

If our government wants to print so much stuff in spanish how about some signs in spanish at every state line telling illegal immigrants to GO HOME! In our state they got a sign every 50 feet telling you to buckle up but nobody puts up a sign saying it's against the law to hire illegal immigrants even though it is. I guess it's what's more important.

You're too much, Dreamz!

It is clear that most of you have a limited conception of history, a lack of understanding as to how economic changes are related to immigrant labor, and most of you make ridiculous inferences based on pseudo-factual infomation.

(1). If we trace the lineage of everyone in this forum, some one in your family was an immigrant. The only true Americans are American Indians (look at any history book to verify this claim). So that person that speaks Japanese should be reurned to their true country of origin.

(2). If we trace the migratory patterns of anyone in this forum, someone crossed some border illegally. The fact of the matter is that most immigration laws were lax in the early 1920s and 1940s as opposed to today, making it easier to cross the border and remain in the U.S.

(3). Many of you make ludicrous claims about immigrants. How does being immigrant or illegal lead to fire starting? What about all the fires that legals have caused in the U.S. In the 1800s, White natives inadvertedly started the Chicago fire (burning the entire city). Did being a native White start the fire? Again, silly assumptions.

(4). There is no evidence that immigrants cause more crime than natives of any sort. Look at the ecological studies back to Shaw and Mckay (1942) Social Disorganization Theory.

(5). Simple theory of capitalism indicates that for all of you to get inexpensive services or products, the labor cost associated must be low. The truth of the matter is that for you to pay a low price at a restaurant, obtain a descent price on clothing, or obtain any other service, the price is contingent on how much it costs to produce such product or service. If you all want to pay a great deal, then get rid of immigrants. They are doing us all a favor. These are simple economics.

(6). Most people in Europe speak four to five languages. Why should Americans be the only ignorant ones to only speak English?

(7). Protests take time to see their effect. Ghandi did not change British oppression in one day. The economic, social, and political effect of that one day of protest and the marches will not be seen for many months to come.

While we might ALL have ancestors that immigrated to America... well, not the point. I don't care if people immigrate to America. I care if they come here, illegally, and stay here. That pisses me off... and many others too. Living on the border of Mexico, it's a real problem.

I live in Phoenix, Arizona. The Hispanic population here is about 50% - so many of those not legals. So many not speaking or understanding English. So many clogging the emergency rooms in every hospital with children with ear infections, sore throats, colds. All difficult things, but if they had insurance they could have seen the doctor in his office. So many have no insurance that when we took my dying husband to the ER for emergency treatment, we were left to sit for hours before he was taken care of. Please don't make us out to be racist when all we really want is for people who come from Mexico to live here to have the means to support themselves so that my tax money doesn't have to do it. We want them to speak the language that is normally spoken here - English. We want them to obey our laws and pay the same taxes we pay. And we don't want them on Welfare while we have to pay our own way. We want them to be employable. If I were to move to some other country, I'm sure that would be expected of me.

I wouldn't hire them... period. If you aren't a LEGAL CITIZEN, you shouldn't be working here! If I go to another country to live, or work... it needs to be legal.

I think a lot of that is down to the EU and because of that we are taught from 12 onwards either Spanish, German, French or Italian.

In countries like Sweden you start learning a new languag at 8 and in Holland I think it's 6.

What I meant was that we are taught these languages because we will normally be doing cross border business with our EU neighbours as a result of falling trade barriers so we are taught a language that we can use.

Its a sad problem. All these countries out there try to compare the fact that most Americans speak one language - English. So they naturally think they are better then the average American based on lame arse statistic.
And then they ask the Asinine question "why not" and think they are better because they know 3 or 4.
Well, it is so simple that even a zygote can figure it out.
90% of Americans have no reason to use or learn multiple languages because no one is here to converse with in that language.
Its something that the world is ignorant to.

Last two posts, Dreamz... well put. We aren't crossing over into other countries, at all. We're going into other States, within America, which are english speaking. If I was going to visit another country, I will try to know a few simple sayings. If I'm going to try to MOVE there, I want to KNOW that language, so that I can communicate with all of the people.

My neighbor is from Germany... and he only speaks german if someone else does. Otherwise, he speaks very good english, with a heavy accent.

I've lived all over the US, and spanish is the only language that I've run across where the people have refused to learn to speak english.

All I was saying is that in Europe we learn these languages because we have to as we might need them for travelling and for business. Yet for some reason I ended up with a damn geography lesson on things I already knew.

Also I thin Scotland is slightly biugger than the 420 miles you claim. When you consider that it is 320 from Edinburgh to Aberdeen 420 seems to be a bit short when you consider the size of the highlands and Islands, the borders to the Lowlands ( no Midlands in Scotland).

Also I can travel 190 miles in Scotlanbd and end up speaking a diffrent language.

Hey I can give geography lessons to.

Hey I stayed a weekend in that same guest house a couple of years back with my wife. Weird eh.

Actually you are right I misreead the size you quoted I was sort of listening to something on the TV while reading what you posted. Mind you technically Scotland is part of the UK and the UK owns the channel islands and the Falkland islands and Gibralter so maybe I was right on a tecnicality . In all seriousness it must 30,000+ because islands laike Iona and the like are not to big.

That is weird

its a very beautiful looking place. I've always liked the stone work like that.

I believe that everyone is entitled to certain rights. Human rights. No one should be treated like less of a person because they are from a different country. Also not all illegal immigrants are Mexican.

That being said now I’ll tell you what else I believe. If you are here illegally, you are NOT entitled to the same rights as a US citizen. You are not a citizen therefore you have no rights. Like others have said I don't blame anyone for wanting to "better themselves." The people I have a problem with are the ones that are just here to exploit the system. They come over for a few months, work, send the money back to Mexico, go back to Mexico to live for a while and then do it again. They want an entire nation to change its culture to accommodate them. What about my rights? I don't think I should have to tip toe around because I might offend someone or their culture. When a person comes to live in a country, they are supposed to assimilate, naturalize. I'm not saying to completely forget the culture they come from, but don't make me change mine. The great thing about America is we are a mixture of all different races religions and cultures. We all come from several different BACKGROUNDS. But we have all sort of mixed together to from our own sort of culture. Why should an entire nation change to satisfy one single minority (I use that term loosely since soon that wont be a true statement) group? If they are truly coming here for a better life why try to make this a New Mexico, if its so bad why bring it with you we don’t want it.

As for this being a nation of immigrates, yes that is true. But do we not learn anything from history. What we should let what happened to the Native Americans happen again to us? I don’t think so. That’s the whole point of studying history, so you don’t make the same mistakes. We now have laws that are supposed to govern the way we live that weren’t in place then obviously. Live by the law of the land right. And there are immigration laws in place. Just because some of them may be flawed doesn’t mean it’s a free for all. You still have to abide by them. We no longer live in world of divide and conqure.

And with all that being said I'll get to my main point

As big as America is, where's everyone going to live?
You can’t fit 10 pounds of crap in a 5-pound bag.

Right on, Nymphadora. Extremely well said.

Nymphadora for president.

Thank you.

This subject has become a big concern for me recently. I can truly see both sides and the faults in the arguments that are made. Most people are to stubborn to actually LISTEN to someone that has a valid point. The just constantly throw around labels based on nothing and if your not affiliated with their "party" nothing you say is right or matters. I can't stand it. Everyone is just going around in circles and nothing is getting done about the problem. And it just burns me up that people coming here from another country or are already here illegally are entitled to more rights and benefits than I as a citizen have.


I just have so much to say about this topic and my mind works faster than my fingers.

There should be stricter border control, not just for immigration, but in the interest of national security.

The guest worker program is a joke. I think in order to qualify for it you should have to do so in your native country.

It seems to me thats it's more of an agenda for one party more than the other when it comes to amnesty and election votes.

Did you know ILLEGAL immigrants can vote in local elections. And there is nothing in the Constitution that says they cant vote for the president, something has got to change.