Organizers predict unprecedented rallies to support immigrants
Monday, May 1, 2006; Posted: 9:33 a.m. EDT (13:33 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Organizers predict unprecedented participation in Monday's rallies against a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration, with millions expected to boycott jobs, schools and businesses as a way to show the economic power of immigrants.
"It will be tens of millions from coast to coast, from Los Angeles to New York," said Javier Rodriguez, a spokesman for the March 25 Coalition.
"You can expect L.A. to be at a standstill almost totally. You will not have truckers. You will not have taxi drivers, garment workers, hotel workers, restaurant workers -- half of the teacher force will not be going to school."
The demonstrations, dubbed "A Day Without Immigrants," follow previous rallies that drew crowds estimated in the hundreds of thousands in Los Angeles, California, and Dallas, Texas. Other cities, including Atlanta, Georgia; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Phoenix, Arizona, saw tens of thousands of people turn out for such protests.
But Monday's events will be unprecedented in their scope, said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American Political Association.
"We're going to see something that's never occurred in the history of this United States -- a day in which immigrants withhold their labor, withhold their consuming power -- they don't go to school, they don't go shopping, they don't go selling," Lopez said.
In New York, organizers are calling for demonstrators to form a human chain at 12:16 p.m. ET to symbolize the December 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.-Mexican border.
A rally also has been scheduled at 4 p.m. in Union Square in Manhattan, and demonstrators plan to march from the park to the main federal building.
In Chicago, Illinois, organizers are estimating between 300,000 and 500,000 people will show up for a rally in Grant Park, which would make it one of the city's largest demonstrations. Chicago police said they have worked with organizers to ensure the rally remains peaceful and they do not plan to wear riot gear.
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. 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.
Lawmakers cite concern about marches
Sen. Trent Lott warned Sunday that the planned demonstrations could undercut senators trying to find a middle ground.
"I do think that these big demonstrations are counterproductive, and they hurt with a guy like me, who is trying to look at this in a way that is responsible," the Mississippi Republican told CNN's "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Monday that he had mixed feelings about the protests. He said he understood the huge economic impact immigrants can have on a border state but added that he would prefer demonstrators focused on pushing lawmakers to reform immigration laws.
Even some of those who supported the earlier protests have called for caution in Monday's rallies. Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last week urged parents not to let their children leave school for the demonstrations. Some immigrant groups have warned workers not to take part if it would cost them their jobs.
But Christine Neumann Ortiz, who helped organize an earlier Milwaukee protest, said she has seen increased support for immigrants since the earlier demonstrations.
"Particularly, the business community and the African-American and Asian community have really, actually stepped forward this time in a way that they didn't just a couple of months ago," she said.
Divisive issue among GOP
The immigration debate has split Republicans as midterm elections approach. President Bush, taking great 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.
"There are ways to solve the enormous illegal immigration problem that we have in this country," Josh Bolten, the new White House chief of staff, told "Fox News Sunday." "But I think only if we tone down the very emotional rhetoric on both sides of it and come to some consensus position in the middle."
A bipartisan measure backed by Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, would include the proposals Bush has advanced.
"What we're talking about is getting folks out of the shadows and on a path to legality," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California. "And then getting them in line behind others that came before -- but not punishing them and putting them in jail, as the House bill would do."
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.
But the bill stalled when Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid objected to Majority Leader Bill Frist's decision to let Republican senators offer amendments to the measure.
CNN's Ines Ferre and Keith Oppenheim contributed to this report .
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
It all comes down to, apparently, having an enormous sense of entitlement. It would seem that the United States, and all of the legal citizens of it, exist purely for the benefit of illegal immigrants and how dare we not be OK with that?
If you're not a LEGAL citizen of this country, you don't have the right to vote here. So, why should you get the right to protest here? Do it in your own country.
I'm not going to another country, and doing that... so don't do it here. There are other countries that I would LOVE to live in, for specific reasons... but, I don't live there, nor am I trying to sneak into that country, illegally.
I'm just sick of it all.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
Phalaris said this in post #3 : It all comes down to, apparently, having an enormous sense of entitlement.
Yes that entitlement attitude is so galling. I think that not only are the illegal aliens being exploited by the people who hire them, they are also being exploited big time by the workers- rights groups who organize and sponsor these demonstrations. Those groups are where this in-your-face, entitlement attitude is coming from.
These demonstrations are going to backfire. If they want sympathy from Congress, they ought to contact them directly. Otherwise, when they march in the streets, they also send the message to the American people, and most of them do not appreciate a lecture from people who have no right to be here.
I have a family member who is a position of authority at a resort hotel. The cleaning staff said they weren't going to come in today. They told them to not bother coming in for the rest of the week.
If I owned a business and they weren't coming in today, I would tell 'em not to bother coming back, period.
I wouldn't hire illegals, ever... so, these would be American citizens. It's not a national holiday... so, they can do this in their OWN time... not mine.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
Another way this is going to backfire is that there will be no noticeable effect on commerce or the economy, which was intended to be illustrated by the boycott.
Oh I am sure that ABC, CBS, and NBC will inform us of the crippling economic effect that it had on the economy. It's just that nobody will actually see it with their own eyes.
It was stupid for the organizers of the boycott to think they could disrupt the economy with a one-day strike. If there is no disruption, it proves that the illegal aliens are not essential as they would have us believe.
Well, if they want to have a crippling effect, they should know that there are a lot of others who WILL be out, purchasing today, to show that there is no difference.
Anything that they report on this, will be altered, in my opinion.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
Lawless said this in post #7 : If I owned a business and they weren't coming in today, I would tell 'em not to bother coming back, period.
I wouldn't hire illegals, ever... so, these would be American citizens. It's not a national holiday... so, they can do this in their OWN time... not mine.
I feel the same way.
My son's school has a pretty big ESL population. I'll be watching today to see if the kids showed up.
Lawless said this in post #9 : Well, if they want to have a crippling effect, they should know that there are a lot of others who WILL be out, purchasing today, to show that there is no difference.
Anything that they report on this, will be altered, in my opinion.
That's a good point. The attitude of the boycotters will cause people to spend more to offset it. Even President Fox in Mexico is telling the demonstrators to be careful of creating a backlash.
05-01-2006 02:31 PM
