Immigrants Start New Round Of Demonstrations

[Ryan Ruck]

Immigrants Start New Round Of Demonstrations

Fri Sep 1, 2006 6:28pm ET

Pro-immigration activists took to the streets of Chicago on Friday, in the first of a week of marches nationwide to step up pressure on a returning U.S. Congress to move forward with a stalled immigration overhaul.

Dozens of marchers waving U.S., Mexican and other flags set off from Chinatown, at the start of a four-day trek to the district offices in Batavia, Illinois, of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican.

Organizers said they planned to make the 50-mile (80-km) trek in stages, holding rallies along the way. They hope to pressure Hastert to push a bill favorable to immigrants through the U.S. Congress after it returns from recess on September 5.

The rally marks the start of renewed demonstrations by pro-immigration activists, hundreds of thousands of whom thronged the streets of cities from California to New England on May 1, demanding measures to bring 11-12 million illegal immigrants in from the shadows.

The Senate has since passed a package combining tighter border security with a guest worker program and a plan offering many illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, while the House voted through a measure focusing just on enforcement.

Activists plan further street rallies across the United States over the September 3-5 Labor Day weekend to ramp up pressure on lawmakers to break the impasse, with marches planned in Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and Knoxville, Tennessee, in coming days.

The week of action culminates on September 7 with a march through Washington that organizers hope will attract a million participants from across the eastern United States and galvanize lawmakers and President Bush to reach a deal.

"We want to make sure that both Congress and the administration takes on board how important immigration reform is, not just to immigrants, but to all Americans," said Jaime Contreras, the president of the National Capital Immigration Coalition, which is organizing the rally.

"We need a pragmatic solution to this problem to allow people to come out of the shadows in an orderly fashion," he added.

Immigrants Weigh Options

The immigration debate looms large as the United States heads to the polls on November 7 in Congressional and local elections, although party lines are blurred on the issue.

Some Democrats support tighter enforcement, and some Republicans -- led by President Bush -- back the guest worker program and other reforms.

Latino activists have been working hard to register up to a million Hispanics and other immigrants before polling day, and are urging them to scrutinize candidates' records and policies in each district.

"We want to put lawmakers in Congress that represent immigrants' interests," said Rosa Rosales, the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens pressure group.

"We are urging voters to look at their records carefully before voting," she added.

The League is nonpartisan.

However, opponents of immigration reform say that resurgent Hispanic activism could in fact have the opposite effect in coming weeks, electrifying support for hard-line candidates at the polls.

"Every time immigrants take to the streets and fly Mexican flags, it shows more Americans what's going on in this country," said Ric Oltman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform pressure group.

"Illegal immigration is a big problem, and a backlash in public opinion is inevitable," he added.

[falcon]

I read a report within the past week stating that figures show there has been a very little increase in vote registration within the last 6 months. So the point being these guys are not getting things together like they thought was going to happen, but I guess we still need to wait and see what gives ibn Nov.

[falcon]

INVASION USA
LA city 'sanctuary' plan subject of court hearing
Judicial Watch complaint alleges order prevents police action against illegals
Posted: September 16, 2006
5:00 p.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A court hearing is scheduled this coming week for arguments in what could be one of the biggest decisions ever in the United States' battle over the integrity of its borders.

Officials with Judicial Watch say the case ultimately could decide whether the borders will be secured and the nation protected from illegal immigration, or not.

The issue is the Los Angeles police department's Special Order 40, which bans officers from enforcing immigration laws in certain circumstances.

"With the help of the ACLU, these illegal immigrants want to be able to seek illegal work on street corners without fear of the police," the Judicial Watch said in an announcement about its battle. "Can you believe anyone would make such an argument in a court of law! Well, the ACLU did."

The legal action seeks "to force the Los Angeles Police Department to drop its politically-correct 'sanctuary' policy and resume enforcing our nation's laws against illegal immigration," Judicial Watch said.

The organization said it went to court because the LAPD has set itself above the law.

"Special Order 40 actually forbids LA police officers from cooperating with federal immigration agents to apprehend and deport illegals!" Judicial Watch said.

The announcement from Judicial Watch, which is lobbying both for publicity and support for the battle, targets LA's plan that actually "prohibits police officers from inquiring about an individual's immigration status and restricts police officers' ability to communicate freely with federal immigration officials about illegal aliens."

The action came about on behalf of Harold P. Sturgeon, an LA taxpayer, earlier this year. It alleges the order violates both state and federal law and it seeks a judgment preventing any further enforcement.

"It cannot be denied that Special Order 40 and the policies, practices, and procedures arising thereunder violate both the letter and spirit of [federal law]," Judicial Watch argued in a legal memorandum filed with the court this summer. "The LAPD has adopted what is in effect a 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy with respect to immigration status."

Congress 10 years ago decided that a local, state or federal entity or official "may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now Immigration and Customs Enforcement) information regarding the citizenship of immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual."

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said police officers need to be "our first line of defense" against illegal activity.

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation and promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

One commentator noted that in one case, an illegal alien went on a rampage, mugging three people, burglarizing two apartments and raping a woman in front of her 5-year-old daughter. The illegal previously had been deported for robbery, drugs and burglary, but returned to the U.S.

Judicial Watch noted that although he had been stopped for several traffic violations, police were prohibited from reporting the illegal to immigration authorities and so he continued to roam free.

www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52012

[falcon]

You do the crime you pay.

Immigration Raid Makes a Ghost Town
By RUSS BYNUM, AP

STILLMORE, Ga. (Sept. 15) - Trailer parks lie abandoned. The poultry plant is scrambling to replace more than half its workforce. Business has dried up at stores where Mexican laborers once lined up to buy food, beer and cigarettes just weeks ago.

Last month, the government reported that Georgia has the fastest-growing illegal immigrant population in the country. Georgia lawmakers recently passed some of the nation's toughest measures targeting illegal immigrants.

This Georgia community of about 1,000 people has become little more than a ghost town since Sept. 1, when federal agents began rounding up illegal immigrants.

The sweep has had the unintended effect of underscoring just how vital the illegal immigrants were to the local economy.

More than 120 illegal immigrants have been loaded onto buses bound for immigration courts in Atlanta, 189 miles away. Hundreds more fled Emanuel County. Residents say many scattered into the woods, camping out for days. They worry some are still hiding without food.

At least one child, born a U.S. citizen, was left behind by his Mexican parents: 2-year-old Victor Perez-Lopez. The toddler's mother, Rosa Lopez, left her son with Julie Rodas when the raids began and fled the state. The boy's father was deported to Mexico.

"When his momma brought this baby here and left him, tears rolled down her face and mine too," Rodas said. "She said, `Julie, will you please take care of my son because I have no money, no way of paying rent?"'

For five years, Rodas has made a living watching the children of workers at the Crider Inc. poultry plant, where the vast majority of employees were Mexican immigrants. She learned Spanish, and considered many immigrants among her closest friends. She threw parties for their children's birthdays and baptisms.

Federal agents also swarmed into a trailer park operated by David Robinson. Illegal immigrants were handcuffed and taken away. Almost none have returned. Robinson bought an American flag and posted it by the pond out front - upside down, in protest.

"These people might not have American rights, but they've damn sure got human rights," Robinson said. "There ain't no reason to treat them like animals."

The raids came during a fall election season in which immigration is a top issue.

Last month, the federal government reported that Georgia had the fastest-growing illegal immigrant population in the country. The number more than doubled from an estimated 220,000 in 2000 to 470,000 last year. This year, state lawmakers passed some of the nation's toughest measures targeting illegal immigrants, and Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue last week vowed a statewide crackdown on document fraud.

Other than the Crider plant, there isn't much in Stillmore. Four small stores, a coin laundry and a Baptist church share downtown with City Hall, the fire department and a post office. "We're poor but proud," Mayor Marilyn Slater said, as if that is the town motto.

The 2000 Census put Stillmore's population at 730, but Slater said uncounted immigrants probably made it more than 1,000. Not anymore, with so many homes abandoned and the streets practically empty.

"This reminds me of what I read about Nazi Germany, the Gestapo coming in and yanking people up," Slater said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Marc Raimondi would not discuss details of the raids. "We can't lose sight of the fact that these people were here illegally," Raimondi said.

At Sucursal Salina No. 2, a store stocked with Mexican fruit sodas and snacks, cashier Alberto Gonzalez said Wednesday that the owner may shutter the place. By midday, Gonzalez has had only six customers. Normally, he would see 100.

The B&S convenience store, owned by Keith and Regan Slater, the mayor's son and grandson, has lost about 80 percent of its business.

"These people come over here to make a better way of life, not to blow us up," complained Keith Slater, who keeps a portrait of Ronald Reagan on the wall. "I'm a die-hard Republican, but I think we missed the boat with this one."

Since the mid-1990s, Stillmore has grown dependent on the paychecks of Mexican workers who originally came for seasonal farm labor, picking the area's famous Vidalia onions. Many then took year-round jobs at the Crider plant, with a workforce of about 900.

Crider President David Purtle said the agents began inspecting the company's employment records in May. They found 700 suspected illegal immigrants, and supervisors handed out letters over the summer ordering them to prove they came to the U.S. legally or be fired. Only about 100 kept their jobs.

The arrests started at the plant Sept. 1. Over the Labor Day weekend, agents with guns and bulletproof vests converged on workers' homes after getting the addresses from Crider's files.

Antonio Lopez, who came here two years ago from Chiapas, Mexico, and worked at the Crider plant, said agents kicked in his front door. Lopez, 32, and his 15-year-old son were handcuffed and taken by bus to Atlanta with 30 others. Because of the boy, Lopez said, both were allowed to return. In his back pocket, he carries an order to return to Atlanta for a court hearing Feb. 2.

But now, "there's no people here and I don't have any work," he said.

The poultry plant has limped along with half its normal workforce. Crider increased its starting wages by $1 an hour to help recruit new workers.

Stacie Bell, 23, started work canning chicken at Crider a week ago. She said the pay, $7.75 an hour, led her to leave her $5.60-an-hour job as a Wal-Mart cashier in nearby Statesboro. Still, Bell said she felt bad about the raids.

"If they knew eventually that they were going to have to do that, they should have never let them come over here," she said.

articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/immigration-raid-cripples-georgia-town/20060915205109990001