Thread: Border protests waive mexican flags.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_3773613

Hundreds of El Pasoans join protest
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times





Marchers danced and waved U.S. and Mexican flags as they rallied in San Jacinto Plaza following their trek from the Chamizal National Memorial during Monday's planned protests on proposed immigration policy reform. The rally coincided with others in major cities across the U.S. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)

Hundreds of El Pasoans skipped work and school Monday to participate in a national boycott intended to raise awareness about immigrants' economic power and grab the attention of federal legislators considering immigration reform.
Nationally dubbed "A Day Without Immigrants," El Paso events began with a rally and scheduled speeches at the Chamizal National Memorial and turned into a march in which hundreds traveled toward Downtown.

The peaceful protest briefly disrupted traffic from the Bridge of the Americas and traffic along the route from the Chamizal to San Jacinto Plaza. Several Downtown and South El Paso stores were closed in support of the protest or out of fear of vandalism.

In Mexico, where May 1 is a holiday, many Juarenses joined a similar boycott and chose not to cross the border to shop. Traffic on the international bridges was "very light," Roger Maier, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said.

"This is the first year I saw the bridge completely empty on May 1," said Esteban Sansores, a Democratic precinct chair and one of the protesters.

Around the nation, hundreds of thousands of mostly Hispanic immigrants succeeded in slowing or shutting many farms, factories, markets and restaurants despite divisions among activists over whether a boycott would send the right message to Washington lawmakers considering sweeping immigration reform.

Police estimated 300,000 people marched through Chicago's business district, and hundreds of thousands more participated in rallies in New York and Los Angeles. Smaller rallies occurred in more than 50 other cities across the nation.

In Ju!rez, dozens of protesters took to the bridges and blocked the southbound lanes at the Bridge of the Americas and the northbound lanes at the Paso
del Norte Bridge for 10 to 15 minutes, officials with Customs and Border Protection said.

The Mexican boycott turned the Mexican Labor Day holiday, which usually brings droves of Ju!rez shoppers to Downtown El Paso stores, into a slow business day in El Paso. Most of the stores -- three out of every four Downtown El Paso stores, by the count of Mike Breitinger, executive director of the Central Business Association -- were closed Monday.

On the bridges, crossing time was less than five minutes, compared with 20 minutes on a regular Monday and more on a holiday, CBP officials said.

Participating in the El Paso march were schoolchildren, escorted by their parents, and employers with their employees.

Alicia Roldan took her 17-year-old daughter out of Austin High School to join the protest. Like many of the parents present, she said she wanted to give her child a
civics lesson.

"They (school officials) told me that I'd have to face the consequences but it is worth it. This is something happening today and it can't be rescheduled. We have to find a solution for all the people who don't have papers," she said.

Among the employers who paid employees not to work Monday was County Commissioner Larry Medina, owner of Pan American Insurance Co., and Genaro Ba uelos, owner of Gages Electric Co. Ba uelos gave his 20 employees the day off and followed the march on his motorcycle.

"We need to stick together," he said.

Organizers with the Association of Border Workers and the Sin Fronteras farmworker center said 5,000 men, women and children marched. Police put the number at less than 1,000.

The day started with presentations on immigration and civil rights organizing by University of Texas at El Paso professors and others under the trees at the Chamizal National Memorial park.

At midday, the rally turned into a march as protesters took Paisano Street to the Bridge of the Americas, made a U-turn and walked west on Paisano Street, then north on Campbell Street and turned west on Mills Street heading for San Jacinto Plaza.

Temperatures hit the 90s and protesters used tree branches and a patio umbrella to block the sun. Despite the boycott, many rushed an ice cream truck to buy water bottles.

"It's for my son," said Nei Cervantes, as other protesters booed him.

Most had brought homemade burritos and sandwiches so they wouldn't have to patronize businesses for lunch.

One of two counter-protesters at the El Paso rally, Salvador Gomez, said the boycott was sending the wrong message.

"Anybody in the country should support economic growth," he said.

Gomez said the United States should focus on border security before legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants.

For Irma Rios, a protester who spent 18 years working without papers before getting a green card, it was all about justice.

"We are the ones who do the back-breaking work. And employers take out taxes from our paychecks but we never get the services," she said.

Times reporters Vic Kolenc andGustavo Reveles Acosta and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

I understand that there were alot of Mexican flags waving in Hickory, NC yesterday, also. My friend has pics, maybe he will post those here.

Perhaps mexican flags were flown in many other protests nationwide, but it hits a special nerve when it happens along our southern border...