http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/01/immigr ... index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Demonstrators began to rally Monday against a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration, boycotting jobs, schools and businesses as a way to show the economic power of immigrants.

Crowds gathered in Los Angeles, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana, but it was too early to gauge how many people would turn out.

The marchers also were taking their toll on businesses.

Jeff Salsbery told The Associated Press that he was losing thousands of dollars because 25 Latino workers hadn't shown up at his Carmel, Indiana, landscaping company.

"I'm not very happy this morning," Salsbery told the AP. "We're basically shut down in our busiest month of the year."

Also Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, planned to close five of nine beef plants and four of six pork plants, the AP reported. Perdue Farms plants said it would close eight of 14 facilities, according to the AP.

Organizers predicted unprecedented participation in Monday's rallies.

"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. (Watch activists predict huge turnouts -- 1:27)

One of the first rallies began at New Orleans' Armstrong Park, where people waved U.S. flags amid early crowds.

In southern Florida, thousands of protesters gathered in a vacant lot in Homestead, a community with a large Mexican population 35 miles south of Miami, a Homestead police spokesman said. They are expected to head to other rallies in Miami, including one at the Orange Bowl.

Jose Cruz, a 23-year-old construction worker from El Salvador, told the AP it would be worth marching even if he lost his job.

"It's worth losing several jobs to get my papers," said Cruz, who has a temporary work permit, the AP reported.

In Mexico City, Mexico, where a May Day march was scheduled, some people planned to show support for the U.S. rallies and call for a boycott of U.S. businesses that operate in that country. (Full story)

Meanwhile, a coalition of Hispanic-American groups held a news conference in Washington 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.' "

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. (Watch the debate on the merits of a boycott -- 2:0

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.

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. (Watch Martinez call for action from his fellow lawmakers -- 9:06)