Thread: Opponents Rally Against US Immigration Bill in Washington DC

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-03-08-voa3.cfm

Opponents Rally Against US Immigration Bill
By Margaret Besheer
Washington
08 March 2006


This week, the U.S. Senate will consider legislation that would define milllions of undocumented persons as felons and punish anyone who assists or encourages them to remain in the United States. That includes doctors and nurses who treat undocumented persons, as well as social workers and clergy who minister to them.

Thousands of mostly Latin American protesters gathered on the west lawn of the Capitol Tuesday to express their opposition to the legislation, known as the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act. They want the U.S. Senate to defeat the bill which already passed the House of Representatives.

But the bill has strong support from the Bush administration, and if passed in the senate, the President said he will sign it into law.

Elvira Craig de Silva, head of the National Association of Social Workers, says her organization opposes the legislation because under it any group that helps undocumented immigrants could be considered criminals. "It would endanger the human rights and civil liberties of immigrants and it would make the jobs of social workers perilous," she said.

Many health care providers, social workers and schools do not ask people their immigration status before providing assistance. But DeSilva says the proposed law would turn them into immigration police, requiring them to report suspected undocumented individuals to the U.S. government.

David Chandrasekaran of the American Medical Student Association says such a legal obligation goes against physicians' professional oath to help those in need. "We did not go into medicine to be told we cannot treat certain people. We did not go into medicine to be punished for healing people when they are sick. We did not go into medicine to become enlisted as soldiers for the Department of Homeland Security and their war on immigrants," he said.

Many educators are also angry about the proposed legislation. "Education is one of the values of our country; education is the key to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The proposed bill that we are considering and discussing this afternoon, will destroy that value. It will be a sad day for our country if our laws put education on the level of criminality because we are not selective on those to whom we educate," said Ruth Burgos-Sasscer, a retired teacher from the state of Texas.

Another opponent, Carolyn DeLeon, who works with undocumented Asian workers in New York, says protections should be enforced for all immigrants, no matter their status. "Turning almost 11 million undocumented immigrants into criminals is not the solution for broken immigration laws," she said.

Roman Catholic leaders have come out against the measure and say they will defy the law if it is passed.

Supporters of the legislation say it provides more resources for border security, criminal penalties for those who engage in immigration fraud and cracks down on human smuggling operations in border areas.

The bill would also authorize construction of a border fence between the U.S. and Mexico.

Opponents of the legislation say comprehensive immigration reform is needed that will help reunite families, protect workers and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented workers currently living in the United States.

http://www.washingtonpost.com

Immigrant Bill Sends Chill Through Rally
Near Capitol, Thousands Protest Sanctions for Those Who Help Illegal Residents

By Paul Schwartzman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 8, 2006; A06

Thousands of people massed outside the U.S. Capitol yesterday to protest proposed federal legislation that they contend would allow law enforcement authorities to prosecute social service workers, doctors and other professionals who help illegal immigrants.

Chanting " Si se puede !" ("Yes you can!") and holding signs that proclaimed "We are not Criminals," the crowd roared as speakers derided the legislation and proclaimed immigrants the long-standing backbone of the nation's workforce.

"You do not become American because you're lucky enough to be born of wealthy parents," Rep. James P. Moran (D-Va.) told the crowd, which stretched from the steps leading to the entrance on the Capitol's west side to its reflecting pool below. "You become an American by working hard and providing for your family. By that definition, you are true Americans."

Standing among the throng, Jose Padeaidad, 26, a Rehoboth Beach, Del., chef who emigrated from Guatemala, nodded and said the proposed legislation would make it difficult to help cousins who are not citizens look for jobs and housing. "It would be a risk for us," he said. "I could go to jail."

The rally occurred as the Senate Judiciary Committee considers a compromise bill proposed by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), which would focus on border security while creating a "visa program enabling employers to hire foreign workers when no willing U.S. workers are available."

Specter's bill also contains a provision that opponents say would criminalize social service workers who feed and house illegal immigrants by classifying them as human traffickers. "We are a nation of immigrants, but we are a nation of laws," Specter, the committee's chairman, wrote in a Feb. 24 letter to his colleagues.

In December, the House passed legislation that would impose sanctions on those who assist illegal immigrants. The bill, known as H.R. 4437 and sponsored by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) and Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), also calls for the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border.

Proponents have praised the legislation for seeking to protect the United States from terrorists and strengthen the country's borders, over which an estimated 1 million illegal immigrants pass yearly. But the bill's opponents, which have included labor unions and prominent clergy such as Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, have dismissed it as draconian.

The demonstration, organized by the National Capital Immigration Coalition, drew people from across the region, many of them carrying small U.S. flags as they assembled in the late afternoon and listened to a roster of speakers that included politicians such as Kweise Mfume (D), the former head of the NAACP who is running for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. Organizers of the protest had predicted a turnout of 20,000, but a spokeswoman for the coalition said last night that the crowd far exceeded that. Police do not release crowd estimates so the turnout could not be confirmed.

"We want a voice," said Felix Mcacos, 32, a Guatemalan maintenance worker who drove from Georgetown, Del., with his 8-year-old son, who sat atop his shoulders, his head warmed by a Spiderman ski cap.

A few feet away, a man who identified himself only as Jose, a 31-year-old Mexican construction worker who lives in Alexandria, said the House bill would hurt people who "are coming only for work, to feed our children. We are not terrorists."

Marisol Albornoz, 55, a Chilean immigrant who lives in Bethesda, took the afternoon off from her job as a manager of a medical office.

Instead of seeking to impose controls on immigrants, she said, the federal government should recognize their contributions. "This country has always been a melting pot," she said. "Why should it be any different now?"