Protest inflames immigration debate
BY JERRY DAVICH
jdavich@nwitimes.com
219.933.3376

The Great American Boycott. International Workers Day. Buy Nothing Gringo Day. A Day Without Immigrants. May Day Boycott.

Monday's controversial, yet inevitable national boycott of work, school and shopping -- organized by activists wanting to pressure Congress into legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants -- goes by many labels.

But its content is clear: Illegal immigration is a white-hot issue in the region, which has high numbers of Latinos and illegal aliens, and upwards of 300,000 people are expected to take part in a Chicago demonstration, many from Northwest Indiana.

Since the boycott's first rumors months ago, several organizations in addition to undocumented workers and their supporters have joined the cause, including labor groups, other immigrant agencies, and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Critics say the boycott is aimed at the wrong target -- U.S. businesses -- longtime supporters of legalization, or at least a guest worker program for their employees.

Others, like 77-year-old Bernard Vazquez of Hobart, say regardless of aim, the millions of expected protesters will provoke change -- economically, politically and at the voting booth this year.

The third-generation Mexican-American favors the boycott, though he will be working Monday at his security guard job in Hammond. His home's dining room table is filled with clippings and handwritten notes about the issue.

"Too many local Latinos are selfish about not allowing illegal immigrants to stay in this country," he said, fanning through recent headlines.

"They figure they're in, so too bad for the others. And that's wrong."

Most of the Mexican illegal aliens here are respectable, hard-working families who escaped their country's corruption, poverty and bleak futures, said Vazquez, whose father was born in Mexico.

However, the Chicago native believes Mexican border should be closed to stop more illegal aliens from compounding existing problems here.

"Lock the border until this issue is resolved," he said.

On the other side of the issue, several counter groups are encouraging people to "shop till they drop" that day, to show the purchasing power of the legalized population, according to Chicago Minuteman President Rick Biesada.

Several e-mails circulated by these groups ask people to choose Monday to do their weekly shopping, filling of gas tanks or buying gifts.

"We've seen thousands of illegals filling our streets and the American people have responded with nothing," said Greg Serbon, cofounder of the locally based Indiana Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.

IFIRE, an anti-illegal immigration group, is coming off a Saturday demonstration outside the Indianapolis offices of Indiana Sens. Richard Lugar, a Republican, and Democrat Evan Bayh to protest the lawmakers' positions on the issue.

Other neutral observers, like Purdue University social-movements expert Rachel Einwohner, said the success of the boycott will be measured in the years to come, not whether current legislation is approved or rejected this year.

"This is a group of individuals that could be powerful if it remains mobilized," said Einwohner, a sociology professor. "Where will its members go from here?"

[EXTRAS]
A growing issue

An estimated 700,000 new illegal immigrants enter the United States from Mexico each year, joining the roughly 12 million living here today, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Survey says...

Almost half of a surveyed group of Americans last month said penalizing employers that hire undocumented workers would be the best way to curb illegal immigration, according to a poll released by the Pew Research Center.

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/ ... 7ebf40.prt


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Most of the Mexican illegal aliens here are respectable, hard-working families who escaped their country's corruption, poverty and bleak futures, said Vazquez, whose father was born in Mexico.


Hey Mexicano, if they hate their Country so much why do they fly their flag all day? What's that all about??