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Scope of immigration rallies surprised all sides

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer

There were a half-million protesters in Los Angeles, 100,000 in Chicago, 50,000 in Denver ---- and, closer to home, thousands of high school students walked out of class in North San Diego and Southwest Riverside counties.

By sheer numbers, the marches of recent days against legislation to crack down on illegal immigration dwarf the size of earlier Latino protests in this nation, including the angry rallies against Prop. 187.

That was the 1994 California initiative that would have denied education and social services to immigrants who lacked papers, had it not been struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional.


"Everything pales when compared to this," said Jorge Mariscal, a UC San Diego professor of literature and director of the university's Chicano Studies Program. "These demonstrations are historic because they surpass in size any of the previous Latino-organized protests, going back to the '50s and '60s."

Even the organizers surprised


The tsunami of protest caught virtually everyone by surprise, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, UC Riverside assistant professor of political science and author of a 240-page book, "Democracy in Immigrant America," published last year.

"I think the numbers surprised even the organizers," Ramakrishnan said.

Perhaps the numbers even tempted backers of other causes to become jealous. "The anti-war people are knocking their heads against the wall trying to figure out where they went wrong because they can't turn out more than a few thousand people," Mariscal said.

It isn't just the numbers that grabbed people's attention. The resilience of the mostly student protesters did, too.

Locally, students poured out onto the streets and into the parks of area communities Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and even Friday's rain only slightly dampened their enthusiasm.

More to come


It isn't over yet, not by a long shot, say regional students of immigration and Latino issues.

Arcela Nunez-Alvarez, associate director for the National Latino Research Center at Cal State San Marcos, said students are getting help from community activists, unions and faith-based groups who are trying to organize a major protest for central San Diego on April 9.

In an indication of that event's potential size, she said, 150 organizers came together Thursday night at the University at San Diego to plan.

"That is supposed to be a really, really large event that sort of culminates what has been going on," Nunez-Alvarez said.

But don't expect the April 9 rally to be the end of it, either. Mariscal said he expects to see protesters continue filing into the streets across the United States throughout the spring.

"I don't think they're going to back down until they are satisfied that we have some decent legislation being passed," Mariscal said. "We may not see a waning of this until school lets out in June."

A longer campaign


And it may not even end there.

"This might be the beginning of a new civil rights movement among Latinos because it is a nationwide phenomenon," said UC Riverside's Ramakrishnan. "It is too early to tell. It could peter out. But it could lead to a more sustained and proactive attempt to push for the civil rights of immigrants."

That all depends, Nunez-Alvarez said, on Congress. If federal lawmakers soften the hard edges of legislation that passed the House in December and another bill that is being debated in the Senate, the marching, chanting and waving of flags may disappear from the evening news. If not, the protests will continue, she said.

The House bill would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally and require that undocumented immigrants be deported. As well, the legislation would make it a felony to render humanitarian aid to illegal immigrants, and erect a wall along much of the U.S. border with Mexico.

Pressure already felt


Mindful of the protests, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week passed a revised measure that would clear the way for the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship without having to leave the country first.

"I think they (the students) have already had an impact," Mariscal said. "We're getting a little more humane legislation now. We will get immigration reform that may not be perfect, but it won't be as Draconian as was originally proposed."

Looking back on the last week, much has been made of how the students used modern technology to multiply their impact.

Students quickly spread word of the rally plans through the popular MySpace.com Web site and cell phone text messaging. Fresh in their minds was the recent airing of the HBO film, "Walkout," telling the story of the 1968 student walkout in Los Angeles that drew 20,000. And radio stations broadcast precise details of rally times and locations.

"In places like Chicago and L.A., Spanish-language media really helped turn out people," Mariscal said. "That really didn't exist back in the days of the Chicano civil rights movement."

Almost inevitable


Still, Mariscal said that the outpouring of emotion last week had more to do with the depth of frustration in the Latino community at the growing anti-immigrant rhetoric sweeping the country than any newfangled gadget.

"This was going to happen, anyway, because the severity of the legislation really hit home with many of these kids," Mariscal said. "All those people have relatives or know people who came here without documents. It hits home for all these people. And they took it personally."

Many students had become furious at the thought of their hardworking parents being labeled criminals and threatened with deportation, he said. And Mariscal said that efforts by vigilante groups such as the Minuteman Project to take border enforcement into their own hands fanned that fury.

"This was just kind of the volcano erupting," he said. "It's been simmering for many, many months."

The lesson of Prop. 187


Tomas Jimenez, UC San Diego assistant professor of sociology, suggests that the angry voices are something that politicians of all stripes ought to listen to because the welling frustration has major implications.

Just as Prop. 187 triggered a massive voter registration drive by Latinos and put Democrats in commanding control of Sacramento, the federal legislation could spawn a national rise of political activism among Latinos that could reshape Washington politics, he said.

"If I were a politician, and if I were thinking about the long-term viability of my party, I would be thinking not only of these protesters, but of how their children and their grandchildren will vote," Jimenez said. "(Former Gov.) Pete Wilson did more for the Democratic Party than the Democratic Party could ever have done for itself." Wilson had backed the controversial initiative.

With the nationwide Latino population having surpassed 35 million, there is a potential, the professors say, for that community to wield huge influence on the political landscape ---- not just of California but of many other states as well.

"This is not just a West-Southwest issue, this is everywhere," Jimenez said.

Numbers have it


In California, Latinos number about a third of the population. The proportion is slightly higher in Riverside County and slightly lower in San Diego County, although some cities, such as Escondido, have much higher Latino representation.

Although they differ in scope, the rallies against Prop. 187 and the marches against the immigration legislation bear similarities. Both, for example, were student-led.

Nunez-Alvarez said it was largely college students who were on the front lines in 1994. "Now it is the high school students and the middle school students who are taking the lead," she said.

A difference this time is that it's not just the Mexican flag people are waving, Mariscal said. Protesters are waving flags of Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and other Latin American countries, too, reflecting the growing diversity of the Latino community. And many, this time, are hoisting the Stars and Stripes.

What is remarkable, given the huge numbers of protesters, Ramakrishnan said, is how peaceful most of the rallies have been to date. He suggested that is in part due to the message.

"The message is largely one of wanting to be included in America," he said. "It doesn't have the contentious confrontation that 187 had."

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com.

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Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.
Tom wrote on April 02, 2006 8:23 AM:""In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." Theodore Roosevelt 1907 "

JO wrote on April 02, 2006 8:24 AM:"THE LATINO ACTIVISTS MOSTLY SUPPORTED BY FEDERAL GRANT MONEY IN NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FOUNDED BY THEMSELVES NEED THESE STUDENTS..AND THESE STUDENTS ARE DRIVEN BY FEAR OF LOSING PARENTS AND FRIENDS BECAUSE OF THE NEW LAW... SO THESE LATINO ACTIVISTS ARE USING THESE YOUNG PEOPLE TO FURTHER "THEIR" CAUSES.......PRETTY SAD "

L Salas wrote on April 02, 2006 10:05 AM:"It is sad. They're leading them into areas that kids really shouldn't be a part of yet. These kids really don't have a true voice of their own. They're just speaking for their parents who are applying pressure on them."

SteveHarmonica wrote on April 02, 2006 3:00 PM:"If the Kennedy Bill passes, most of the protesting kids won't be able to find a job -- they will just be added to the unemployed Americans pile! The solution is rather simple -- work-permits in exchange for testimony against illegal employers coupled with draconian enforcement. If U.S. employers were forced to pay REAL domestic labor costs the Mexican economy would flourish. Thus, end of migration problem. "

Mark wrote on April 02, 2006 3:07 PM:"Where did you burry Willliam finn Bennet’s article ‘Professor: Leaders, Latinos out of Sync’?? Presumably this article quotes ‘Latino Advocates’ and ‘Representatives’ always flapping their jaws and complaining about the lack of Latino voter turn out. Unfortunate I don’t see these Representatives and Advocates out doing anything positive for the community to recognize them as LEADERS. The facts are that these presumed Latino voters are voting in masses but they are registering as Republicans and view themselves as part of the American melting pot. Feeling disenfranchised by the Democratic Party and tired of the inactive creaming 503C3’s they are too embarrassed to go back to the Democratic Party! "



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