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Advocates vow to fight crackdown on illegals

By Edward Barrera, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

RIVERSIDE - Several hundred people at the Riverside Convention Center on Saturday backed quick action against immigration-reform efforts in Congress that they believe are draconian.
The meeting drew more than 300 immigrant advocates who voted to pursue lobbying U.S. congressional and South American officials and organize a national Latino day of protest to stop H.R. 4437.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., cracks down on employers who hire undocumented workers, requires local law enforcement to implement federal immigration laws and allows quicker deportation of illegal immigrants who are not from Mexico.

"I am confident we are going to defeat the Sensenbrenner bill," said Armando Navarro, coordinator for the National Alliance for Human Rights, who sponsored the event along with other immigrant-rights groups. "But this is the calm before the storm. This is not the cause; it's a symptom."


A spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who has been a vocal supporter of the legislation, said the legislation protects American workers and strengthens the country's border.

"We are aiming to stop people who are breaking the law, and employers who are facilitating it," said Will Adams in a telephone interview. "It's a matter of law and order, and a matter of national security."

But many people at the forum said that the bill, which includes legislation to build a fence along the border, is denying opportunities to impoverished workers who are important to the U.S. economy and only looking for a better life.

"We should not be just attacking immigrants," said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-Southgate. "Let's focus on both sides of the border and help people become citizens."

With the legislation already through the House and headed to the Senate, forum participants, including members from a variety of groups such as MEChA, said delegations should start pressing key leaders such as Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Many of the speakers said that she has not been supportive enough of stopping legislation like Sensenbrenner's.

They also supported a national boycott to highlight the immigration issues and a rally in Los Angeles this March.

Reymundo Cardenas, a senator from the Mexican state of Zacatecas, said Mexico will support their efforts, but they must organize themselves effectively and link with Mexican

organizations and leaders.

One concern about the Sensenbrenner bill is that it is a detailed proposal that is becoming the main topic for immigration reform, said Hector Preciado from the Greenlining Institute, a Berkeley-based policy group.

"It's the only bill that people are talking about, and that's dangerous," Preciado said. "The goal is to have alternatives because this is the wrong place to start."

Pomona resident Gustavo Ramirez said a group of people in the city will be organizing a local response to the legislation.

"We want to make the city a safe haven, a sanctuary, for undocumented workers, so the the city does not enforce the law," he said.

Ramirez's group plans to speak at the Pomona City Council meeting Monday.


Edward Barrera can be reached by e-mail at edward.barrera@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9356.