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Immigrants' rally more decentralized
By DANIEL GILBERT
dgilbert@manassasjm.com
Tuesday, May 2, 2006

WASHINGTON -- They met in the same park, for the same reasons, and with the same chants, demanding legalization for all undocumented immigrants.

There was a petition to sign; there was a booth to register to vote; there were proportionately more American flags than at any of the previous rallies.

The major difference, however, from rallies in April and March was the numbers of demonstrators, and the decentralized nature of the activities Monday, which took place in different localities in Maryland and Virginia.

Hundreds - instead of hundreds of thousands - in the District called Monday for comprehensive reform, upholding a common goal over differences in approach.

"We have the same goals, and that is what is going to keep up strong," said Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigration Coalition, the organizer of the day's activities and the rallies in the District on March 7 and April 10.

Those goals, Contreras said, are achieving comprehensive immigration reform, and "stopping Sensenbrenner," referring to the enforcement-only House resolution passed last year and sponsored by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., that would criminalize illegal immigration.

The demonstration Monday featured few remnants of the conflict that has divided the leadership of the immigrant rights movement in recent weeks.

Contreras and the NCIC had opposed a boycott on May 1, while other groups under the NCIC umbrella had promoted it.

Framing the event platform were two large banners of Mexicanos Sin Fronteras (Mexicans Without Borders) - the group which led the local charge for a boycott - one of which read "A Day Without Immigrants," the name chosen to describe the strike.

Ricardo Juarez, MSF's leader, minimized the discord within the movement as Contreras had.

"In this place there is no disunion," Juarez began, but unable to resist vindicating his position before the crowd, he asked the crowd rhetorically, "How many support the boycott?"

Fists shot up in support, as Juarez thundered: "Ninety-seven percent of the community is in favor of the boycott!"

Among the demonstrators stood Liliana Hernandez, a resident of Dudley, N.C., and an organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee.

"Every year we come up to protest for immigration reform," said Hernandez, 25. "We've been coming for the last 15 years."

Hernandez said she and the approximately 120 people who traveled with her were participating in the boycott.

"We brought our drinks. The AFL-CIO provided us with lunch," she said.

While the majority of the speeches Monday were delivered in Spanish, as at previous rallies, some Hispanic-Americans have begun to speak out against the movement to legalize undocumented workers.

A newly formed coalition called "You Don't Speak For Us," composed of Hispanic-Americans, held a press conference in Washington, D.C., earlier Monday.

Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick, R-52nd District, railed against legalizing undocumented immigrants.

Nothing is wrong with seeking the American dream, said Frederick, whose mother is Colombian, "But part of seeking the American dream is doing so within the context of the rules."

"Amnesty, or anything like it," rewards illegal behavior, he added.

Anything short of legalizing the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., however, is unacceptable to the NCIC.

Contreras said the coalition firmly opposes a Senate proposal that would divide undocumented immigrants along a timeline: allowing those who've lived in the U.S. five years or longer a path to citizenship, while mandating the departure of those with less than two years of residency.

Contreras said one of the main goals on Monday was to register students to vote. One booth, manned by volunteers from CARECEN, distributed voter registration forms.

By the end of the rally, however, only 11 people had registered to vote.