OCEANSIDE: Police issue 43 citations during immigration protest
By CRAIG TENBROECK - Staff Writer | Monday, October 20, 2008 5:47 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- Police officers burned through their ticket books Saturday while protestors on both sides of the immigration debate faced off outside a Spanish-speaking church.

Officers issued 43 citations, impounded nine vehicles and arrested one juvenile near the Ebenezer Church, where the Mexican Consulate was issuing identification cards known as matricula consular, Officer Kim Rainwater said Monday.

Most of the tickets were for unlawful use of a horn, unsafe turns and pedestrians in the street, she said.

About 40 members of the anti-illegal immigration San Diego Minutemen protested the consulate's event, which drew 400 to 500 people to the church on Canyon Drive, Rainwater said.

There were about a dozen counter-protestors, Rainwater said.

Jeff Schwilk, founder of the Minutemen, put the number higher: "I'd say at least 100 people came out in opposition to us," he said.

Rainwater said one juvenile was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery for shoving a protestor. Police impounded at least three vehicles because of unlicensed drivers, and others because they were parked in a nearby shopping center without permission, she said.

Schwilk said he was encouraged to see officers scribbling tickets, even though some were issued to people on his side, including an overzealous horn honker.

"They enforced the law in a way we don't normally see," Schwilk said of the officers. "They kept the peace."

Consulate spokesman Alberto Diaz said the consulate issued about 350 passports and identification cards throughout the day.

"Things went well," he said.

Diaz said he heard a few secondhand complaints about citations people felt were unfair, but nothing from those directly affected.

Mexican consulates issue the identification cards to immigrants in the United States. Many banks and businesses accept the photo IDs.

That frustrates anti-illegal immigration activists who say the cards encourage illegal immigrants to stay in the United States.

Oceanside City Councilman Jack Feller and Vista Unified school board trustee Jim Gibson briefly attended Saturday's rally to support the protest.


www.nctimes.com