Thread: ALIPAC Mention in Marching for Legalization

Marching for Legalization

Written by Alex Garcia, Sun Frenando Valley Contributing Writer
Wednesday, 24 March 2010

Fresh from their trip to Washington D.C. where they joined thousands of others in support of immigration reform, proimmigrant activists are now taking to the streets here in Los Angeles hoping to continue the momentum and keep pressure to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants.

Referencing the vocal opposition to their effort, Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Right of Los Angeles [CHIRLA] one of the groups that participated in the demonstration in the nation's capital and that is also spearheading the protest locally, said "when we do these marches, there's a reaction from our anti-immigrant adversaries. We have to respond, return to our communities and make our presence felt in the local congressional offices so that our side is also heard,"

"We have to keep the momentum we started in Washington and take it to the local level," she added.

Salas said there's a small window of opportunity for Congress to propose, debate and approve an immigration reform and it's their "duty to push as much as possible so that later we don't lament ourselves because we didn't make the effort."
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She also said it's up to immigrants themselves to make themselves heard on this issue.

"We can not expect our elected officials by themselves to get this going.We need to put pressure and we need the public to help us do it," she said.

As in previous years, the meeting spot for the march Saturday will be the intersection of Olympic and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. The protesters will gather there at 10 a.m. and then march towards City Hall for a rally.

Pro-immigrant activists hope this and other strategies will put pressure on Congress to tackle this controversial issue.

Last week, senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) presented their blueprint for immigration reform legislation in an editorial that appeared in The Washington Post. The outline of their proposal rests on four pillars: ending illegal employment through biometric Social Security cards, enhancing border and interior enforcement, managing the flow of future immigration to correspond with economic realities, and creating a tough but fair path toward legalization for the 11 million people currently in the U.S. without authorization.

"We are encouraged and very happy that at least they're talking about immigration reform, but we need that blueprint to become a proposal and as immigrants we have to put pressure on for that to happen," said Raul Murillo of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, another of the groups organizing this Saturday's march.

Juan Jose Gutierrez of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition, another of the groups spearheading the march, said the Washington D.C. demonstration reaffirmed immigrants commitment to fight until President Barack Obama signs a legalization package.
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"Given the results in Washington, we believe the signs are very favorable that this protest in Los Angeles will be a total success, that we will have something similar to what happened on March 25, 2006," said Gutierrrez.

Four years ago, an estimated one million people marched through the same route in opposition to HR 4437, a congressional proposal that would have criminalize anybody and any help towards immigrants.

The surprising turnout led to a resurgence of pressure on Congress to take up the issue, which died a year later when no consensus was reached in the Senate.

Some activists and experts think it will be near impossible for Congress to tackle immigration in a year with mid-term elections. They also point to the ongoing economic crisis and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as obstacles for a true effort in this regard.

Another obstacle will surely be groups like Americans for Legal Immigration [ALIPAC], which has announced protests to be held across the country on April 15 in conjunction with Tea Party events as a counter measure to the "March for America" held in Washington.

One of those marches will be held and follow the same route as the one asking for legalization. "Despite the fake polls, bought and paid for by the Open Borders Lobby groups, the truth remains that 80 percent of Americans oppose Amnesty for illegal aliens and turning millions of illegals into voters would have a catastrophic effect on America," said William Gheen of ALIPAC. "We will be sending tens of thousands of people out to support Tea Party events on April 15 to properly represent public opposition to illegal immigration and Amnesty for illegals."

http://www.sanfernandosun.com/sanfernsu ... 8&Itemid=2

William you would be much better to create visible counter presence at their events.

Given the results in Washington, we believe the signs are very favorable that this protest in Los Angeles will be a total success, that we will have something similar to what happened on March 25, 2006," said Gutierrrez


Oh puh-leeeeze

The protest in Los Angeles will be a success ONLY because it's being held in Los Angeles which EVERYBODY in the damned world knows has been completely overrun by illegal aliens and those working for Mexico.

If their "big march".......an unmitigated flop and receiving almost ZERO attention from the media......in DC was such a huge damned success, they wouldn't find it necessary to hold another at all.....let alone in a city like LA which they are hoping will make their movement appear to be some massive force to be reckoned with.

All smoke and mirrors from people without a leg to stand on