Thread: CA - Immigration debate blazed in North County this year

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12 ... _30_06.txt



Saturday, December 30, 2006
Last modified Saturday, December 30, 2006 10:52 PM PST


Immigration debate blazed in North County this year

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- From the first rumblings of protest marches all over North County to the Escondido City Council's failed attempt to ban illegal immigrants from renting in the city, 2006 arguably could be summed up as the year of immigration. Whether on the streets of North County or in the halls of Congress, immigration reform seemed to be on the tip of almost everyone's tongue.

On street corners, immigrant rights activist protested against anti-illegal immigrant rights activists. Immigrant rights activists staged a national Day Without an Immigrant boycott. Congressional leaders took a series of immigration hearings on the road ---- increasing tempers on the street corners of such border cities as San Diego.

But in the end, an immigration debate that started with such a bang has ended without many results. Neither Congress, nor street protesters, nor local governments accomplished much in changing immigration policy in 2006.

Immigration analysts, commentators and activists appear divided on whether any substantive change is in store in the coming year.

The challenge, they said, is striking the careful balance between comprehensive immigration reform and addressing the concerns of vocal voters who say they are fed up with illegal immigration. Many of those voters have called upon local governments to take action in response to the federal government's apparent inability to stem the flow of immigrants into border communities like North County.

"What you see at the local level is the frustration people have for the federal government's failure to deal with illegal immigration," said Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Escondido. Bilbray was elected to represent the 50th Congressional District in a special election after former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty to bribery and other charges. Cunningham is currently spending more than eight years in federal prison.

The frustration over illegal immigration has also increased tensions among area Latinos, many of whom say they feel suspect in their own community. Rallies criticizing the use of the Mexican flag and in support of Escondido's rental ordinance were aimed at those in predominantly low-income Latino neighborhoods, they said.

The ordinance, passed in October, would have punished landlords who rented to illegal immigrants. It was blocked by a Superior Court judge in mid-November, and the City Council decided Dec. 14 not to fight the court's order, effectively killing the law before it was put into place.

Bill Flores, an Escondido activist and retired San Diego County assistant sheriff, said he hopes that the recent court defeat of the Escondido rental ordinance signals a more thoughtful approach to illegal immigration by city governments.

"I hope that responsible governing bodies at the local level will act on data rather than anecdotal evidence," Flores said.

Others, such as Escondido Councilman Sam Abed, said the public's tolerance for illegal immigrants, which some estimates put at about 12 million nationwide and more than 40,000 in North County, has simply run out.

"We need to respond to what the overwhelming majority of our residents want from us," Abed said recently about reviving the proposal he supported that would punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.

Local governments take action

The events that shaped this year's immigration debate began in 2005, when the rise in public frustration led hundreds of people to the Arizona border with Mexico in a protest called the Minuteman Project.

The monthlong border stakeout inspired several similar groups to spill onto local city streets. Jeff Schwilk, a retired Oceanside Marine, founded the North County-based San Diego Minutemen, which he describes as a neighborhood-watch group.

In February, Schwilk's group began protesting at day-labor sites, where mostly Latino laborers gather to seek work, around Vista. The group attracted counterprotesters. Both sides often brushed past each other with video cameras in hand, trading chants and barbs, and occasionally accusing each other of assault.

In response to the increasing visibility of curbside workers for hire, the Vista City Council acted in June, adopting a law that requires would-be employers to register with the city before hiring day laborers within the city limits.

Minutemen and their supporters declared the new law a victory that would reduce the large gatherings of men seeking jobs along street curbs.

"The people (who want immigration laws enforced) are getting what they've been asking for," Schwilk said when the law went into effect in July.

Like the Escondido rental ordinance, the Vista day-labor law has encountered some legal obstacles.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the California Rural Legal Assistance have sued the city, claiming the law violates constitutional rights to free speech, and was motivated by unlawful discrimination. That case is still pending.

The law was successful in displacing some of the workers, but it has not discouraged all from seeking work at one of the primary sites, a shopping center at South Santa Fe and Escondido avenues.

Others have simply moved a few blocks away, outside the city limits.

Some community activists say Schwilk's group is racially motivated and have criticized its tactics, which they say include intimidation and provocation. Tina Jillings, who founded a Vista-based, pro-immigrant group called the Coalition for Justice, Peace and Dignity, is one of Schwilk's staunchest opponents.

"These men have families," Jillings said of the migrants the Minutemen have targeted. "Jeff's made people believe that they are all illegal, but some of them have permanent residency. This has become an attack on human beings."

Minutemen, including Schwilk, have accused Jillings of provoking them.

Escondido ordinance falls in court

Not long after Vista adopted its day-labor law, Escondido's council approved on a split vote its controversial rental ordinance. The city attracted national attention, following the lead of towns, such as Hazleton, Pa., that adopted laws requiring landlords to provide proof that their tenants are in the country legally.

The council meetings attracted crowds of supporters and opponents by the hundreds, spilling out of council chambers to the sidewalks near City Hall. Dozens of law enforcement officers in riot gear stood ready between the two camps, though no incidents were reported.

Prominent Latinos said the ordinance would result in discrimination against their community. They criticized the ordinance as unconstitutional and unworkable. Mayor Lori Holt Pfelier and Councilman Ron Newman voted against the measure, which passed 3-2.

Shortly before taking effect in November, lawyers for the ACLU and the Mexican American Legal and Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit claiming that the law was unconstitutional because it was pre-empted by federal law and violated due process.

Federal Judge John Houston seemed to agree, saying the ordinance raised "serious questions" in issuing a temporary restraining order. The judge later signed a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the law after the City Council decided to drop its legal defense.

Several council members have said they will revive the issue of a rental ban in the future.

House bill spurs protest

But perhaps few events fueled this year's rallies more than the House immigration reform bill, House Resolution 4437, passed in December 2005. The package of tough border enforcement measures, including a provision that would make it a crime to aid illegal immigrants, was widely condemned by Latino and immigrant-rights groups in part because of the perception that it would lead to mass deportations.

In late March, thousands of local students joined others nationwide who walked out of classes in a protest organized using the popular Web site Myspace.com. The students, who were predominantly Latino, protested the House measure and called for comprehensive reform, including amnesty for illegal immigrant students and their families.

The school walkouts included tense moments in North County, when students clashed with police clad in riot gear, which resulted in more than two dozen arrests on charges such as unlawful assembly and assault on an officer.

Student protests were quickly followed in May by the nationwide "Day Without an Immigrant." On that day, millions of illegal immigrants, students and their supporters took to the streets, avoiding work and shopping, to demonstrate their economic muscle.

"Today we march, tomorrow we vote," marchers chanted.

Protest organizers and analysts were split on whether the day's events were more symbolic than a show of force.

While crowds clamored for immigration reform at city chambers, House Republican leaders deployed a series of immigration hearings around the country, including four in San Diego County. The hearings were widely criticized as political theater aimed at promoting the House immigration reform bill, while attacking the more comprehensive Senate version.

The Senate's wide-ranging immigration bill, passed in May, included stronger border enforcement measures along with a guest-worker program and a legalization process for millions of illegal immigrants.

The first hearing, held at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol station, attracted thousands of immigrant-rights supporters and anti-illegal immigration protesters to hear expert immigration witnesses and more than a dozen congressional representatives speak. But public, media and congressional interest dwindled with each passing hearing.

Only two congressmen and a significantly smaller audience attended the last hearing held in August at the county administration building.

After the hearings, Congress passed a significantly reduced package of immigration measures, including a bill to build 700 miles of border fence. But the bill provided only enough funding to build a fraction of the length.

By November, much of the public's attention had shifted to the deteriorating situation in Iraq. Most analysts say the Iraq war was the dominant issue on the minds of voters when they gave Democrats control of both houses of Congress in the election.

What next?

A Democratic-controlled Congress could make it more likely that reform proposals could include a broader perspective on immigration than the House bill, said Cecilia Munoz, vice president of the Latino rights group, the National Council of La Raza.

"There appears to be really strong support for the kind of approach that passed the Senate ---- strong enforcement with a path to citizenship," Munoz said.

With the 2008 presidential election on the horizon, other analysts say Democrats may hesitate in raising the question of amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants. Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports stricter immigration measures, said Congress should focus on border security.

The public "will be sorely disappointed if the Democratic leadership pursues the same failed policies," Stein said. "The American public expects the new congressional leadership to take real steps to secure the nation."

Whether Congress presses forward on immigration or not, area governments and local activists will continue to battle on the front lines, said Pedro Rios, San Diego director of the human rights group, American Friends Service Committee.

"I think the impulse to claim immigration issues at the local level will increase, and ... Escondido-type ordinances will increase," Rios said.

Well lets face it if the Federal Government would have done it's job long ago cities and towns would not have to be drafting ordinances to do so. I hope to see mass ordinances clear across this country against illegals. It seems obvious that Washington cannot do it's job anymore with all the corruption in it's ranks.