Thread: Protesters march in Pomona

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5098624

Protesters march in Pomona
Activists rally against sweeps targeting illegal immigrants
By Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 01/27/2007 12:22:42 AM PST

POMONA - A group of about 200 people marched through downtown Friday calling for an end to recent immigration sweeps.

Day laborers, college students, clergy and others walked from the 1600 block of West Mission Boulevard to Gordon Street chanting slogans and holding signs in both English and Spanish.

Among the marchers was Roberto Aguila of Pomona, who is here illegally and works as a day laborer.

The general construction worker said he joined the march because the sweeps are unfair and he would like the nation's leaders, including President Bush, to address the immigration issue.

"President Bush must realize there should be legalization soon so people can get driver's licenses and identification cards and go out on the street without fear," he said.

Aguila said he came here from the Mexican state of Jalisco in 1992. He has returned to his native country twice but found he needed to come back.

"There is work (in Mexico) but the wages are low and the cost of everything high," he said.

The starting and ending points of the march were symbolic, said Jose Calderon, president of the Latino-Latina Roundtable of the San Gabriel and Pomona Valley, one of the event's organizing groups.

The parking lot between a fast-food restaurant and the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, also known as the Pomona Day Labor Center, is where four laborers were reportedly arrested Jan. 20 by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Calderon said.

The final destination of the marchers - a small grassy area on Mission and Gordon - is next to a building where the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has an application support center.

Once at the rally site, the marchers were met by three members of the Minuteman Project.

Cherie Wood, who lives on the edge of Pomona, said the the actions of the federal agents were aimed at criminals.

"The sweep was very specific and targeted murderers, rapists and people who have been in and out of jail," she said.

The sweeps didn't seek to capture women, children or the elderly, Wood said.

"ICE is here because they're protecting the citizens of the United States of America," Wood said.

Dee Barrow, of Upland, another member of the Minuteman Project, objected to people speaking in Spanish and the negative impact she said undocumented immigrants have had on the country.

Rally speakers included Pomona resident Maria Morales, who spoke a few words before becoming choked up with emotion.

The mother of two said her husband was picked up by agents Jan. 20 as he was headed to work. She said he hasn't committed any crimes.

Now she is worried about how she'll support her U.S.-born children - one a 9-month-old girl with Down syndrome.

"I have hands. I can work, but how do I work and take care of my little girl?" she said in Spanish after leaving the stage.

Morales said her husband called her Sunday morning from Tijuana after being deported.

During the rally, $740 was collected and given to Morales.

Some speakers, including Calderon, said they believe federal officials used the sweep as an excuse to arrest others who haven't committed a crime.

"Their strategy is to say they've only arrested criminals," he said. "But they are arresting people on the street."

Calderon called for a comprehensive immigration reform package that provides legal status for undocumented immigrants rather than one that creates a guest-worker program.

Walk and rally organizers, met with Mayor Norma Torres prior to the event.

Torres said Friday afternoon she is in favor of local, state or federal law enforcement agencies arresting people guilty of crimes - such as sex offenders, drug dealers and murderers.

"We have zero tolerance for crime," she said.

However, she began making calls to federal authorities when it was brought to her attention they may have randomly stopped people for whom they didn't have arrest warrants.

Federal immigration officials in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., assured her the random sweeps did not take place, Torres said.

"I'm concerned that a lot of rumors are going around," Torres said. "I'm concerned because then people don't go to school, they don't go to work, they don't go about their business."

Pomona police Capt. Kevin Rogan said the march was conducted in an orderly fashion and no arrests were made.

I vote for RANDOM SWEEPS ya how about you?

"President Bush must realize there should be legalization soon so people can get driver's licenses and identification cards and go out on the street without fear," he said.

INSANE

Originally Posted by jimpasz

I vote for RANDOM SWEEPS ya how about you?

I'm up for that! They need to quit leaving the illegal moms here too. Notice that woman's husband was deported but she wasn't. Why? Anchor babies!

Excuse me, I thought crossing the border was a crime!!! isn't that why we call them illegal aliens? ( hense the word illegal!!) I'm not understanding their pick and choose theory here, so there are some laws we have to follow and some we don't is that it.[/quote]

The reason the cost of everything in Mexico is so high is because of the illegals sending all the money down there!
At least that is part of it.

During the rally, $740 was collected and given to Morales.

Great news!

Should be enough for a family reunion in Tijuana.

You know how we hate to separate families.