Thread: El Pasoans to join anti-immigration reform rally today

Originally Posted by marquis

its funny , they fought us tooth and nail here in arizona to stop SB1070 ... and as we continue to STEAM ROLL THEM they don't bus people in to protest any more ..... HA HA !!!

better get those busses in reserve for when you need to start bussing the illegals out ...

The price of gas just jumped in TX so that might slow them down a little.

Dixie

El Pasoans among those rallying against bills that target immigrants
By Zahira Torres \ Austin Bureau
Posted: 02/23/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

AUSTIN -- Enriqueta Breceda did not tell her adult children why she would be in Austin on Tuesday.

Breceda, a 77-year-old woman who moves with the assistance of a walker, didn't want them to stop her from getting on a bus and traveling 10 hours to join thousands of Texans who gathered at the Capitol to protest legislation that targets undocumented immigrants.

The crowd, which included people from cities all over the state, marched through the streets of Downtown Austin before arriving at the Capitol for a "Texas Can Do Better" rally.

Their chants, which alternated between English and Spanish, included phrases such as "education not deportation" and Gov. Rick "Perry escucha. Estamos en la lucha," which roughly translates to "Perry hear us, we are in the struggle."

Groups later fanned out to visit the offices of individual lawmakers.

"I hope they hear our pleas," Breceda said.

About 60 bills that target undocumented immigrants have been filed in the state Legislature. Among those bills are a few that promote Arizona-style legislation, which requires local law enforcement to act as de facto border patrol agents.

Others would require schools to identify students who are undocumented immigrants, deny birth
certificates to the children of undocumented immigrants, and halt the flow of state dollars to cities and counties that do not enforce immigration laws.

Attendees said they could not support those bills or one filed just one day before by state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham. Her bill would allow local law enforcement to turn over undocumented immigrants in county jails to the office of a U.S. senator or congressman.

"What we are trying to do is have a more responsive federal government on an issue that they say is their purview," she said. She added that her bill is different from Arizona-style legis lation because it deals only with people already in the jail system.

UTEP senior Noemi Cortez, 21, was among a number of people who held up signs with phrases that included "Si se puede (yes we can)", "watch out Republicans -- Latinos R-out-2 vote you out," and "Immigration demands a federal solution."

Cortez, a U.S. citizen who has lived in both El Paso and Juárez, said she always looked at the American government as the example of what Mexico should be with "great values" and "great points of view."

"I would wish Mexico could have a little bit of that, but then you get disappointed by the decisions (lawmakers) make here, and you don't know anymore," Cortez said.

Texas faces a budget shortfall up to $27 billion that will mean crushing cuts in areas such as public education, higher education and health care.

State Sen. José RodrÃ*guez, D-El Paso, told the crowd at the rally that the state should be focused on those issues. Instead, he said, some lawmakers have chosen to "attack Latinos and immigrant communities."

State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, echoed his comments.

"You are here to say no to the most racist session of the Texas Legislature in over a quarter of a century," Burnam said. "You're here to say no to xenophobia. You're here to say no to old-fashioned bigotry and ignorance."

Fernando Garcia, the executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso and one of the organizers of the rally, said that if the proposed bills become law, Latinos will leave Texas.

He also made sure to clarify that the participants in Tuesday's march were not undocumented immigrants but rather Texas voters.

"One of the mistakes is to consider this an immigrant issue," Garcia said. "It's larger than that."

El Pasoan Linda Trevizo, 58, said her trip to Austin was the first time she has participated in a rally to support the rights of Latinos.

"I'm here with a lot of love for those who need us to defend them," she said. "Those of us who can, have to fight for those who need us most."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_17456191

Illegals MARCH ON AUSTIN! PLEASE TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION!!!!

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1188666.html#1188666