http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_085195538.html

Mar 26, 2006 6:00 pm US/Pacific

Farm Workers And Supporters Rally In Downtown L.A.

(CBS) LOS ANGELES United Farm Workers and their supporters rallied in downtown Los Angeles to mark union founder Cesar Chavez’s birthday and to protest federal legislation aimed at criminalizing illegal immigration.

About 4,000 marchers canvassed downtown, many waving American, Mexican, Salvadoran and even Texan flags, during the festive “Justice for Immigrants” rally.

Marchers were bused in from across the state and even as far away as Arizona, Texas and Oregon. At issue is HR 4437, a sweeping reform bill to be debated by the Senate floor Monday. If passed, it would criminalize illegal aliens and result in a 700-mile fence be built along the border.

"Farm workers and their union are demonstrating a consistent commitment to organizing and immigration reform going back more than 40 years," said UFW President Arturo Rodriguez. "Today, that means earning the right to stay in this country by continuing to work feeding America and much of the world."

Rodriguez said they earn the right to stay through reform bills like AgJobs, a bipartisan broadly backed legislation negotiated by the UFW and the nation’s agricultural industry over several years.

The UFW rally came the day after one of the largest demonstrations ever in downtown Los Angeles held to support immigrant rights. An estimated half-million jammed the streets around City Hall Saturday, chanting “Si se puede,” or yes, we can.

Both rallies were peaceful. One counter-demonstrator was pushed to the ground in Saturday’s protest and escorted away by police and an American flag went up in flames on Broadway near Seventh Street.

The House bill sponsored by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., would stiffen penalties against employers for hiring illegal immigrants and those who smuggle them across the border. In addition it would criminalize illegal immigration, as a felony.

HR 4437 would also require employers to verify Social Security numbers with the Department of Homeland Security.

President George W. Bush has been advocating a guest worker program, but does not support amnesty for undocumented immigrants already in the country, since it would effectively reward lawbreakers and put them ahead of those legitimately trying to enter the country legally.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said he supports Sensenbrenner's bill. "I feel it deals effectively with the catastrophic effects illegal immigration have had on the county," Antonovich said. "It provides the necessary penalities and reforms that are now lacking and which have created a magnet for illegals to enter our country."

Nativo V. Lopez, Mexican American Political Association president, believes that the business community supports immigration reform because cracking down on undocumented workers leads to more crimes against private property. If undocumented workers are considered felons, he said, they would be unlikely to come forward as witnesses to crimes, which would hurt the whole community.