Thread: Farmingville hotbed for immigration policy debates

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi ... -headlines

Farmingville hotbed for immigration policy debates


BY DENISE M. BONILLA AND DEBORAH S. MORRIS
STAFF WRITER

January 7, 2006, 9:24 PM EST

Anti-illegal immigration activists staged protests at two day laborer hiring sites on Long Island Saturday, but were outnumbered in both places by counter-protesters in support of workers.

About a dozen people who support the national Minutemen movement stood on the corner of Horseblock and Blue Point roads in Farmingville, holding signs that said "Stop the Invasion" and "Deport Illegal Aliens."

"We have to let the country know that people are angry enough to get up on a Saturday morning ... and fight for their country," said Ray Wysolmierski, 67, president of the Greater Farmingville Community Association, which organized the protest. "We've been sold out by the government."

About 30 counter-protesters, including day laborers, stood across Horseblock, holding signs such as "No Human Being is Illegal." Suffolk County police officers kept watch on the scene, but no incidents occurred during the protests, which lasted just over an hour.

The national day of protest was organized by the Arizona-based Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group that advocates for armed civilian patrols along the southern border and has spawned offshoot anti-illegal immigration groups all over the country.

Farmingville has become a hotbed in the immigration policy debate. Counter-protesters Saturday said the Minutemen are taking advantage of that to further their agenda.

"The important thing is to counteract the message they bring," said Luis Valenzuela, president of the National Association of Puerto Rican-Hispanic Social Workers, who was at the protest.

The community has valid concerns about housing and taxes, but the Minutemen use that to further an ideology of hate, Valenzuela said, which can lead to violence against the workers.

In Freeport, at the Home Depot on Sunrise Highway, eight men and women from the Minutemen showed up and quietly protested. At the same time, about 40 advocates for day laborers shouted, "Human rights, human rights" and held up signs as well as American and El Salvadorean flags.

Patrick Michael Megaro, 29, a Uniondale attorney and Minutemen member, said he sympathizes with the laborers, but their illegal presence in this country is breaking the law. "Laws are not being followed," he said. "Enough's enough. It's the president and the federal government's constitutional responsibility to protect our borders and they aren't doing it."

Megaro said it's important to put pressure on at a local level and the best way to do that is by starting with the workers.

Saul, 27, an undocumented worker from El Salvador, who has been in the U.S. for two years, said it is not fair to blame the workers, who are trying to make a living. "We are just looking for an opportunity to improve our lives," he said. "We want to take care of our families, like everyone around the world."

Saul, 27, an undocumented worker from El Salvador, who has been in the U.S. for two years, said it is not fair to blame the workers, who are trying to make a living. "We are just looking for an opportunity to improve our lives," he said. "We want to take care of our families, like everyone around the world."

Then you need to return to El Salvador and IMPROVE YOUR QUALITY OF LIVING THERE! Are you not willing to fight for El Salvador? We are certainly ready to fight for the USA.

It is fair to blame the workers! It is fair to blame all the warm, fuzzy advocates who are aiding and abetting them! And it is fair to blame unscrupulous employers who profit from illegal immigration!

ADVOCATES & EMPLOYERS: WHAT'S TO HAPPEN AFTER YOU'VE ENTICED THE POOR, UNDERPRIVILEGED, NEEDY PEOPLE WORLDWIDE TO COME TO AMERICA? WHAT WILL THIS NATION BECOME: THE SAME EXACT COUNTRY FROM WHICH THESE PEOPLE FLED! ARE YOU BEING PAID ENOUGH TO SELL THIS COUNTRY OUT SO FREELY? IS THERE NO LEVEL TO WHICH YOU WILL SINK FOR THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR?