Thread: GA: Immigration bill targeted at rally

Immigration bill targeted at rally

Roosevelt Square filled with opponents of state’s new crackdown on illegal residents

By Carolyn Crist



UPDATED:May 22, 2011 12:30 a.m.


"Please don't separate my family."

"We are humans."

"Hope and change."

Those were some of the posters several children carried, written in English and Spanish, during a rally Saturday morning in Gainesville's Roosevelt Square.

People packed the square to hear messages and songs against state House Bill 87, which cracks down on illegal immigration in the state by increasing some enforcement powers and requiring many employers to check the immigration status of new hires.

It was signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Nathan Deal.

"I'm still mad at the teachers who taught us French. We should have been learning Spanish," said Bishop Ernest Burns of Shady Grove Baptist Church in Cornelia. "But there's one thing that transcends all languages, and that is the language of love."

The rally was organized with the theme "Love Thy Neighbor."

"We're going to stand by you in this," Burns said. "We're going to stand shoulder to shoulder and arm in arm and make it possible for all of us to live together."

The rally brought together representatives from Gainesville State College's Students for a Progressive Society, Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, North Georgia Immigrant Justice, Habersham Families Helping Families, Habersham County Democratic Party and several churches.

"This law is flawed, racist and will certainly harm Georgia's economy," said Tonna Harris-Bosselmann, faculty adviser for Students for a Progressive Society and English as a Second Language coordinator. "In Georgia, we are not all ignorant xenophobes who fear people who look different. We respect, appreciate and welcome the immigrant community."

Harris-Bosselmann admires the perseverance of her immigrant students.

"My students don't become bitter. They remain positive and focused on their goals," she said. "The inspire me and are fuel for my passion."

The new law was a subject of heated debate during the 2011 legislative session. It shares similarities to a controversial law enacted last year in Arizona and another this year in Utah. Part or all of those two laws have been blocked by federal judges, and opponents have said they'll sue to try to do the same to Georgia's law.

"As a community, we must stand up and fight back," said John Rich, a senior at the University of Georgia. "Efforts are under way to challenge this law ... but we cannot afford to wait for the politicians and lawyers to save us."

Rich encouraged the community to find strength within themselves.

"The government doesn't own this earth. We the people do," he said to a burst of applause. "Human beings are more important than borders. We matter more than the invisible lines drawn in the sands by our government."

A federal judge blocked some provisions of Arizona's law last year after the federal government sued, and an appeals court upheld that decision last month. The state plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We will never give up, and we will never give in," Rich said. "We will take this law and burn it to the ground, and like a phoenix, we will rise through the ashes and live together."

Opponents of the measure say the bill could lead to racial profiling and could harm the state's economy. Supporters say it's necessary because illegal immigrants are a drain on Georgia's resources.

"I am worried because it's not only me but hundreds of people out there," said Mynor "Nolo" Lopez, a Gainesville State College student. "We work with our minds, and we work with our hands, but people don't pay attention when we go to the stores, pay taxes and pay rent. We don't live for free."

The law includes the following:

Law enforcement officers now are authorized to check the immigration status of certain suspects and to detain them if they are in the country illegally.

A requirement for private employers to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the immigration status of new hires is set to be phased in, with all employers with more than 10 employees required to comply by July 2013.

It penalizes people who knowingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants and makes it a felony to present false documents or information when applying for a job.

"We have learned how to be courageous and determined," Lopez said. "We cross the desert and water, and 50 percent of the time we will make it, and 50 percent of the time we will perish. Our goal is to get here to live better for our families."

Lopez told the crowd to never forget that goal.

"No matter what happens, I will keep on dreaming my dreams," he said. "The day I give up, my friends, is the day that I die."

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section ... cle/50771/

Originally Posted by jean

"Please don't separate my family."

"We are humans."

"Hope and change."

Those were some of the posters several children carried, written in English and Spanish, during a rally Saturday morning in Gainesville's Roosevelt Square.

Blah, Blah, Blah............... Tired of hearing your constant whining. Get out of our country and go make yours a better one! Go protest in YOUR streets!



.

Originally Posted by jean

"I'm still mad at the teachers who taught us French. We should have been learning Spanish," said Bishop Ernest Burns of Shady Grove Baptist Church in Cornelia. "But there's one thing that transcends all languages, and that is the language of love."

Pass the barf bag please!!

"No matter what happens, I will keep on dreaming my dreams," he said. "The day I give up, my friends, is the day that I die."

"We are humans."

WOW,they still miss the point of this whole matter!
they not only (mod edit) anchor babies but (mod edit) ignorance and stupidity

"Please don't separate my family."

"We are humans."

"Hope and change."

Those were some of the posters several children carried, written in English and Spanish, during a rally Saturday morning in Gainesville's Roosevelt Square.

Are you freaking kidding me???????? These people have their small children carrying around this crap in a protest?????

Lopez told the crowd to never forget that goal.

Their goal is to take America by storm as the numbers show:
[quote]Hispanic American Demographics Updated May 2006
Population
5 primary groups of the Hispanic populations are from:
- Mexico: about 23 million
- Puerto Rico: about 3.6 million
- Cuba: about 1.3 million
- Dominican Republic: about 1.12 million
- El Salvador: about 1.11 million

In July 2004, Hispanics account for 14.1% of the population (41,322,070, not including Puerto Rico), with a growth rate of 57.9% from 1990 to 2000, making Hispanics the fastest-growing population group in the U.S.

Nearly half of the 9.4 million American residents added since 2000 are Hispanic, the Census Bureau said. Growth was almost equal between immigrants and those already here.

As of 2004, approximately 22.3 million Hispanics in the United States were Native-born and approximately 18 million were Foreign-born.

In July 2004, the population of Puerto Rico was estimated to be 3,894,855, of whom 26.8% are under the age of 18.

Geographical Distribution
More than three-quarters of Hispanic Americans/Latinos live in the West and South.
7 leading states by population
- California (31.1%), Texas (18.9%), New York (8.1%), Florida (7.6%), Illinois (4.3%), Arizona (3.7%) and New Jersey (3.2%)

At the turn of the century, 6.6 million out of nearly 13 million inhabitants of the U.S./Mexico border region were of Hispanic origin and resided in San Diego CA, Pima AZ, and El Paso TX.

Age Distribution
• Median Age: 26.7 years old (White American median age: 39.6 years old)
• Birth rate: 3.51%
• 36% of population is less than 18 years of age
• By 2020, Hispanic ages 5 to 19 are expected to grow from 11 to 16 million

Family Characteristics
• commonly live close to one another
• usual to live in multi-generational households
• larger in size because of higher fertility rate than any other minority group
• 25% of Hispanic women have families of three or more children

Education
As of 2002, there were 1.656M Hispanics in college, and an additional 199,800 in Puerto Rico.

In 1999, 45% of Hispanic students in higher education in the continental US and Puerto Rico attend Hispanic-Serving Institutions.

Of full-time instructional faculty in colleges and universities in 1999, 2.9% were Hispanic, while 10% of all students in higher education in the United States are Hispanic.

In 1999, 5.6% of all public school teachers at the elementary- and secondary-school level were Hispanic, while 17.7% of the public school students in 2001 were Hispanic.

Language
Spanish remains the primary tongue among Hispanic adults.

Spanish-speaking Hispanics feel that they must learn English in order to succeed in the United States

• 72% of first generation primarily speaks Spanish
• 47%of the second generations are bi-lingual
• 78% of the third-plus generations are primarily English speakers

Acculturation
The majority of Latinos in the U.S. (88%) have said that they describe themselves or their families (parents, ancestors) as being from a specific country in Latin America. Latinos are almost as likely (81%) to use the terms “Latinoâ€

Let them stamp their feet and cry all they want to. Bottom line is LEGAL AMERICANS are no longer going to stand for illegals leaching off of the economy anymore.