Both sides of illegal immigration debate host rallies
By Jameel Naqvi | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 8/26/2007 12:01 AM
Both sides of the illegal immigration debate staged peaceful protests in Crystal Lake Saturday despite the cancellation of the event that led the groups to plan the rallies in the first place.

About 60 people gathered behind police barricades in Crystal Lake's McCormick Park Saturday afternoon, waving flags and holding up signs for passing motorists.

The original reason for the rallies was scuttled after a McHenry County judge on Thursday granted a restraining order the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn sought to prevent the Illinois Minuteman Project from hosting a seminar at the hotel Saturday.

Members of other Minuteman groups who assembled in McCormick Park Saturday complained that the actions of the judge and the hotel unfairly restricted their First Amendment rights.

"We're guaranteed freedom of speech in this country. Nobody should violate that," said Rick Biesada, Illinois state director of the Minuteman Project.

"I don't know what the Holiday Inn has against Minuteman. We're just average Americans exercising our God-given rights."

Others on the Minuteman side of the barricade said Saturday's protest was a way to show that those speaking out against illegal immigration would not be silenced.

"Even though one group was shut down, there are others of the same mindset that are willing to speak out," said Diane Evertsen, president of Minuteman Midwest.

Across the police barrier, members of the McHenry County Peace Group and other allied organizations said they too supported free expression but wanted to get a different message across.

"Our original plan was never to disrupt their meeting and prevent it from happening," said Patrick Murfin, spokesman for the peace group. "We want to promote dialogue and a solution that shows fairness and justice."

When it sought the restraining order, the Holiday Inn argued the Minuteman had misled the hotel about the potential for protests, such as Saturday's anti-Minuteman peace vigil.

Many participating in the vigil said they were more interested in helping illegal immigrants assimilate than kicking them out of the country.

"I think we have a moral obligation to find ways for people to stay in this country and not get deported," said Dan Larsen, a minister at the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock. "The Minuteman want them to leave, and we want them to stay."

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=25618&src=109