Thread: Demo to lead a pro-Bush Utah rally on immigration

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645194440,00.html

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Demo to lead a pro-Bush Utah rally on immigration

By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News

President Bush's upcoming visit to Salt Lake City to address the American Legion Convention is sparking controversy, largely surrounding the war in Iraq, and generating rallies in support of opposing viewpoints.

But for at least one local Latino community activist, the most critical of President Bush's policy proposals is his call for comprehensive immigration reform.

The issue is so important that it cuts across party lines for Tony Yapias, director of Proyecto Latino de Utah and chairman of the Utah Hispanic Democratic Caucus.

That's why Yapias is planning a rally in support of the president on immigration matters, to coincide with the president's visit later this month.

And like the organizers of the convention, Yapias is balking at extending a speaking invitation to Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. Yapias expressed some concern about inviting Anderson, a vocal Bush critic, largely because he wanted to ensure the message remains focused on immigration reform.

However, Yapias said details of the rally, including invited speakers, will be decided at a meeting today.

"We're going to focus on what worries us most, and that's immigration," Yapias said. "The president supports a guest worker program. We're going to encourage him to work with Congress to get a bill passed."

The federal immigration debate is at a standstill for now. The House passed a measure focusing on tougher enforcement of immigration laws. The Senate passed a comprehensive bill that would legalize many of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. The two houses of Congress have yet to start talks on a compromise.

Yapias said he's applied for a permit to rally at Liberty Park on Aug. 30 to support the president in his call for a new guest worker program, along with bolstered border security.

Another pro-Bush rally is planned by Salt Lake County Republicans, and a non-political "support our troops" rally is set on the same day. Meanwhile, Anderson will be speaking at a protest of Bush's policies, along with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.

Michael Clara, vice chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, said if the Proyecto Latino rally remains focused on support for Bush, it could help garner support for comprehensive immigration reform, especially since it is organized by a Democratic official.

"I think it's extremely helpful," Clara said. "It underscores that President Bush is on the right path."

However, Archie Archuleta, immediate past chairman of the Salt Lake County and Utah Hispanic Democratic Caucuses, said Democrats are far from united behind Yapias' planned rally.

Archuleta said he'll be at the protest of the president's policies. He said Bush started in the right direction on immigration but "sold out" by agreeing with immigration hardliners.

"He opted for a militarized zone on the border, in building our own Berlin Wall," Archuleta said. "Number two, he has not been very persuasive with Congress to look at the whole issue of guest workers. We don't think he's very serious."

Yapias acknowledged that not everyone in the Democratic Party agrees with him but said he believes there's "wide support" among Democrats in favor of comprehensive reform, such as the proposals the Senate passed and the president supports.

"We want to let the president know that here in Utah, people are concerned about this issue and want to do something about it," he said.

Terry Schow, vice president of the American Legion Convention Corp., said "we just happen to be the convenient target" for protesters. The convention is expected to bring about $600,000 in tax revenue, and he's focused on making sure the convention attendees feel welcome.

"That's our only concern," he said. "We don't want to create a negative impression."

Yapias said he's already extended an invitation to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who along with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, put together a resolution on immigration, calling for bolstered border security and a guest worker program, which was adopted earlier this year by the Western Governors Association. The governor's office could not be reached for immediate comment.

In the past, Anderson was among elected officials who has shown support for the immigrant community at rallies calling for comprehensive immigration reform, along with Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.

A message left for Anderson was not returned. The mayor and his spokesman, Patrick Thronson, have declined to comment to the Deseret Morning News for the past 56 days.

The White House won't confirm Bush's trip to Utah and does not release travel schedules until a week beforehand, according to the press office.

In addition to addressing the American Legion, the president is expected to pay a courtesy visit to the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also is scheduled to speak at a $500-per-plate fund-raiser for Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.


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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com

Hopefully this will be an 'interesting' rally. Mayor Anderson has been receiving allot of negative local press here in SLC.
Many people think he shouldn't protest president Jorge while he's still Mayor.
I think its a pretty bold move on his part. I haven't always agreed w/ Rocky Anderson, but this time I support him for being brave to protest our president while he's in office.

http://www.kcpw.org/article/1515

Immigrants to Rally During Bush Visit
Aug 21, 2006 by Julie Rose

(KCPW News) While Cindy Sheehan and anti-war activists protest during President Bush's visit to Utah, the immigrant community is planning to send a message of its own to the Commander-in-Chief.

"We want to let him know immigration reform is still on our mind and we'd like him to renew his push," says Latino activist Tony Yapias, who helped organize the last immigration rally in Salt Lake that drew tens of thousands.

Yapias is expecting a smaller crowd this time - and he says the organizing committee has not decided if it will again include politicians like Mayor Rocky Anderson in the line-up of speeches at the gathering. Instead, Yapias hopes the rally will attract people from all political parties and ethnic communities.

Yapias says the Latino community is frustrated that Congress has stalled on immigration proposals. He hopes a rally while Bush is in town will inspire the President to resume pressure for reforms including a guest worker program. The rally is planned for the evening of August 30th at Liberty Park.

The rally is planned for the evening of August 30th at Liberty Park.

Will any anti-illegal immigrant groups be in attendance? Please, someone say yes.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645195092,00.html

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Latinos question Bush-rally plans

By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News

A Latino community leader's plans for a rally in support of President Bush's call for comprehensive immigration reform is causing a bit of a stir among Latinos.

Tony Yapias, as director of Proyecto Latino de Utah, is organizing the rally to coincide with the president's scheduled visit to Salt Lake City Aug. 30. Yapias also serves as chairman of the Utah Hispanic Democratic Caucus.

Yapias said he wants the rally to be a multi-ethnic, non-partisan call for the president to push for reforms that would legalize many of the nation's illegal immigrants, make legal immigration easier and at the same time bolster border security.

"We need to focus on immigration and on immigration only," Yapias said. "The only agenda we have is immigration reform for our people."

Buba Roth, chief executive officer of the Utah Peace Institute is supporting the rally, because she says immigration reform effects all of Utah's ethnic communities and president Bush's plan makes more sense than any other she's seen.

However, some have expressed confusion about what the rally is about, and others are encouraging attendance at another protest largely focused on the Iraq war, where immigration will be among issues Bush is called to task for.

"I don't know what Tony Yapias is doing with the rally," said Philip Bernal, chairman of the Salt Lake County Hispanic Democratic Caucus. "I've spoken to a number of people in the Hispanic community, and they have said they will not attend a pro-Bush rally. Everyone is trying to find out what is the real purpose."

Health care, the war in Iraq, prisoner abuse and immigration are among issues that Archie Archuleta, immediate past chairman of the Utah and Salt Lake County Hispanic Democratic caucuses, is hoping will draw Hispanics to the protest planned at the City-County Building.

"The important thing is there is a whole host of things the president is being called to account for," Archuleta said of the protest, at which key speakers will be Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.

Archuleta said there's not much chance of immigration being addressed before the November elections after the House and Senate have stalled talks on their competing measures. Archuleta added that many of Bush's key constituents are calling for enforcement-only measures.

But Yapias said his rally will simply be to call for comprehensive immigration reform, an issue on which Yapias believes Bush can influence Congress to act.

"We want this to be focused on immigration, we don't want to mix it up with the war," Yapias said. "I believe immigration is the biggest issue, they believe the war is the biggest issue. Those who come to our rally will come because they believe immigration is an important issue."
Utah Republicans ready red carpet


Local Republicans have caught the rally fever sweeping the state in anticipation of President Bush's visit next week.

While a much publicized anti-Bush protest is scheduled the day Bush speaks to the American Legion convention at the Salt Palace, Republicans plan to gather later in the day at City Hall for speeches and a rally.

State Republican Party Chairman Joe Cannon said last year's anti-Bush rally when the president was here at another veterans convention projected "the wrong image of Utah." He said Utah is "Bush country" and the Aug. 30 rally, beginning at 5:30 p.m., will "thank (Bush) for taking the time to visit our great state."


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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com

It appears if Bush will have everyone protesting against him in Utah next week.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645195337,00.html

Salt Lake bracing for 5 rallies

All planned Aug. 30, but Bush may not be in town

By Kersten Swinyard
Deseret Morning News

Salt Lake City is preparing for at least five demonstrations the afternoon and evening of Aug. 30, but all five may miss their mark if President Bush doesn't come until later in the day.

The White House said Tuesday that Bush will spend the night of Aug. 30 in Salt Lake City and then "on Thursday, Aug. 31, the president will have events in Salt Lake City" before traveling to Camp David for the Labor Day weekend. It is not known when he will arrive in Salt Lake City on Aug. 30, and rallies are scheduled beginning at 11 a.m.

The city's special-events coordinator has received applications for five gatherings spread among Pioneer Park, Liberty Park and Washington Square downtown, with rally cries ranging from anti-Bush to pro-president to "support the troops."

The permit process requires demonstrators to pay $5 and give the city notice of the size, location and time of their demonstrations. Protests last year when the president spoke to a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars were on the day of his visit.

Terry Schow, vice president of the local branch of the American Legion convention corporation, said Tuesday that he's not sure whether the president will address the convention Wednesday, Aug. 30, or Thursday, Aug. 31.

"I guess that's within their prerogative to set it," Schow said. "It would be kind of crazy to invite him and then say, 'I'm sorry, you're five minutes later than what we'd like, and we have Joe Smith from Brigham City, Utah, that we'd like to put on instead.'"

Sen. Orrin Hatch's office said that the president is to speak at a fund-raiser for Hatch at noon on Aug. 31, and Bush is also expected to meet with leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that day.

To Crystal Young-Otterstrom, one of the organizers of a rally on Washington Square against Bush, the possibility of not speaking at the same time the president does is an acceptable hazard of staging the protest.

"If it's a welcome gift or at the same time he's speaking, then we're fine with both," Young-Otterstrom said. "It really doesn't matter the day that it's on. He's here — he'll see the papers and see the response, and that's what we're gearing for."

Young-Otterstrom is working with an ad hoc group, We the People for Peace and Justice. The group has invited Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq, and Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson to speak. The group estimates 5,000 participants at a rally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Washington Square on Aug. 30.

The group is scheduled to march from the square to the federal building at State Street and 100 South from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Young-Otterstrom's group also has applied to hold a rally that evening at Pioneer Park from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Paul Holton, better known as Chief Wiggles, has applied for a permit for 500 people to hold a rally at Liberty Park from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Holton, who served in Iraq for 14 months, said his rally will be in support of military personnel.

"This is a peace rally around supporting the troops, just getting anybody, regardless of their political affiliation," Holton said. "This is a nonpartisan, non-political rally for people to join together in support of the troops."

James Evans, chairman of the Salt Lake County Republican Party, has applied for a permit for 400 people at Washington Square from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 30. And Tony Yapias, director of Proyecto Latino de Utah, has applied to hold a rally and march with an estimated 450 people at Liberty Park about immigration issues from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., also on Aug. 30.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is planning to staff 100 officers for 12-hour shifts on Aug. 30, spokesman Joe Cyr said. Protests in Utah have traditionally been tame affairs, he added, with few people who cause trouble for police and other demonstrators.

The maximum it would cost the police department to pay those officers for Aug. 30 would be around $38,000, Cyr said. But that number may be less, depending on how many of the 100 officers dedicated to covering the rallies were scheduled for shifts that day anyway.

When groups apply for permits to hold rallies or protests, they are supposed to give the city as much notice as possible. Shawn McDonough, who issues the permits for both "free expression events," as she calls them, and commercial events, said that the more advance notice she gets from a group, the easier it is to coordinate all the city departments that must review the request.

McDonough did not know Tuesday how quickly groups could change the date of their gatherings if they wanted to coincide with Bush's convention speech.

But the city departments that usually review permits include police, fire, transportation, public services and the city attorney's office. Additionally, the Utah Department of Transportation must examine permits that use state roads such as State Street, and the Utah Transit Authority usually looks at the requests to determine impact on public transit, she said.

The city cannot deny permit requests based on the message of the rally and would try to accommodate as quickly as possible any permit requests made in the days before Bush's visit. The city does review the permit to make sure that the proposed rally does not conflict with one already planned and that essential services — fire, police and so forth — can operate unimpeded.


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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com



http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=442942


Five Rallies Scheduled During Pres. Bush's Visit
August 23rd, 2006 @ 5:02pm
John Daley Reporting

The event Cindy Sheehan is expected to attend will be one of many. There are five rallies scheduled for the day President Bush arrives and there'll be a tough question in the air: Can you support the troops and not the war?

The deadly seriousness of the war comes home with news 21- year old Marine Corporal Adam Galvez of Salt Lake has been killed in Iraq. With anti-war activists planning to protest during the Bush visit, his parents are preparing to speak at another event, a "Support Our Troops" rally.

Amy Galvez, Adam Galvez' Mother: "I don't want Cindy Sheehan and Rocky Anderson to be the only voices people hear."

Tony Galvez, Adam Galvez' Father: "You can't say you support the troops but don't support the war."

That debate plays out next Wednesday and Salt Lake City will be "free speech central." From 11 to 1 at Washington Square, there'll be a rally criticizing Bush Administration policies ranging from the war, to fiscal issues, to the environment.

Crystal Young-Otterstrom, Rally Organizer: "We're just mostly a lot of regular people who care about the direction this country is headed."

Meanwhile, at Liberty Park from 11:30 to 1:30, will be a "Freedom Rally", an opportunity to show support for military personnel. It's being organized by National Guardsman Paul Holton.

Paul Holton, Rally Organizer: "It's an important day. With all the dignitaries that are coming, with other things going on, yeah, I definitely want the right message to get out to the people."

Then from 5 to 8, another pro-Bush rally is scheduled, this one organized by the Salt Lake County Republican Party at Washington Square.

From 6 to 9 the group Proyecto Latino de Utah is planning a demonstration in Liberty Park, in favor of comprehensive immigration reform.

Then there's an evening rally and music session at Pioneer Park, organized by the group "We the People for Peace and Justice."

It's no doubt going to be a busy day. A spokesman for Rocky Anderson says the mayor has invited the Galvez family to meet with him to discuss their concerns and expressed his condolences to them.