Illegal Residents To Protest Openly

By CHRIS ECHEGARAY The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 28, 2007


TAMPA - At pro-immigration rallies here and nationwide Tuesday, a number of illegal immigrants will admit to their status, holding signs touting their work ethic, sharing stories of arduous border crossings from Mexico.

They won't be touched by authorities, leaving immigration critics baffled as to why agents will not arrest people who entered the country illegally and admit to it in public.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents don't do random sweeps, spokesman Marc Raimondi said. They conduct targeted operations.

"They are based on investigations and intelligence geared toward fugitive aliens, egregious violators, significant threats to public safety and national security," Raimondi said.

Having illegal immigrants in the streets is a threat, said Pam Hill of Brandon, a member of the Minutemen Florida Corps, which opposes illegal immigration. She said police should do their jobs by deporting them.

"It's not immigration - it's an invasion," Hill said. "If police could arrest people for other minor things, they can arrest them for this."

Some say the more than 100,000 deportations annually by ICE aren't enough.

"If you had an American citizen smoking pot at a rally, they would be arrested for sure," said Mike Jarbeck, a former Minutemen member and founder of the Florida chapter. "They are both misdemeanors, so it can be compared. But they refuse to enforce the laws against foreign nationals."

Immigration advocates say illegal immigrants realize some people oppose their annual May 1 rallies, but it won't stop them. About 7,000 people turned out last year at Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Drive. Organizers for the Day Without an Immigrant rally expect a similar, but smaller, event this year.

Sweeps at rallies would be intimidating and chaotic, said Lurvin Lizardo, president of Tampa's Hondurans United and an organizer of the rally.

"You have citizens, residents and people who are legally here at those events," she said. "Going through the crowd would be a bad idea."

Amaparo Franco, who crossed the Mexico border illegally 21 years ago, attended last year's rally.

Franco crossed with her two toddlers, who now are grown men. She cleans homes to support the family.

Franco, of Tampa, said illegal immigrants who don't have any legal problems should be allowed to protest peacefully and not be targeted.

"I have not hurt, killed or robbed anyone and never had any problems," she said. "You have to be respectful of the law. I make an honest living. We should be able to ask for progress and not get arrested."

There's a pragmatic reason for not arresting illegal immigrants, said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington organization that favors restricting immigration.

"There's no place to put them," Keeley said. "If you can't detain 28 illegals caught in a truck in El Paso, Texas, where are you going to put 40,000 from L.A. or Chicago?"

Tampa police will be at Tuesday's rally, but they won't carry out immigration enforcement there, said the department's Hispanic liaison, Brenda Canino. Organizers said they welcome police so that the rally is peaceful.

U.S. DEPORTATIONS
From Oct. 1 through April 1:
REMOVALS: 110,748

VOLUNTARY DEPARTURES: 5,868

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Reporter Chris Echegaray can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or cechegaray@tampatrib.com.

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