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By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
Tribune staff reporter
Immigration battle turns to the ballot box
Published November 1, 2006, 7:30 PM CST


Spanish-language radio hosts and advocates for immigrants who mobilized massive marches in Chicago earlier this year have now turned their attention to next week's midterm election.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights began a get-out-the-vote campaign Wednesday, encouraging citizens who marched for immigrant rights to follow up by voting Tuesday.



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Meanwhile, undocumented immigrants should tell friends who are citizens to vote and must begin the citizenship process in order to affect future elections, said Karla Avila, the coalition's director.

The coalition has registered more than 16,000 voters statewide this year, targeting neighborhoods with high immigrant populations, Avila said. The group plans to have 1,800 volunteers going door-to-door and working phone banks on Election Day to make sure voters know when and where to vote.

Although the state-funded coalition is nonpartisan, some Latino leaders said the Democratic Party had done more to support immigration reform.

"If Republicans are against immigration reform, it is pretty clear who to vote for," said Rafael Pulido, known to morning Univision Radio listeners as El Pistolero.

Latinos are more likely to get news from radio than other media, which is why radio hosts like Pulido have been so instrumental in mobilizing the Spanish-speaking community, Avila said.

Nearly 500,000 people marched in May to protest a federal bill to make illegal immigration a felony.

In the midst of anti-immigrant campaign ads and the signing of the Secure Fence Act, it is important for immigrants to vote for candidates who favor more just immigration laws, Pulido said.

"Voting is a necessity to fight for our rights," Pulido said. "Will this be the year immigrants make a difference? I hope so."

efitzsimmons@tribune.com



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