Thread: Immigration protest at S.F. Ballet gala

Immigration protest at S.F. Ballet gala
Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, January 22, 2009




Singing, chanting and calling on local and national officials for more compassionate immigration policies, more than 200 immigrants and their allies marched Wednesday through San Francisco's City Hall, startling the tuxedo- and ball gown-clad guests arriving for the opening night gala of the San Francisco Ballet.


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The protesters were among thousands of activists who converged on Washington and other cities, from San Jose to Chicago, to remind President Obama on his first day in office of his commitment to allow illegal immigrants to earn legal status and to call for a moratorium on immigration raids.

"With the new administration, there's hope; that's why we're here," said protester Lulu Rodriguez, 28. Organizers said the protest was timed to the president's first day in office, not to disrupt the Ballet event.

As Ballet supporters sipped wine in the City Hall rotunda, the voices of the protesters singing Mexican folk songs outside the mayor's office echoed off the building's stone walls.

In Washington, religious leaders led a symbolic "cleansing" outside the headquarters of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency that is responsible for enforcing immigration laws inside the United States.

The event attracted several hundred immigrant supporters who joined in rituals, involving incense and music, meant to condemn Bush administration immigration policies while showing support for President Obama and hoping to push him for a prompt immigration overhaul.

Over the past two years, ICE dramatically increased enforcement, arresting tens of thousands of individuals who were fugitives from deportation orders. Thousands of other illegal immigrants were arrested at their jobs at meatpacking plants and other workplaces.

Immigrant advocates complain that deporting undocumented immigrants is unfair when there are few avenues by which they can obtain legal status. And they say the raids are tearing apart families that include both U.S. citizens or legal residents and immigrants without legal status.

"Enforcement activity has done nothing but wreak havoc on immigrant families," said Evelyn Sanchez, advocacy coordinator for the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition. "Our argument is, don't enforce the laws that we all agree are broken and outdated."

Coordinated protests, most of them involving dozens or hundreds of people, took place in other cities Wednesday, including Fresno, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, Houston, Milwaukee and Tucson.

For several years, national pro-immigrant, labor and religious organizations have pressed the case for "comprehensive" immigration reform in negotiations with congressional leaders. But some community-based immigrant groups believe their call for more liberal immigration policies have not been heeded. So they were pleased when an Obama-appointed task force on immigration policy met in early January with 15 leaders from grassroots immigrant groups.

In addition to pushing for immigration reform from Washington, local immigrant advocates at San Francisco's City Hall on Wednesday afternoon also wanted to pressure Mayor Gavin Newsom to reverse a 6-month-old policy of reporting juveniles arrested for a felony to federal immigration authorities. The policy has led to 57 juveniles being referred to ICE since July, said mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard.

"We understand the city not wanting to have people who commit violent crimes being protected," said Ana Pérez, director of the Central American Resource Center. "We're asking for due process for all children, so kids can see a judge who can determine whether the child has committed a crime, and if referral to ICE happens, that it happens at discharge, not at the point when the child is charged with a crime."

Newsom still supports San Francisco's immigrant sanctuary policy, but believes that the law was not intended to shield criminals, said Ballard. He added that Newsom supports many of the goals of the immigrant rights groups.

"The mayor agrees that it's time for federal immigration reform," said Ballard. "Now we have leadership in Washington, D.C, with the commitment to dealing with this issue so the cities are not left to deal with it on their own."

E-mail Tyche Hendricks at thendricks@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle


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Comments(2)View Comments »

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 15EH98.DTL

"Our argument is, don't enforce the laws that we all agree are broken and outdated."


THEY ARE NOT BROKEN. They just havent been enforced until recently

Originally Posted by Tbow009

"Our argument is, don't enforce the laws that we all agree are broken and outdated."


THEY ARE NOT BROKEN. They just havent been enforced until recently

I wonder how many American criminals we have in prisons who would like to declare the law they broke "broken" so they could not only be forgiven but actually rewarded for breaking the law in the first place??

How ironic - protesting in sanctuary San Francisco, the city who gave them ID cards, huh? Hope the bleeding hearts attending the gala, and the ones who condone the sanctuary status, get the message and wake up sooner rather than later.

Doesn't matter how much you give in, illegal aliens will always want more. They will use any means to get more. ENFORCE the laws NOW and deport, deport, DEPORT!

"With the new administration, there's hope; that's why we're here," said protester Lulu Rodriguez, 28. Organizers said the protest was timed to the president's first day in office, not to disrupt the Ballet event.

Thats good. Lulu and her gang made fools out of themselves in front of some influential people. Keep it going Lulu. Let more and more people see your arrogance and hear your demands.

(mod edit) I cannot believe the interfering demanding disrespect these insane people incite in our society. I AM SICK OF IT! SICK, SICK, SICK OF IT!

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-3921--0-0.html

Originally Posted by butterbean

"With the new administration, there's hope; that's why we're here," said protester Lulu Rodriguez, 28. Organizers said the protest was timed to the president's first day in office, not to disrupt the Ballet event.

Thats good. Lulu and her gang made fools out of themselves in front of some influential people. Keep it going Lulu. Let more and more people see your arrogance and hear your demands.

Exactly butterbean. I used to be one of those people that weren't really on either side, but it took my id being stolen, and then seeing the Mexican flag displayed over our own for me to wake up and see the problem. Let them protest. We just have to make sure that our voices are louder than theirs.

From a post by Brittanicus on denverpost.com

Do you want your community to be a "Sanctuary City?"
It can be a very costly to taxpayers, and a cheap ride for employers.

Quick Fact: Less than 2% of illegal aliens pick our crops, but 29% are on welfare.

It has been reported that Democratic voters have "NOT" been asked their standing on the front burning issue of illegal immigration, by the media. Yet, each day the Republicans are bombarded continuously with this economic question--and it is economic as well as everything to do with national security? Democratic voters, just like Republicans and Independents, want to know where their tax dollars are going? Even in the debates the questions of Democratic presidential nominees have been engineered, and have not been asked any questions about the illegal immigrant occupation of our nation!

Last March Sen.McCain, Obama, Clinton, Richardson and friends agreed with ultra liberal Ted Kennedy a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. But something even worse is coming to your community, as your state and county treasury is bled dry by free-loaders who broke our immigration laws. Take a look at Los Angeles? New statistics from the Department of Public Social Services reveal that illegal immigrants (that means illegal not legal) and their families in Los Angeles County collected over $37 million in welfare and food stamp allocations in November 2007 – up $3 million dollars from September, announced Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

Twenty five percent of the all welfare and food stamps benefits is going directly to the children of illegal aliens. Illegals collected over $20 million in welfare assistance for November 2007 and over $16 million in monthly food stamp allocations for a projected annual cost of $444 million.

“This new data shows an alarming increase in the devastating impact Illegal immigration continues to have on Los Angeles County taxpayers,â€

"Party Tonite at the Border"

Taco and Whatever,

Bring Fake ID

Smiling Faces Will Be There With Comprehensive Immigration

Bring Many Friends, too.