Read some of the "unlearned" reasons and excuses cited in this article I bumped on while reading about planned rallies around the country on Monday. One Catholic priest states "everyone has the right legally to be in this country. This is a human right." He further said the situation is not just about the U.S. and Mexico, but with all countries and urges "solidarity with the immigrants. These people are not only Hispanic, but from all different nationalities," he said. "Everyone that is a Christian needs to be there to support these people."

IMMIGRATION RALLY SLATED FOR MONDAY
By: KENNETH DEAN And GREG JUNEK, Staff Writers
04/06/2006

Tyler city and school officials are preparing for a planned immigration rally Monday morning - a rally that could see a loss of business in Tyler and employees skipping work.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph learned Thursday of the scheduled rally in Tyler that is part of the National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice.

The coordinated national event was organized to show the strength of the immigrant work force in America.

The immigrant community across the nation is demonstrating against bills on illegal immigrants before the U.S. House and Senate.

Senate members held a press conference Thursday to uncover a compromise reached by the Democrats and Republicans on the matter.

The compromise stated that illegal immigrants here longer than five years would not be required to return home; those in the country less than two years would be required to leave without assurances of returning, and take their place in line with others seeking entry papers.

However, the House has its own bill and is not part of the Senate compromise.

In Texas the largest number of illegal immigrants are of Hispanic nationalities and Hispanics in the East Texas area are aware of the march planned for Monday.

THE MARCH

Laura Krantz, City of Tyler media relations coordinator, said Longview-based attorney Jose Sanchez had filed the appropriate paperwork for a parade scheduled for Monday, which is to begin at the Super 1 Foods Store on Gentry Parkway and follow a route, which was not availble on Thursday, to downtown.

The event is scheduled from 8 to 11 a.m.

"We are aware of the parade and they have filed for a permit. We are having a meeting Friday with TISD, the police department and several other city departments to discuss the march," she said. Right now we are treating it like any other public gathering."

Tyler Police Department Public Information Officer Dona Martin said his department is gearing up to handle traffic, and crowd control.

"We are going to make sure everything goes according to the law and all city ordinances are followed. We will be on hand for crowd control," he said. "But as far as any other specifics we just have to wait until we know more."

Attempts to reach Sanchez Thursday afternoon were unsuccessful and the newspaper was informed that he was in El Paso for an immigration conference.

Father Luis Larrea, St. Peter Claver senior pastor, said the Catholic church was well aware of the situation, but was not involved in the organization of the rallies.

"We are aware of the situation and we need to be in solidarity with the immigrants. These people are not only Hispanic, but from all different nationalities," he said. "Everyone that is a Christian needs to be there to support these people."

Larrea said his parishioners and most of the Hispanic community in East Texas is aware of the rally and believes the march will be large.

"Everyone is aware of what is happening on Monday with the rally," he said. "And I believe this will be the first time something like this will have happened in Tyler."

Larrea said the situation is not just about the U.S. and Mexico, but with all countries.

"Everyone has the right legally be in this country. This is a human right," he said. "I believe all the people in East Texas should know about this and respond with their conscience," he said.

Larrea said Monday was not about taking off from work, but added that there was a grass roots effort to have Hispanic citizens to stay home from work on May 1.

However, one employee at the Panaderia Nuevo Leon Bakery on South Beckham Avenue said the Hispanic community is being told to take off work Monday and to not make any purchases.

Her statement troubled Myrna Garcia, the daughter of the bakery's owner.

"This is getting hectic. I knew about the rally last week with the students, but if people stay home from work and don't buy anything then it will be dead in here," she said about the bakery.

WORK FORCE CONCERNS

Local labor leaders said they have not heard about an absence of Hispanic workers on Monday. The AFL-CIO was one group in the pro-immigration coalition planning the Monday rally, but local labor leaders said they had not heard about plans for Hispanics to participate in the rally instead of going to work.

"I haven't received anything from the AFL-CIO on it," said Jim Wansley, president of United Steelworkers of America, Local 746L, representing Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. workers. "We don't have that many Hispanics here. ... I don't expect anything."

John Nash, president of the Smith County Central Labor Council, which oversees all of the AFL-CIO-related local unions, said the council has not taken any action pertaining to the rally.

"I don't anticipate any disruption (of work) from the Goodyear plant or the Trane plant or the Carrier plant or the Tyler Pipe plant, ... but I could be wrong," Nash said. "But as far as any activity from the labor council, we're not aware of any."

He said the council supports immigration, but believes immigration must be controlled. It believes business should not exploit the workers and the government should enforce existing laws.

"If I was one of the Hispanics in that situation, I'd do the same thing they're doing," Nash said. "I don't have any hard feelings toward those people in doing what they do. My hard feelings are toward the government in not enforcing those laws."

Efforts to reach Willie Pinke, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1157, the union that represents workers at Tyler Pipe, were unsuccessful.

Tom Mullins, president and chief executive officer of the Tyler Economic Development Council, said a large walkout of Hispanic workers would have an impact on their employers, and workers who do not have a lot of job security might jeopardize their employment status by not going to work.

Mullins said the community would probably see less participation in people involved in organized labor, perhaps because they are more established in the community and they might have more at stake.

"I don't think they would want to put that in jeopardy," Mullins said. "I would be surprised if they would leave their workplace or take a petition day."

Trane, an American Standard company, indicated it would abide by existing regulations if any workers walked out for the rally Monday.

"We expect our employees to abide by the terms of our contract (with the union)," Ali Isham, communications specialist, said. It's really clear in the contract what happens in situations like this."

She said the company could not elaborate further on the ramifications for attending a rally in lieu of going to work.

FORUM'S POSITION

Dan Arguijo Jr., president of the East Texas Hispanic Business Forum, said the forum takes the position of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that the country needs immigration reform.

He said the U.S. Hispanic chamber's position states that undocumented immigrants who are in the United States and have been working should be allowed to remain in the United States. Arguijo said they should also be allowed to register with a program developed by Congress that would let them pay their fair share of tax.

"They are productive citizens who pay taxes by using fraudulent Social Security numbers, and never get the benefits," he said. "We call upon our state and federal representatives to keep this in mind as they develop legislation on immigration reform."

Arguijo said the forum hopes the hype of the issue over the past few weeks does not continue to build ill will in the community.

Undocumented immigrants work jobs many other people will not work, and that is needed in the community, he said.

"They abide by our laws in reference to everyday living, but they're here, according to our laws, illegally, and we can do something to change that very simply by reforming what we have on our rolls today. And that would not involve very much," Arguijo said.

Flor Jones, owner of Connections, a translation and interpretation service in Tyler, said she is concerned about how skipping a day of school for the rally could hurt young people.

Last week John Tyler High School students participated in a walkout, joining a national movement for immigration law reform.

Ms. Jones said she urges the Hispanic community to make sure their children are in school on Monday because they need to study for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test. The district will begin administering the test April 17.

"The teachers and TISD have worked really hard offering tutorials and extending their hours with the children who need help in order to help them pass the TAKS test," Ms. Jones said.

"We need to think about the education of the children, too. Both are important."

http://www.tylerpaper.com/site/news.cfm ... 6369&rfi=6