Thread: Immigration rights groups plan demonstration at Lake Worth C

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Immigration rights groups plan demonstration at Lake Worth City Hall


By Maria Herrera
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

August 17, 2006


Members of the same groups that organized thousands of day laborers to rally earlier this year are preparing to strike again today at an immigration forum.

The Immigrant Rights Coalition of Palm Beach County plans a demonstration outside Lake Worth City Hall, asking U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw for fair immigration reform.

"We want to talk about comprehensive immigration reform like the one the Senate passed," said Christine Jones, spokeswoman for the local Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which is organizing the protest.

The forum is to address the impact of immigration on social services such as Medicare and welfare.

Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, who voted for a House bill last year that would criminalize an estimated 12 million undocumented workers, organized the forum to follow up on the full Ways and Means Committee hearing held in Washington last month.

"It's an opportunity for the people on the panel to state how immigration affects their local communities and municipalities," Shaw's press secretary Gail Gitcho said. "It's not a town hall meeting."

Written questions and concerns will get answers from Shaw's office, Gitcho said.

"It's unfortunate," said Sister Rachel Sena of the Maya Ministry in Lake Worth, part of the Palm Beach Diocese. "It's such an important issue at the local level and the constituents won't have an opportunity to address it."

The protest is expected to start around 1 p.m. and continue until the forum ends at 4 p.m.

"Last time we had 10,000 people there," she said of the rally in March. "We knew there would be a lot, but none of us expected that kind of turnout."

With little notice about the forum and many people working today, Jones said, she expects a smaller turnout.

Panelists in the forum include Lake Worth Mayor Mark Drautz, Jupiter Town Manager Andy Lukasik, Palm Beach County School Superintendent Art Johnson, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and Social Security Commissioner for the Atlanta Region Paul Barnes.

Maria Herrera can be reached at meherrera@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6544.

We want to talk about comprehensive immigration reform like the one the Senate passed,"

Amnesty!

Wish I had known about it. I am only about an hour away.

I drive through Lake Worth every Sunday and there is a very large area of the city that is almost entirely hispanic and many illegals I am sure.

I live close to this area and I am telling you our area is in DEEP trouble. Last night I should have called the police on the illegals in our neighborhood because of all the noise coming from some illegals down the street who were having a late night, after midnight barbeque and party. I decided that I would let the other neighbors have a "taste" of it and wait until next time.

WE ARE IN TROUBLE DOWN HERE AND IF CLAY SHAW FALLS FOR THIS AND DOES NOT TAKE A HARD STAND AGAINST ILLEGL IMMIGRATION THAT MAN BETTER CALL RON KLIEN, THE DEMOCRAT RUNNING AGAINST HIM, AND ASK HIM WHAT COLOR CARPET HE'D LIKE IN HIS OFFICE.

WE HAVE "HAD IT" DOWN HERE AND ALL OF THE AMERICANS ARE COMPLETELY FED UP. IF CLAY SHAW WANTS TO RUN JUST ON THE VOTES OF ILLEGAL SUPPORTERS.......LET HIM. IT MAY BE TIME FOR HIM TO RETIRE IF HE CAN'T HANDLE THE JOB. WE DON'T HAVE ANY ROOM LEFT TO FOOL AROUND DOWN HERE ANYMORE.......WE NEED SOMEONE WHO CAN HANDLE THE JOB, AND IT'S GOING TO TAKE SOMEONE WITH SOME BACKBONE. IF WE HEAR THAT HE PLAYS AROUND WITH THIS MUCH LONGER.......WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A DEMOCRAT TAKE OVER.......WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE AND AT LEAST A STRONG MESSAGE WILL BE SENT. I HOPE HE'S UP FOR THIS....

Because we've HAD IT. The other day he was on the radio talking real tough about illegal immigration.......we will see just HOW SERIOUS he was.

THIS WILL BE A GOOD TEST FOR HIM.

I notice the interesting and novel use by the nun of the word constiuents to describe people who are not in this country legally. If the constituents were asked the constituents who legally properly would all be citizens would be against her position.