Thread: L.A. Immigration Rallies Mark March Anniversary

L.A. Immigration Rallies Mark March Anniversary

LOS ANGELES, Mar. 25, 2007 - Dueling immigration rallies Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of a massive pro-immigrant demonstration that jammed downtown streets with a half-million protesters and framed new debate in Washington.

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Sunday's rallies didn't come close to bringing the crowds of the event they commemorated.

Several hundred immigrant rights activists marched to downtown's Federal Building from the city's historical center to protest immigration raids and demand reform. The pro-immigrant crowd was too thin to encircle the Federal Building as planned, police said.

Blocks away, a group of anti-illegal immigration demonstrators demanded stiffer enforcement of U.S. borders and verbally clashed with pro-immigration forces on the streets.

Hundreds attended an earlier pro-immigrant rally at the Los Angeles Sports Arena that featured speeches from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles and mariachi music.

Despite the lower than anticipated turnout, rally organizer Marta Rojas, an immigrant from Colombia, said last year's event launched an important movement.

"The government is starting to listen," she said as she prepared signs for the march. "They are starting to see the strength of the immigrants. Legal and not-legal people are coming out."

The 2006 march followed legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would make it a felony to enter the U.S. illegally.

This year's demonstrations came amid softer new proposals for immigration reform in Congress, including a bill introduced last week by Reps. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona and Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Illinois. The bill calls for border and workplace immigration enforcement, a guest worker program and a streamlined means of achieving legal immigration.

On Sunday, demonstrators carried signs reading "Legalization now" and "We are workers, not terrorists."

Jefferson Azevedo, a Brazilian immigrant, said he didn't consider any immigrant illegal.

"We all know this is Mexican land," he said. "They didn't cross the border. The border crossed them."

The counter demonstration was held by members of Save Our State and the Minuteman Project in an area with many Hispanic-run businesses.

The group of about 150 held signs reading "Good fences make good neighbors" and "No amnesty for illegals" as it was taunted by pro-immigration demonstrators.

One pro-immigration activist provoked jeers and threats from the group when he wiped the sidewalk with an American flag. A cordon of police kept the two groups apart.

Standing among the anti-illegal immigration protesters was 76-year-old Esther Lofton. Loften said she was representing "my community, the black community" of Watts - an area that has seen a surge of Hispanic immigrants in the past decade. She said she is against illegal immigration regardless of race.

"I'm not out here just fighting Hispanics," she said. "I'm out here fighting illegal immigration. This is my first march, but I hope to get something started."

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?secti ... id=5150002

Make sure you check out the video on this site.

Make sure to see the pictures!


http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=58421

"We all know this is Mexican land," he said. "They didn't cross the border. The border crossed them."

Oh really? So the land purchases in question, by the U.S. Government, with foreign governmental entities as sellers, did not happen?

It goes to show you the level of education that the Illegal Immigrant has---definitely less than or equal to grade school!

Originally Posted by Mayday

The group of about 150 held signs reading "Good fences make good neighbors" and "No amnesty for illegals" as it was taunted by pro-immigration demonstrators.

We had a lot more than 150 marchers. Some of the local people were joining us as we marched along!

And of course the press has to interject their propoganda, the goons are not pro-immigrant, they are pro-Communist/Anarchist. Me, I just consider them to be side show freaks. They were so idiotic it was hilarious. Overall the entire experience was more fun than going to Disneyland!

THIS IS THE LA TIMES SLANTED STORY ON THE RALLIES THIS MORNING. NOTE HOW MUCH TEXT AND ARGUMENT IS GIVEN TO PRO-ILLEGALS. NO MENTION OF BLACK PARTICIPANTS. THE NUMBER OF 5,000 MUST HAVE BEEN PEOPLE WHO ONLY SHOWED UP AT THE INDOOR SPORTS ARENA BECAUSE THE MARCHES HAD ONLY A LITTLE OVER 200 EACH.


Turnout is low at immigration rallies

Immigrant rights march in downtown L.A. draws about 5,000. Emotions flare during a raucous counterdemonstration.
By Anna Gorman and Tami Abdollah, Times Staff Writers
March 26, 2007


Immigrant rights rallies staged Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of last year's massive Los Angeles march and to call for reform legislation were marked by low turnout and a rowdy counterdemonstration denouncing illegal immigration.

Nearly 5,000 immigrants and their supporters gathered at the Los Angeles Sports Arena for an event dubbed Justice for Our Families, featuring mariachi music and speeches by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other politicians.

Carrying American flags and waving banners that read, "We are America," the participants signed pre-written letters to Congress calling for legalization of the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and an end to deportations and raids. Organizers said they received about 6,000 signed letters.

Although the crowds fell far short of the 10,000 expected, participants were hopeful that this would be the year for immigration reform.

Last week, Reps. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced a bill that would include a path to citizenship, create a new worker program and overhaul the nation's visa system.

"The government has to listen to us," said Raymundo Aguilar, 40, a tree trimmer who sneaked across the border more than two decades ago. "We aren't just a few; we are millions."

Like many other illegal immigrants at the rally, Aguilar said he pays taxes and contributes to the economy and simply wants a way to work here legally.

Berenice Bautista, a 15-year-old undocumented immigrant and sophomore at Wilson High School, gave a tearful plea to the Sports Arena audience to keep pushing for reform.

"We might not see anything overnight, but the process is already underway," said Bautista, who came from the Mexican state of Michoacan when she was age 2. "We can't give up."

The energy and crowds didn't compare to last year's protest, when more than 500,000 people took to the streets over proposed legislation that would have criminalized undocumented immigrants and those who help them.

"My proudest moment as mayor of Los Angeles was greeting a half million families during last year's march," Villaraigosa told the crowd at the Sports Arena. "We are saying that in this great and generous America, there ought to be a pathway to citizenship."

Organizers from community and immigrant rights groups attributed the disappointing turnout in part to the fear and uncertainty felt among undocumented immigrants and to a backlash against them following last year's protests.

"We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm cautiously optimistic that we can get it done," said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for the Central American Resource Center. "We are going to have to do a lot of outreach."

Although the rally at the Sports Arena remained peaceful, a nearby counterdemonstration staged by anti-illegal immigration activists became raucous as they traded insults and racial epithets with proimmigrant protesters. About 150 officers from the Los Angeles Police Department marched between the two groups as they headed down Broadway toward City Hall.

About 200 anti-illegal immigration activists started their march at Olympic Boulevard and Broadway, carrying American flags and signs reading "Mexican gangsters belong in Mexico" and "Deportation? S–, se puede!"

"What do we want? Deportation," they chanted. "When do we want it? Now."

"I would not be welcomed into their country, and they are not welcome into mine," said Barbara Coe, founder and chairwoman of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform.

"It's a double standard," said Debra Bedoy, 54, of Upland, who wore a "Save Our State" pin and carried a bottle of pepper spray. "If you're an American citizen and break the law, you get a ticket or you get arrested. But for illegal immigrants who come here and are breaking a federal law, it's overlooked. Nobody does anything…. We're fed up."

A crowd of about 60 immigrant rights supporters gathered on an adjacent corner of the two major downtown streets, making their own voices heard by waving Mexican flags, stomping on an American flag and, in at least one case, burning it.

"Racists!" they yelled at the anti-illegal immigrant groups.

Their numbers grew as downtown workers joined in. Celina Rivera, 43, a Salvadoran immigrant who works in a bridal shop on 8th Street near Broadway, came out to see what was going on. "America is free!" she yelled.

In a separate rally, several hundred gathered outside La Placita Church near Olvera Street, intending to march to the downtown federal building and immigration offices and encircle them by joining hands in a human chain to demand an end to deportations. When they reached the buildings, they held hands but could make it only halfway around the buildings.

Concern about recent federal immigration raids around the country ran deep among marchers.

Waldir Ramaz, 39, a truck driver from Compton, carried his 5-year-old daughter, Lauren, on his shoulders as he marched. Ramaz, a legal resident from Guatemala, fears for his Mexican wife, Rosalina, 35, an undocumented immigrant for 18 years.

She "goes to work nervous and comes home nervous" that she will be picked up by authorities, Rosalina said.

Many of the immigrants who attended the rallies Sunday said that they wanted an opportunity to become legal residents. Others expressed opposition to the government's proposed fee hikes for green card and citizenship applications.

Lidia Vidal, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who also participated in last year's marches, said she was disappointed that more people did not turn out. She also expressed frustration that even though there were gains by the immigrant rights movement, reform legislation still had not passed.

"We marched, we voted and nothing," said Vidal, 34, who has two U.S.-born children and has been here 17 years. "I still don't have papers."

Hilda Bautista and Ricardo Gutierrez, both undocumented immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico, said their hopes for citizenship rest with their three U.S.-born children rather than Congress.

"As they grow older, so does our hope that one day they'll be able to vote and elect people who will pass laws that protect us immigrants," said Gutierrez, 45, a custodian at UCLA. "In the meantime, it's important to keep reminding the lawmakers that we're here."

Filmmaker Martin Escalante, 23, who went to the Sports Arena, explained the low turnout succinctly: "Sequels are never as good as the original."

*


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anna.gorman@latimes.com

tami.abdollah@latimes.com

Times staff writers Francisco Vara-Orta and Tony Barboza contributed to this report.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... california

Berenice Bautista, a 15-year-old undocumented immigrant and sophomore at Wilson High School, gave a tearful plea to the Sports Arena audience to keep pushing for reform.

lets get her on the bus....not the school bus[/b]

"We all know this is Mexican land," he said. "They didn't cross the border. The border crossed them."

uhhh nope thats the red, white and blue flying over CA... hmmm guess that guy must be blind or stupid.

Originally Posted by ShockedinCalifornia

Lidia Vidal, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who also participated in last year's marches, said she was disappointed that more people did not turn out.

"We marched, we voted and nothing," said Vidal, 34,

Right here this illegal alien admits to voting! Our government allows this to happen, it has given foreign criminals more rights than American Citizens, it allows this invasion to continue, thus our government is not fulfilling it's Constitutional responsibilities and consequently in my opion the government is illegitimate and has no authority over "We the People".