http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news ... 302251.htm

Posted on Fri, Aug. 18, 2006

Large immigration rally is planned for Riverside
Organizers expect the protest Sunday to draw thousands opposed to the town's hiring and housing restrictions.
By Toni Callas
Inquirer Staff Writer

Thousands of immigrants and their supporters are expected to show up in Riverside on Sunday to protest the township's passage of a law that prohibits the hiring and housing of illegal immigrants.

Busloads of people from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware are expected to attend the 2 p.m. event outside City Hall, on Scott Street.

Organizers with the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, a Washington-based advocacy group with branches throughout the country, said supporters would include members of the New Jersey Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"We are hoping to increase the pressure on the township officials and get them to realize that the ordinance is not positive for the town," said Maite Arce, the executive vice president of the national organization.

The ordinance bans hiring or renting to illegal immigrants; employers and landlords face a $1,000 fine for each violation. It also denies business permits and municipal contracts and grants to employers of illegal immigrants.

"It's hurt business. People are leaving," Arce said. "It's increased discrimination and hostility among the non-Latino residents and the local immigrants, who don't feel safe."

Riverside officials granted the group a permit to assemble. They say they are ready for the rally and have taken some precautions.

Flyers encouraging people to turn out in support of the law are circulating through town. Mayor Charles Hilton said yesterday that he did not expect clashes, but that the Burlington County Sheriff's Department was on standby and Riverside police had spoken with organizers.

"The chief of police has talked to organizers, and they have a plan on how things should be done," Hilton said. "We don't expect problems."

Will the rally change the minds of council members? "No, it won't, not really," Hilton said.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of several groups, including Arce's, is seeking to have the ordinance overturned in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J. The groups argue that Riverside has overstepped its bounds, and that illegal immigration is in the federal government's purview. Additionally, they are asking for $10 million, contending that the law has caused them harm.

Hilton has said that township officials are on sound legal ground, and that the law will not have police busting down doors demanding identification. It will, however, depend on residents to report illegal immigrants living in the town of 8,000. Hilton has said 1,500 to 3,500 illegal immigrants live in the blue-collar town in northern Burlington County.

Arce said the turnout likely would be large because of the Rev. Miguel Rivera's weekday morning radio talk show, CONLAMIC News. Rivera, president of the national coalition, has been talking about Riverside and the rally regularly on the Spanish-language gospel radio station in Washington.

"Every morning when he talks about Riverside, the phones start ringing with people saying, 'We support your efforts,' " Arce said.

Some residents said the rally would be a waste of time.

"I just hope the people in the community don't come and start" anything, said John Stypinski, who supports the ordinance. "Just let them come in and say their prayers and leave."

Leaving is what people have been doing since before the ordinance passed on July 26. There are no solid figures, but some townspeople estimate 1,000 people have left. Stypinski said there was evidence that people were leaving en mass. He said the streets were littered with garbage left behind.

"There are mattresses, box springs and bureaus out on the curbs everywhere," he said. "They are moving out."


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Contact staff writer Toni Callas at 856-779-3912 or tcallas@phillynews.com.