Thread: Immigration marches return with messages aimed at voters

Apr 29, 3:26 PM EDT

Immigration marches return with messages aimed at voters

CHICAGO (AP) -- Immigration activists and civil rights leaders are gearing up for rallies and marches in cities across the nation, hoping to revive the stagnant immigration debate in time for the presidential election.

Activists predict turnout for the more than 200 events planned Thursday from Seattle to Miami will be far less than in years past. But they say efforts demanding comprehensive immigration legislation - including pathways to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. - have extended beyond the streets.

"While the breadth of activities will be significant, most eyes are turned toward the November election," said Rich Stolz, a coordinator with Fair Immigration Reform Movement, which oversees activist groups across the country. "We've been calling on the candidates to prioritize immigration."

The scope of the pro-immigrant rights movement has seen significant change in just two years time.

More than 1 million people nationwide marched in the name of immigrant rights in 2006. Fueled by a blitz of coverage in churches and Spanish language media, many united to fight a bill that proposed making it a felony for all illegal immigrants to live in the United States.

With no single piece of legislation to rally around in 2007, numbers shrank and the message branched off. Marchers demanded an end to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, respect for the undocumented and worker unity, among other things. Efforts in Los Angeles quickly went sour when police cleared MacArthur Park by whacking protesters and journalists with batons and firing "non-lethal" projectiles.

Organizers say this year's efforts are focused less on protests and more on voter registration and setting an agenda for the next president. At least two major national organizations that traditionally have rallied large numbers of immigrants on May 1, National Council of La Raza and Service Employees International Union, have purposely put less energy into the marches.

"In 2006 we said: 'Today we march. Tomorrow we vote.' This is tomorrow," said Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the SEIU. "Mass mobilizations ensure that people go to the polls. There's this whole culture of participation that's been created in the community."

Still, activists acknowledge an uphill battle.

Immigration reform hasn't resonated with voters in primary elections who overwhelmingly list the economy as their top concern. Immigration legislation has stalled and been defeated in the Senate. Presidential candidates have not extensively addressed the contentious issue.

"Folks are staying away from the immigration debate, it's a touchy subject," said Luis Gutierrez, executive director of Chicago-based Latinos Progresando. "Some don't want to talk about it, unless it's 'build a fence."

Democratic presidential rivals Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton supported a 2006 bill, sponsored by Republican candidate John McCain, that offered illegal immigrants legal status on conditions such as learning English. All three also have supported a border fence.

Community leaders say fear of raids and mistrust of authorities also might lead to lower turnouts Thursday.

"With all these raids that are going on, what are we supposed to do? Write President Bush and just say these things shouldn't happen?" said Juan Jose Gutierrez, president of Los Angeles-based Latino Movement USA. "It's important to allow people to blow off steam, to get back their hope. People have been in a state of intimidation and fear."

Activists point to massive voter registration drives of new immigrants and a newly inspired generation of young immigrant activists as small successes.

In Miami, marchers will demonstrate through the city's Little Haiti neighborhood to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters.

Immigrant advocates in Seattle expect between 5,000 and 8,000 people to turn out for a rally and are encouraging Latinos to boycott purchasing major items.

Rallies are also planned in Los Angeles and Houston, among other cities.

In Chicago, up to 50,000 are expected at a downtown march and rally. Organizers say they have extended their message to include unity among different races and, for the first time, gay rights activists. Representatives from the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Nation of Islam are expected to attend events Thursday.

"In the past, most of the marches you've seen mostly Latino, mostly immigrant or descendants of immigrants," said Emma Lozano, head of the Chicago-based Centro Sin Fronteras. "We want to make an effort (at unity). We need to come together."

http://tinyurl.com/3evn9w

Activists predict turnout for the more than 200 events planned Thursday from Seattle to Miami will be far less than in years past. But they say efforts demanding comprehensive immigration legislation - including pathways to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. - have extended beyond the streets.

There's that word again! Why is the verb "demand" always used by the illegal invaders and those who lobby on their behalf for rights and benefits they are not entitled to!

Organizers say they have extended their message to include unity among different races and, for the first time, gay rights activists. Representatives from the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Nation of Islam are expected to attend events Thursday.

Some group> Gays, radical blacks, and illegal aliens. I'm sure America will be impressed!?

So far, it looks like the OBL activist groups are on track to repeat the mistakes from recent history... again.

a). Demanding and shouting and flying those other nation's flags is a great way to provoke the ire of the quiet, by-standing American. Have at it

b). By enlarging the scope of the groups allowed to support or participate, they risk diluting their focus and message, and, allow other more trouble-making groups to potentially get involved. Again, another mistake.

Oh, I guess I'll have to take a 1/2 off and go observe the local march and report back, eh?

The best and most efficient way of dealing with those marchers is for all of our members to engage in PEACEFUL VIGILANCE if they attend those May Day marches. If the IA's and their Socialist/Marxist/LaRaza comrades want to behave in their typically Bolshevik manner... we mustn't do anything to provoke that kind of behavior or any violence whatsoever. Our ALIPAC leaders have expressed this before and I am posting this reminder for all ALIPAC members who attend those marches.

Our members must be vigilant for any signs or placards that praise the likes of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and even Lenin. Any signs which blatantly states... in English and in Spanish... that Mexico will take back the United States; or that this land is theirs, and/or that Socialism or Marxism will prevail in the United States... all such signs that had been photographed last year... should be noted and duly photographed or videotaped. Be on the lookout for the red flags of the Marxist Party... usually with gold stars on a crimson background and sometimes the old icon of the hammer and sickle; or flags with white backgrounds and a single red star. But above all, try to photograph the anti-American slogans that they may be carrying. Again, do not provoke any defensive reactions from those marchers... just get pictures as best as you can. If opposition marchers try to provoke violence... just walk away from it. We are not the Bolsheviki in this situation... They are.

If our members are able to obtain viable photographs of any offensive signage or behavior; then they should send those pictures to their local and national representatives who support the IA causes along with a clear-cut reminder that if this is the kind of anti-American behavior and philosophy that they are supporting by their continued backing of Illegal Aliens, then they need to be voted out of office as soon as possible. Also, any incumbent political hopeful who supports the IA causes should receive those pictures with the advice that they should not ever be voted into office if that is what they are supporting.

Always remember that we enjoy the Freedom of Speech, the Freedom of the Press (when it's not suppressed), and the right to remain free thinking individuals. There are no freedoms in a Socialist or Marxist society and if the IA'c continue to ally with such concerns, their marches themselves are at cross purposes and contradictory to their supposed belief of freedom for all.

On May Day... Remember two words: Peaceful Vigilance.

Originally Posted by gofer

Organizers say they have extended their message to include unity among different races and, for the first time, gay rights activists. Representatives from the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Nation of Islam are expected to attend events Thursday.

Some group> Gays, radical blacks, and illegal aliens. I'm sure America will be impressed!?

LOL!!!!!! Yeah, they do like to shoot themselves in the foot don't they??

Activists point to massive voter registration drives of new immigrants and a newly inspired generation of young immigrant activists as small successes.

IMMIGRANTS CANNOT VOTE SO HOW CAN THEY HAVE MASSIVE VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES OF NEW IMMIGRANTS!

They finally admit to voter registration fraud.

"In 2006 we said: 'Today we march. Tomorrow we vote.' This is tomorrow," said Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the SEIU. "Mass mobilizations ensure that people go to the polls. There's this whole culture of participation that's been created in the community."

Eliseo Medina
INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Eliseo Medina, described by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most successful labor organizers in the country," has served as international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) since 1996, when he made history by becoming the first Mexican American elected to a top post at the 1.9 million-member SEIU.

Medina has helped make SEIU the fastest-growing union on the West Coast and the largest union in California. Since 1996, more than 900,000 workers across the country have united with SEIU, the nation's largest union of health care workers and the union with the largest membership of immigrant workers.

He currently is leading SEIU's efforts to help workers in 17 states in the southern and southwestern United States--including Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia--unite in SEIU so they will have the strength to improve their jobs and the services they provide in their communities.

Medina's career as a labor activist began in 1965 when, as a 19-year-old grape-picker, he participated in the historic United Farm Workers' strike in Delano, Calif. Over the next 13 years, Medina worked alongside labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and honed his skills as a union organizer and political strategist; eventually rising through the ranks to serve as the United Farm Workers' national vice president.

Medina's interests in strategic organizing brought him to SEIU in 1986, where he helped revive a local union in San Diego--building its membership from 1,700 to over 10,000 in five years.

He was a key strategist in the Los Angeles strike by SEIU Local 1877's building service workers, who in April 2000 won the largest wage increase in the 15-year history of SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign. He also helped more than 100,000 home care workers in California advocate for the best quality care for the people they serve (seniors and people with disabilities) remain independent in their homes by securing funding to improve their quality of life.

Medina also has a deeply felt interest in SEIU's work on immigration policies. When he was 10 years old, he immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico with his mother and siblings to join their father, who was an immigrant farmworker in the U.S. In L.A., he's helped strengthen ties between the Roman Catholic Church and the labor movement to work on common concerns such as immigrant worker rights and access to health care. The Sacramento Bee calls him a "quietly charismatic" leader "who is helping immigrant workers win union representation and make their voice heard in the political arena."

Medina splits his time between L.A. and Houston. He is married and the father of three children.

The best thing anyone can do is to just let them be themselves. Every year they hurt their cause more and more by just acting the way that they always do Badly

It would be real cool with me if they all marched due South . Wade the shallow and narrow Rio Grande and concentrate on their own country . Enough of this rape of America for Corporate Interest . Enough of Elites and their Greed ruining the lives of American Citizens .
Wave your Mexican Flag all the way back to Med-E-Co' .
perhaps we may find a politician or two fed-up with this also.
Demand , What right have they to Demand ? None
I want my country back and all the CFR lackeys gone , send packing . Do our laws work ? Yes . Just look at Sheriff Joe . No one can buy him , SALUTE

BTW: can't register to vote unless your legal with photo ID .