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'Los Angeles, Mexico' signs no más
By Marianne Love , Staff Writer
WhittierDaily News
May 3, 2005

A Spanish- language television station will change the content of 75 billboards that have sparked criticism from illegal-immigrant opponents nationwide, a billboard company spokesman said Tuesday.
A spokesman for Clear Channel Outdoor, which leases the billboards to Burbank-based Liberman Broadcasting, said its client will change the billboards for Noticias 62, which depict two newscasters posed in front of the Los Angeles downtown skyline with "Los Angeles, CA' crossed out and changed to "Los Angeles, Mexico.'

Tony Alwin of Phoenix-based Clear Channel Outdoor said he did not know what the new ads will read.

"In response to community feedback, Clear Channel spoke with the local advertiser and reached an agreement on revising the ad copy. The new copy is expected to be posted by the end of this week,' Alwin said.

Liberman Broadcasting, which owns 16 Spanish-language radio stations and four television stations, including KRCA-TV Channel 62, did not return calls seeking comment.

The billboards, mostly in Los Angeles County, but also in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, also showed the Angel of Independence, a popular tourist attraction in Mexico City, further suggesting the merging of Los Angeles and Mexico.

Locally, billboards are on the north side of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in Irwindale and on Arrow Highway in Baldwin Park.

They also read, "Tu Ciudad. Tu Equipo,' or "Your City. Your Team.'

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for the billboards to come down last week on a local radio show.

On Orangethorpe Avenue and State College Boulevard in Fullerton, an American flag is draped over a billboard, blocking the word Mexico, said Lt. Neal Baldwin.

Lenard Liberman, executive vice president of Liberman Broadcasting, said last week his company was merely trying to appeal to the 6.8 million Latino s, many with ties to Mexico, living in Los Angeles.

William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, said the change was a small victory in the larger battle of enforcing the nation's immigration laws and securing its borders.

"Those signs offended people across the country for two sensi tive reasons. There's documentation that some large corporations are contributing to our illegal immigration problem and secondly, a large number of illegal aliens and their political activists don't respect or acknowledge America's territorial jurisdiction over the area and have repeatedly said, 'It's our land and we are taking it back.''

-- Marianne Love can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108, or by e-mail at marianne.love@sgvn.com .