Thread: Minutemen plan job-site protests

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Minutemen plan job-site protests
New tactic raises fears among Hispanic leaders

JON GAMBRELL
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD


The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps plans to begin protesting in front of businesses suspected of employing illegal immigrants throughout Washington state.

The new protest plans would move the organization off the border and into cities and towns for the first time, worrying Hispanic leaders and others about the group's intentions.

The plans, confirmed by Seattle Minuteman organizer Spencer Cohen, would have volunteers suggest job sites across the state believed to employ illegal immigrants. Minuteman volunteers would wave protest signs and potentially take photographs of suspected illegal workers to post on the Internet.

In Cohen's view, illegal immigration drains economies with increased costs for schools and hospitals. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates as many as 12 million illegal immigrants live in the United States - 82 percent of them from Central and South America. The center also estimates Washington state has as many as 250,000 illegal immigrants
Cohen, who describes himself as a part-time political consultant, said the Minuteman protests will draw attention to illegal workers and help politicians "get the hint."

"We think that day labor sites represent an offshoot," he said. "It creates an incentive for people to break the law and enter the country illegally."
Illegal immigration concerns along the United States' southern border gave rise to the Minuteman project, which began last spring in Arizona. Over time, the group expanded into job-site protests.

However, the protests would be a first for the Washington Minuteman Detachment. The volunteers, led by Tom Williams of Deming, held a monthlong border watch between Blaine and Sumas in October and others once a month since. They plan to hold another monthlong watch in April, coinciding with other Minuteman groups across the country.
While Cohen said any Minuteman volunteers would follow the law while demonstrating at job sites, that didn't offer any consolation for Barbara Rofkar, co-chairwoman of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force.
"These folks don't make us feel safe," she said. "This is quite frightening. We don't know who they are. We don't know what they want to accomplish."

Uriel Iñiguez, executive director of the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, said the Minuteman protests would only harass those who risked their lives to enter the United States to work.

"To me, the workers are coming over to do a job no one wants to do ... and are again being victimized," Iñiguez said. "It is going to make a more hostile community."

Since the Minuteman organization appeared in Whatcom County, Iñiguez said there have been complaints about the "anti-immigrant atmosphere." He suggested the Minuteman volunteers would be better served to protest legislators to demand immigration reform.

For now, Cohen continues to collect information on potential protest sites from Minuteman volunteers and has no timetable for holding the demonstrations. He also said he personally would discourage protesters from carrying firearms, even if they had state concealed carry permits.

"Although we are accused of being racist vigilantes, that's just not the case," Cohen said. "We are basically like an inner-city neighborhood watch."

Reach Jon Gambrell at jon.gambrell@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2263.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates as many as 12 million illegal immigrants live in the United States - 82 percent of them from Central and South America. The center also estimates Washington state has as many as 250,000 illegal immigrants

Only took them sixteen years to up it by a million. And keep in mind that Mexico would be considered part of Central America in this case.