Thread: More than 1,000 rally against illiegal immigation as felony

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ ... pnewjersey

More than 1,000 rally against illiegal immigation as felony

By BONNIE PFISTER
Associated Press Writer

March 20, 2006, 4:39 PM EST

TRENTON, N.J. -- Railing against a congressional proposal to make illegal immigration a felony, some 1,200 immigrants rights advocates gathered outside the Statehouse on Monday to push for easing the path to U.S. citizenship.

Amid a sea of flags from the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, protesters lobbied against the measure they said would punish those who contribute to the U.S. economy by working low-wage jobs while still paying sales and other taxes.

"This is the voice of the voiceless," said Mahonrry Hidalgo, head of the immigration committee of the Latino Leadership Alliance. "We are part of the work force of this country."

Participants in the rally held hand-lettered signs declaring, "We are workers, not terrorists," and "We do work that gringos will never do," and frequently interrupted speakers with chants of "Si, se puede," or "Yes, we can."

Organizers specifically sought to draw attention to what they called the punitive nature of a bill by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. Approved in the House in December, the measure would make unlawful presence in the United States _ currently a civil offense _ a felony.

The bill is up for a March 27 vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has offered revisions that some immigrant supporters say would create a permanent tier of "second-class" residents without a path to citizenship.

Instead, they favor a proposal by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., permitting illegal immigrants already in the United States to remain for six years if they stay employed and pay a $1,000 fine. They would then become eligible for permanent residency.

An alternative proposal by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., would permit employed illegal immigrants to stay for five years _ but they would then have to leave, pay fines and then apply to re-enter the country.

New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control, which supports the Sensenbrenner bill, called the protesters lawbreakers and tax-evaders who threaten domestic security.

"We've been invaded, and the administration is looking the other way," the group said in a written statement.

Rafael Leon, an undocumented immigrant who came to the U.S. from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, said he thinks the McCain proposal is the more just approach. With his wife and three young daughters in tow, Leon said he hoped to show legislators that people like him are hard workers trying to build better lives for their families.

"We want the legislators to see that we are not criminals. Maybe then they will feel a bit more humanely toward us," said Leon, 32, who has work for five years in landscaping and construction around Vineland. "We contribute to the economy of this country."

Similar protests have been staged around the country in the past several weeks, including one in Chicago on March 10 that drew about 100,000 people.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates there are about 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, with about 360,000 in New Jersey. They account for nearly 5 percent of the national civilian work force, or 7.2 million workers, with about 850,000 undocumented immigrants arriving each year.

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On the Net:

HR 4437, The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act: http://thomas.loc.gov/

More sob stories......we are just good "illegal" workers...that's all! They are only doing less than 20% of the work in the largest area, which MEANS the other 80% is being done by AMERICANS, which kills the argument of "some jobs Americans won't do." Hell, they are already doing it, it's just the remaining % has been scaled down to low income and so will the rest of them as time goes by. I personally have done every single one of those jobs at one time in my life and I'm sure many of you have too. That point is moot!

Amid a sea of flags from the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, protesters lobbied against the measure they said would punish those who contribute to the U.S. economy by working low-wage jobs while still paying sales and other taxes.

...yeah they will make real loyal American citizens flying their foreign flags. If you are so proud of your home country that you feel the need to fly it, then by all means GO BACK!

During such events the American flags are almost always planted by the march organizers. I know where their real loyalty is.