Thread: Opponents of illegal immigration to rally Friday

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pb ... 50315/1001

Opponents of illegal immigration to rally Friday

Groups converging in Salem say government doesn't enforce laws

THELMA GUERRERO
Statesman Journal


June 5, 2006

Illegal-immigration opponents have a message.

They'll sound it on the steps of the Capitol on Friday during an anti-illegal-immigration rally.

"It's appropriate to hold this rally on the steps of the Capitol because we believe the government of Oregon actively encourages illegal immigration," said Jim Ludwick, the president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, a nonprofit group that opposes illegal immigration.

OFIR and Citizen Caucus, a conservative group based in Coos County, organized the event. It's set to start at 11 a.m.

"Our group is not now, nor ever has been, opposed to legal immigration," Michael Armstrong, a founding member of Citizen Caucus, said in an e-mail. "We oppose illegal immigration and our government's unwillingness to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders over the past 40 years."

Joining the demonstrators will be columnist and author Frosty Woolridge and his 21st Century Paul Revere Ride.

The ride -- which fashions itself after the famous midnight ride by legendary messenger Paul Revere in April 1775 -- is made up of a caravan of motorcycle riders on a summerlong tour to the capitals in the 48 contiguous states.

Its goal is to inform the public and elected officials about "the severity of the illegal immigration crisis" in the United States, according to the group's Web site.

The ride, which will culminate in Washington, D.C., in mid-August, began May 29 in Denver.

Ludwick said OFIR and Citizen Caucus decided to join forces with the motorcyclists to help "bring greater awareness of the adverse impact that illegal immigration has on the state of Oregon."

Other speakers expected to take part in Friday's rally include state Reps. Jeff Kropf, R-Sublimity, Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, and Linda Flores, R-Clackamas, and radio personalities Victoria Taft and Richard Sturm.

Kropf said he wanted to be part of the event to help express collective concerns about the need for an overhaul of the nation's immigration policy.

"We want to get a message out there that will wake people up so they can be aware of the discussions going on in Washington, D.C., and how that will affect us here locally," Kropf said.

The groups support some elements of an immigration-reform bill passed by the U.S. House in December, Kropf said.

That measure would increase enforcement and border security, build about 700 miles of a two-layer fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, increase fines against employers who hire undocumented immigrants, penalize people who help illegal immigrants enter the country and make illegal entry a felony.

"I don't support making illegal immigration a felony," Kropf said. "What we want is a policy that calls for border security first and then a guest-worker program that is not a path to citizenship."

Immigrant-rights activists, on the other hand, support legislation passed by the Senate in late May. That bill would give certain non-U.S. citizens living in the country a chance at citizenship.

A joint Senate-House Conference Committee now is charged with reconciling the two pieces of legislation into one immigration-reform bill.

But supporters of the Senate measure have said they worry that House members will refuse to compromise on their bill.

Meanwhile, Aeryca Steinbauer, the statewide coordinator for Causa, an immigrant-rights advocacy group in Woodburn, said she questions the truthfulness of groups who claim they oppose only illegal immigration.

"Their actions indicate the contrary," Steinbauer said. "A lot of their actions are viewed by the immigrant community as very racist.

"Their actions have only succeeded in creating and spreading fear in the immigrant community, and we don't think they are a constructive force in the immigration debate."

tguerrero@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6815

This is so-o-o-o bad....EVERY time the ILLEGALS are crossed in anyway they scream racism and it is not working if anyone has a lick of sense. Just look at their rallies with their racist slogans on their signs, watch how they react to any rallies the LEGAL citizens try to have, shoving their signs with racial and threatening slogans in their faces and know that they are running afraid and well should be........

I hope they get a huge turn out