Thread: Peaceful protests don't stop immigrant program

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Peaceful protests don't stop immigrant program

Mexico consulate offers assistance with documents, advice

GABRIELA RICO
Statesman Journal

September 25, 2005

INDEPENDENCE -- Protesters peacefully carried signs and sang ballads about the blight of illegal immigration Saturday during an event put on by the Mexican government.

Meanwhile, employees from the Mexican Consulate for Oregon, along with representatives from several Oregon state departments, were undaunted as they provided documents and resources to the more than 200 Mexican nationals who arrived at Henry Hill Elementary School.

Protesters, organized by Oregonians for Immigration Reform, decried the state's participation in the event.

Among the services offered at the daylong event were matricular consular cards, Mexican birth certificates to children born in Oregon and information about paying taxes, receiving health care and getting a driver's license in the state.

The president of OFIR, Jim Ludwick, said the group's goal was to make Oregonians aware of the state's accommodation of illegal immigrants.

"We're not protesting the Mexican consul general, but the state agencies, especially the Oregon Department of Employment," he said. "Why are they here?"

Illegal immigrants create crowding in schools and drain social services, Ludwick said.

"The Oregon Health Plan is bankrupt," he said. "The reason is quite obvious here."

Protester Peter Dane, 62, of Keizer said that he is concerned about the effects of increased immigration and worries that his neighbors seem uninterested.

"I want to counter the apathy in the citizens," he said. "Why doesn't the (Oregon) governor sue the federal government for not enforcing immigration laws?"

Salem resident Jim Elvin, 70, stood in front of the school he attended as a child.

"This school that I went to 56 years ago is being degraded because of the explosion of illegal immigration," he said. "This problem is affecting every aspect of our lives."

Most protesters directed their frustration at immigration policies and the governments north and south of the border, but some see immigrants as sinister.

"They are selling drugs to our kids and raping our kids," said Daniel Miglavs of Sherwood. "Our public officials, our state employees, are in there right now aiding and abetting them."

He defended his statement by waving a stack of papers that showed the high rate of incarceration for Hispanics in Oregon.

"They're disproportionately committing crimes versus the general public," Miglavs said. "It really is an underlying crime syndicate."

The three-hour demonstration included about 30 protesters who carried signs and flew an American flag.

Cindy Tilkens of Salem strummed a guitar and sang a ballad that she composed.

"They're coming here by thousands now; They used to run and hide; But now we watch them breaking laws; Right before our eyes," she crooned.

The peaceful tone of the morning was momentarily interrupted by a man who drove past the school in a convertible jeep blaring the Mexican dance tune, "Juana la Cubana."

Sgt. Rick Igou of the Independence Police Department was joined by five uniformed officers at the school, monitoring the crowd.

"We're keeping the peace, and so far, that's been easy to do," he said.

Mexico's Consul General for Oregon, Fernando Sánchez Ugarte, said this is the fourth time that the outreach program has drawn protesters.

"There's no point," he said about the demonstration. "Our activity is necessary to help these people. What we're doing is peaceful and legal."

Sánchez said there is no plan to eliminate or scale back the program, quite the contrary.

"Next year, we'll be increasing the number of events," he said. "There's a lot of demand."

Sánchez said that the consulate rented the school for $150 and brought its own equipment.

At one point, a group of curious neighbors walked to the school when they saw the picket signs.

"This is a disgrace," said Bridgett Currier, 20. "They just come here to make a living for their family. Why can't we just live in peace?"

Noe Nuñez, 21, shook his head.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said about the protesters. "This surprises me a lot and shows me what kind of people live in my community."

As for the Mexican citizens who showed up for services, most seemed unfazed.

"We're only here to work," said Raul Aguirre, 29, who lives in Eugene. "But, wherever we go, there are people like this."

Standing a half-block away, Jose Alvarez, 30 of Salem, watched the protesters with his arms crossed.

"This is the government's fault," he said. "If the government wasn't maintaining them with Social Security checks, they'd have to find a job instead of spending time out here doing this."

Protest organizer Rick Hickey of Salem, said he knows most illegal immigrants are in Oregon to work.

"Some guys are just here seeking a better life," he said. "Hey, that's why I'm out here, too."

"There's no point," he said about the demonstration. "Our activity is necessary to help these people. What we're doing is peaceful and legal."

How can it be legal to aid those who's very presence in this country is an affront to the law? I say shut down all Mexican Consulates in America until this garbage is resolved.

Aiding and abetting illegal aliens flys in the face of the unenforced federal laws. You know, the ones that the rest of us must obey. Like paying federal taxes, etc.

I'd love to have 'people like that' in my community by the 1,000's...they're true patriots. It would seem that our governments both state and federal have forgotten to whom this nation belongs. Certainly not a handful of 'elected' representatives who no longer bother with representing the folks who hired them.

RR

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