Thread: Minutemen Frank Jorge 'not going to back down' on protests

http://www.avpress.com/n/01/1001_s2.hts


AV Minutemen 'not going to back down' on protests
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Sunday, October 1, 2006.
By TITUS GEE
Valley Press Staff Writer

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PALMDALE - Frank Jorge is out of jail and back on the protest line.
The leader of the Antelope Valley Independent Minutemen - and one-time subject of a reality show about immigration issues - rallied his group Saturday for its second demonstration opposing illegal immigrants looking for day work in the Four Points area.

The group met beside Fort Tejon Road near the intersection with Pearblossom Highway from 10 a.m. to about noon. They played patriotic music on a large sound system and waved American flags or signs with slogans including "Think you're privileged? Get back in line!!!"

A "counterprotest" organizer had urged the laborers to stay away from the area in order to avoid becoming "convenient targets," but some showed up, anyway.

People driving by either honked and waved to show their support or "flipped us the bird," Jorge said, adding that they would not be deterred by opposition or even violence. "I already told everyone we might be attacked," he said.

The group's first protest, on Sept. 2, ended in a physical confrontation after Esther Halabi of Palmdale stopped her car and got out to berate the Minutemen. Sheriff's deputies, responding to the scene, gave Halabi and Jorge citations for misdemeanor assault and arrested Jorge on charges of felony vandalism for allegedly kicking a dent in the door of Halabi's car.

Jorge spent 36 hours in jail - much of that time waiting for his background check to be processed, he said. He was released on $20,000 bail, of which he had to pay $2,000. His court date has been set for Oct. 10, he said.

"I personally feel that it was a grave injustice to put me in jail," Jorge said, especially in full view of the day workers standing across the street - men Jorge considers criminals.

"The illegal aliens received an indirect message from the sheriff that it's OK to be there," Jorge said.

On Saturday, the leader said the group was prepared to face any confrontation - peaceful or otherwise.

"We're ready for anything," he said. "We're American citizens. We're not going to back down for anyone or anything. We've got First Amendment rights that we intend to keep."

After making bail, Jorge attended the Sept. 6 meeting of the Palmdale City Council but did not get an opportunity to address the council, he said, adding that his request for the issue of illegal immigration to be put on the agenda had been denied. The time allotted for presentations about nonagendized items came too late in the night for him to stay and speak, he said.

"At 10 p.m. we decided to go home," he said. "We were not able to say our piece, but we will."

He said he plans to continue confronting local politicians with the issue, with focus on the employment of people who entered the United States without following proper immigration procedures.

"As time goes by, they're gonna get to see that I am dead serious," he said. "This situation at Four Points is an embarrassment to them, and it will become an issue come election time. It's an issue now. We're working on it."

Jorge said he did talk to some politicians at the City Council meeting.

One of those people was Al Ewing, a Town Council member in Sun Village, Ewing said.

After trying to dissuade the Minutemen from their plan to protest this week, Ewing decided to oppose them in a different way, he said.

He called his plan "a day without a convenient target," an allusion to the pseudo-controversial film "A Day Without a Mexican."

"For one week, I went over there and introduced myself to day workers," he said. When he found one with good enough English to translate for the others, Ewing said he outlined a plan to empty the area of day workers during Saturday's demonstration. He circulated fliers urging workers to spend the morning with their friends and families so the Minutemen would not have anyone to point at during the protest.

"They're not going to get work anyway, with enraged citizens - passionate citizens - waving flags and shouting at people," Ewing said.

Ewing said he agrees with Jorge's group about the need to control traffic across the nation's border, but he thinks focusing on the day workers amounts to becoming "impolite bullies as opposed to social activists."

"If you've got to fight now, go to the border," he said. "Go to Washington. Tell your congressman, tell the president that you want the policy changed."

The results of Ewing's efforts were mixed. He said by phone Saturday afternoon that he was very pleased by the results. He was out of town and did not go to Four Points himself but had heard reports that laborers vacated the area near the Minutemen protest at 11 a.m.

A reporter at the scene saw only a few people standing directly across the street from the 30 or so Minutemen, but more than a dozen had gathered a few hundred yards away at the corner of Fort Tejon Road and Pearblossom Highway.

The workers - all men and most of them apparently Hispanic - said they did not speak English well enough to talk to the press.

One man, who gave his name as Donardo, spoke enough English to say that no one had stopped to offer work.

He motioned toward the Minutemen and said, "I don't know what is happening over here. … They don't like Mexican people?"

A smaller group of workers could be seen across Pearblossom Highway from Donardo's group. After a few minutes he crossed the street to try his luck with them.

Back on the Minutemen's side of the street, James Hux chatted with fellow Army veteran Thomas Stoffel . Both men said they were 54, disabled veterans, college students, out of work and struggling to legally compete with illegal immigrants for work doing manual labor.

"It's a fallacy, what people say - that there's some work Americans won't do," Hux said. "That's (baloney). I'll do anything."

Hux said he has done everything from construction to washing dishes, and all of those jobs are now difficult to find without accepting less than minimum wage.

"I'm tired of being homeless. … We're struggling out here," he said, adding that he is staying with a friend and caring for an aging relative in exchange for room and board.

"I'm flat disgusted," Hux said. "The jobs I used to do, they're just not there anymore. … I want to work and the jobs should be for us first, them (illegal immigrants) second."

He said national origins are not the issue.

"My aunt is Mexican. She came here legally," he said. She "jumped through all the hoops. They should, too. … My Mexican-American relatives feel the same way."

tgee@avpress.com

He motioned toward the Minutemen and said, "I don't know what is happening over here. … They don't like Mexican people?"

WE LOVE MEXICAN PEOPLE! We don't like Mexican People in our country illegally in violation of US Immigration Law stealing work and blocking roadways and causing traffic jams in the United States.

Now, GO HOME. WE LOVE YOU. Bye Bye!!

We don't like any immigrants who ignore our laws and are in our country illegaly! We are not prejudiced to any race or color, only law breakers.