Thread: Pro and anti immigration groups meet at rally

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/sto ... 2c145.html


08:30 AM EST on Tuesday, January 31, 2006
By STUART WATSON / 6NEWS
E-mail Stuart: SWatson@WCNC.com



Two rallies, one for and one against immigration, came together unexpectedly at a West Charlotte school auditorium Monday night.

The result was a rigorous back-and-forth over the issues just as the Senate gets ready to tackle those same issues.

Latino groups called the candlelight vigil outside Phillip O. Berry High School as a reaction to an anti-immigration rally inside.

When some of the protestors moved into the school, anti-immigration forces found themselves almost outnumbered at their own rally.

The result of the mixed audience was that the rally became a debate.

Audience members freely challenged former U.S. Treasurer and Team America leader Bay Buchanan.

"Do you know how many millions of people want to live in this country? When do we stop? Isn't 15,000,000 enough? How about 50,000,000 illegals? We have to stop sometime," she said.

Buchanan's message: call your senator -- secure the border.

She wants no guest worker program and no amnesty for illegal immigrants and to target big business with enforcement.

"Let's put a few of these fellows in prison," she said.

Outside the quiet assembly called for respect for immigrants and their labor.

George Medina is a legal permanent resident from Honduras.

"Why not give the opportunity to the people working hard?" he asked.

Their agenda is for congress to enact an orderly process to give documents to millions of undocumented workers.

"We don't want a hand out or a hand up, we just want an opportunity to be processed," said Olma Echeverri.

Demonstrations and counterdemonstrations like this one are expected to increase as the Senate takes up the issue in February.

Why don't you go back to Honduras and make it a worthy place to live?

Their agenda is for congress to enact an orderly process to give documents to millions of undocumented workers.

I agree, Congress should give documents to millions of undocumented workers -- documents, in multiple languages, containing orders to vacate the country by a certain date or then be arrested and removed. That would also provide the illegals with a true amnesty (but not a pardon) giving them the opportunity to avoid arrest and punishment for their illegal behavior if they make amends for it and rectify it by going home within a certain time period.

See, we can give them what they want, documents and amnesty.

This is a shame. I guess NC is lost too, if nobody cared enough to go to the rally.

Why was the rally a surprise? Didn't anyone bother to spread the word?

I realize ALIPAC bowed out and went to W/S instead. That isn't the issue. The rest should still support every single place they can get to. Barring that, those who didn't go because they are familiar with the area should have written to Bay Buchanan and let her know if she was walking into such a dangerous area. I find that to be unforgiveable. I'm literally in tears over this!

And by the way, why weren't the people who came to protest out there in the schools we pay for them to go to or working the jobs they came to do?

You can bet that if I'd been at the state of NC, I'd have dragged everyone I could find the 350 miles it would have taken my to drive from the beach to Charlotte to get people there.

And don't you wonder why they are sending kids to school in a place that is that unsafe?

I know I'm ranting on this but it really makes me angry that the people of NC complain so much yet have the nerve to sit around and wait for someone else to do it all for them! Well, I hate to tell you, if everyone is going to be the "someone else" who sits and does nothing waiting for someone else, we can all just kiss our entire way of life goodbye.

Those were pretty much the thoughts I had about this too, JJ. At least from the information I received, the Team America events in other places have been successful. This meeting was an anomaly, I think (and hope). A lot of people apparently dropped their respective ball on this one. Of course, I don't know the details, but if Bay wasn't advised of the situation she definitely should have been.

Is Charlotte not still the largest city in NC? It seems to me that if the police department are so worried about the illegals, they could have spread the word. What is the matter with these people!

I think part of the issue was a short notice of the event.

But why didn't the people there notify the papers and their people? Don't they communicate with anyone? When they were coming to towns near me, I posted on every board I could find, wrote to everyone I knew PLUS e-mailed and phoned every news group in the area. There was no reason for the event not to be advertised, even if interested parties had made up flyers and put them in the grocery stores.

That was an expensive trip to put together and everyone knew the purpose of it. I am angry at the people I call MY people--the North Carolinians-- over this. I rallied more people out here in the middle of nowhere where I hardly know anyone than the city of Charlotte could and they claim to be against illegal immigration?

Does that mean that the day will come when the people of NC will be outnumbered 10 to 1 because they let the illegals run the show?

JJ as far as I know, there are no ALIPAC members in or near Charlotte but I could be wrong.

Short notice & in a crime infested neighborhood, I can certainly see why the turnout was light.