Thread: Pro-immigrant march returning

Published: 04.16.2007

Pro-immigrant march returning
Illegal-entrants crackdown bill fans activist ire
By Lourdes Medrano
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Immigration-rights activists are calling on Tucsonans to join in a national march and boycott May 1, one year after throngs of people took to the streets in support of illegal immigrants.
The march is a protest against recent legislation that Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., introduced in Congress dubbed the STRIVE Act — Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy. The proposal calls for beefed-up border enforcement, a guest-worker program and a chance for eligible people living in the country illegally to apply for legal residency after paying fines and meeting various other conditions.
"This May 1, 2007, we will be marching for full worker rights, full civil rights, human rights," said Alexis Mazón of the May 1st Coalition, at a news conference. "Why? Because these bills will actually make the situation for immigrants worse in the United States."
March participants will start gathering at 8 a.m. in the Southgate Shopping Center on South Sixth Avenue and march toward Armory Park in Downtown Tucson. Like last year, Tucsonans also are being encouraged to abstain from spending any money that day to make a point about their economic clout.
Last spring, the push for people to skip work and abstain from shopping on International Workers Day grew out of a series of massive marches across the country. The demonstrators sought to pressure Congress to legalize up to 12 million people living in the country illegally rather than subject them to felony charges. No immigration proposals were approved during Congress' last session.
Tucson's Coalición de Derechos Humanos, which sees the act as anything but a smooth path to legalization for those living in the country illegally, supports the May 1 march.
But other immigrant advocates, including Border Action Network, which support the act as a starting point for discussion, say they will not join the protest.
"We're committed to moving the debate forward this year," said Jennifer Allen, the Tucson group's director.
"We won't be participating in events that don't support our principles," she said.
José Manuel Miranda, a construction worker who took part in last year's marches and boycott, said he has not decided whether to participate in next month's march and boycott.
"I'll have to think more about it, because I don't think anything was accomplished last year," said Miranda, who has lived in the country illegally for more than a decade.
Restaurateur Francisco Durazo, who owns Tacos Apson on the South Side, said even though he lost a significant sum when he closed his business in support of last year's effort, he is ready to do it again.
"I'm a citizen now, but I went through a lot of the same stuff that undocumented people go through," he said. "Finding a way to legalize them would be good for the economy."
● Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 573-4347 or lmedrano@azstarnet.com.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/178559

Here we go again....

This May 1, 2007, we will be marching for full worker rights, full civil rights, human rights," said Alexis Mazón of the May 1st Coalition, at a news conference. "Why? Because these bills will actually make the situation for immigrants worse in the United States."

IMMIGRANTS don't have a problem in the United States of America.
None of this has anything to do with IMMIGRANTS.

I love how they try to group illegal and legal immigrants together like there is no difference Legal immigrants have not had problems in this country as they follow the laws. Illegal immigrants do have a problem as they broke our laws be coming here. They truly believe there is no difference