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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Radio host sparks immigrant fervor

    http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0117elias17.html

    Radio host sparks immigrant fervor


    Daniel González
    The Arizona Republic
    Jan. 17, 2006 12:00 AM

    Elias Bermudez sat in a quiet radio station one morning last week, getting ready to start his daily talk show on illegal immigration.

    He looked a little ragged. His eyelids drooped and his voice was still hoarse from the day before when he led thousands of immigrants in a large and boisterous rally at the state Capitol.

    The station manager gave a signal, and Bermudez, suddenly energized, leaned into the microphone.

    "SÃÂ*, se puede, Raza. ¡SÃÂ*, se puede!" Bermudez bellowed, sounding a lot like a farm worker organizer as he assured everyone that it can be done.

    Within minutes, callers lit the red lights on the switchboard in front of him.

    "The power of this movement is not the leaders," Bermudez said. "It's not the organization. It's in the people. A million thanks to every person who took time off to come to the rally."

    His discourse is not typical around the AM dial where talk-show hosts often portray undocumented immigrants as lawbreaking invaders taking jobs from Americans and driving down wages.

    With the charisma of an evangelical minister, Bermudez delivers in Spanish what amounts to a pro-immigrant sermon. He sings their praises as essential workers contributing to the economy by doing jobs shunned by others.

    And while others talk about building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, Bermudez has made federal immigration reform giving undocumented workers the chance to work legally in the United States a daily mantra on his program. His positions are well known throughout the state.

    But it was the rally that raised eyebrows. Some lawmakers were floored on Jan. 9 to see the throng sprawled across the Capitol lawn on the day Gov. Janet Napolitano gave her State of State address, which focused heavily on immigration issues.

    Bermudez's exhaustive plans came together after weeks of work and at least for a while put the immigration issue at the center of Arizona's political world.


    Tapping into fears
    By tapping into the frustrations and fears of undocumented workers over the airwaves, Bermudez has managed to quickly mobilize thousands of undocumented workers and supporters into a powerful new organization known as Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras, or Immigrants Without Borders, a well-financed and organized group that some say is helping shape the debate in Arizona over illegal immigration.

    At the same time, Bermudez has drawn criticism from some who question the motives behind his tactics. Bermudez pays for the show's airtime with donations he receives from listeners, mostly undocumented workers who feel under attack by a growing anti-illegal immigration movement.

    Listeners tune in from their jobs scrubbing dishes and pouring concrete. During one broadcast last week, pots and pans clanged in the background as a caller named Victor described how many employers prefer immigrant workers because they work so hard.

    Critics say Bermudez is exploiting a growing sense of desperation among undocumented immigrants. They point out that immigration reform would be a huge boon to his business, Centro de Ayuda, which charges for the service of preparing immigration documents and has offices in Phoenix, Casa Grande and Tucson.

    They also note that Bermudez served 18 months in a federal prison after pleading guilty in 1996 to laundering drug profits.

    His critics concede, however, that there is no denying his radio program has been effective not only in reaching large numbers of supporters but in raising large amounts of cash to promote the movement.

    Undocumented immigrants are feeling a lot of pressure from a growing number of immigration laws intended to make life hard for them, said Tupac Enrique of Tonatierra, a Phoenix group that advocates for immigrant rights.

    "Elias has been able to tap into that," he said.

    Bermudez, 55, was born in San Miguel, a ranching town in central Sonora. He came to the United States in the early 1970s and later become a U.S. citizen. A Republican, he was mayor of San Luis, a border town in southwestern Arizona, from 1980 to 1982.


    Anatomy of a rally
    Bermudez launched his 90-minute radio program in May. The show, called Vamos a Platicar, or Let's Talk, airs at 8:30 a.m. on KIDR-AM (740). It's at the heart of one of the largest immigrant rights movements the state has seen in years and the key behind the success of a several recent rallies, marches and boycotts, including the huge gathering at the Capitol. Authorities estimated the crowd numbered 4,000. Bermudez believes it was twice that big.

    For weeks, Bermudez promoted the rally on his radio program. With donations that poured in, the group launched a media campaign, spending $25,000 to buy ads promoting the demonstration on Spanish- language radio and television and in Spanish-language newspapers.

    The ads appeared all week leading up to the rally. At the same time, dozens of volunteers fanned out across the Valley distributing 150,000 fliers at grocery stores and Hispanic events such as the Three Kings Day parade in Phoenix. Bermudez said Sin Fronteras spent another $25,000 to rent a stage, a sound system and portable toilets for the rally.

    The media blitz worked. Thousands of people sacrificed a day of work to show up at the Capitol or arrived after their shift ended in the afternoon.

    Phoenix resident Salvador Aviña, an undocumented immigrant from Veracruz, Mexico, was one of them. The 33-year-old landscaper rode his bike to the Capitol after getting off work at 3:30 p.m. He said he heard about the rally on La Nueva, or KHOT-FM (105.9), a station that plays Mexican music.

    "I was surprised to see so many people here. I didn't think there would be so many," said Aviña, surrounded in the crowd by thousands of other workers.

    The size of the crowd also surprised others. Undocumented immigrants typically prefer to keep a low profile. But many feel emboldened by the support they have received from Bermudez on his radio program, said José Robles, Hispanic ministry director at the Phoenix Catholic Diocese and a supporter of the group.

    "The majority of those people at the rally were undocumented. In the past, they wouldn't have gone near something like that," Robles said.

    By giving a voice to people who can't vote, the rally at the Capitol made undocumented immigrants part of the debate over illegal immigration, said state Rep. Ben Miranda, D-Phoenix, who is active with the group.

    Whether it will change the course of the debate, however, is questionable, said state Senate President Ken Bennett, R-Prescott.

    "I don't think it does much to change people's opinions," he said. "It does more to remind people of the importance of the issue."


    Growing movement
    The rally was only the latest in a series of marches, boycotts and work stoppages Immigrants Without Borders has organized around the state, each one larger than the last.

    In May, the group called for a daylong work stoppage to protest proposals in the state Legislature aimed at making life harder for undocumented immigrants. The work stoppage crippled several Valley companies that employ immigrant workers and drew 2,000 supporters to the state Capitol.

    Over the July 4 weekend, the group organized a statewide gasoline boycott to call attention to the economic contributions of Latino immigrants. In support of the boycott, several thousand people reportedly showed up for a rally at Pioneer Park in Mesa.

    And in October, the group organized a boycott at the Childress Automall in Phoenix that drew 2,500 supporters, according to Bermudez. The boycott was aimed at punishing the dealership's owner, Rusty Childress, for his role in the passage of Proposition 200, a ballot measure that makes it a crime for public employees not to report undocumented immigrants who seek certain benefits and requires people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

    "Each time there has been a call for a demonstration, there have been more people. It's pretty clear more and more people are responding to this," said former state Sen. Alfredo Gutierrez,who hosts his own Latino-affairs radio program on Radio Campesina, or KNAI-FM (88.1).

    Gutierrez said Bermudez has borrowed tactics from radio and television evangelists.

    Bermudez, the son of an Assembly of God minister, doesn't deny it.

    "I credit 100 percent of my upbringing to what I'm doing today," Bermudez said.

    He also freely admits he is motivated by selfish reasons. If Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform giving millions of undocumented immigrants the chance to work legally, his business could be flooded with people who need help filling out the government paperwork.

    He says he isn't motivated just by money but by compassion.

    "The unselfish part of me is motivated by the calls I get from distressed people, the wife whose husband has been deported, the mother who lost a son crossing the border," Bermudez said. "I believe we are making a difference."

    Back at the radio station, Bermudez takes a call from a concrete worker named Felix, who attended the rally at the Capitol. Felix gushes about the size of the crowd.

    "The sleeping giant has been awoken," he says.
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  2. #2
    Administrator ALIPAC's Avatar
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    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  3. #3
    Senior Member Virginiamama's Avatar
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    "The sleeping giant has been awoken," he says.
    Geez, can't they come up with anything original?
    Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Thomas Jefferson

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