Thread: SanFran protestors marched May 17 in favor of amnesty

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...ed=rss.bayarea


SAN FRANCISCO
Local rally mirrors D.C. rally, lobbying
Immigration activists spurred by Bush's border suggestion
Cicero Estrella, Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writers

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Immigration activists rallied at United Nations Plaza in San Francisco on Wednesday evening and marched partway down Market Street and back in conjunction with a protest and lobbying effort in Washington over immigration reform.

Most of the 200 protesters were spurred especially by President Bush's call Monday for the National Guard to help monitor the border.

"I never thought I'd see the day when we would put troops on the border," said Joseph Arroyo, who said his great-grandfather emigrated from Mexico in 1889. "All these people do is help the economy by doing jobs that nobody wants to do and receiving very little pay. This isn't just a Latino issue. It's about Filipinos, Asians and anyone who wants to make better lives for themselves."

Former Berkeley mayor Gus Newport told rally participants they were part of the "new civil rights" movement.

"This needs to be bigger, because numbers speak," he said. "Bush's plans are criminal. Since when does a democratic society close its border to immigrants? We claim to be the model for democracy. We're supposed to show other countries how it's done, but we're not doing a good job of it ourselves."

Organizers called the march to voice their opposition to pending federal legislation and Bush's speech as activists in Washington fanned out to the offices of senators to persuade them to support immigrant rights. Huge crowds have rallied in cities across the country several times this spring, including one that filled downtown streets in San Francisco on May 1.

"Since the May 1 actions, I think we've changed a lot of people's points of view," organizer Miguel Araujo said Wednesday. "We want to make sure that (lawmakers) do the right thing. We know they're under a lot of pressure, but they have to listen to the voice of the people. We're good workers, and we're good people."

The Senate bill, SB2611, now known as the Hagel-Martinez Compromise, would legalize many but not all of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States. Some activists oppose it because it would exclude illegal immigrants who have been in the country less than two years, among other reasons. As of Wednesday, it also includes a provision to build 370 miles of triple-layered fencing along the Mexican border.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., co-sponsor of a bill the House passed in December that focuses on immigration law enforcement, and other Republicans criticized the Senate bill and Bush's proposal.

"Regardless of what the president says, what he is proposing is amnesty," Sensenbrenner said. He said Bush had "basically turned his back" on the House bill after encouraging the House to pass it last year.

The House bill, which includes 700 miles of double-fencing at the Mexican border, would make felons of illegal immigrants and those who aid them. It does not include a guest-worker plan or legalization for any undocumented immigrants.

A new national coalition of pro-immigrant groups, known as the We Are America Alliance, planned the lobbying day as the first step in a campaign that will center this summer on helping eligible immigrants become citizens and voters. The group aims to register 1 million new voters before the November elections.

Celine Kennelly, director of San Francisco's Irish Immigration Pastoral Center, flew to Washington and joined with dozens of other Irish and Irish American immigration activists to lobby Congress for a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants Wednesday. The center encouraged its members to phone California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats, and voice support for "comprehensive" immigration reform.

Bay Area residents opposed to illegal immigration plan rallies at 5 p.m. Friday at Fremont Boulevard and Mowry Avenue in Fremont and at noon Saturday at Stevens Creek and Winchester boulevards in San Jose.

Are we surprised with Boxer and Feinstein close by? Idots...