Thread: Student protest all wet in Virginia...

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Rain cools emotions in student protests
BY DANIEL GILBERT
dgilbert@potomacnews.com
Friday, April 7, 2006

Intense emotions spurring student protests fizzled this morning, a rainy day when umbrellas outnumbered flags of Latin American countries and protest signs.

Some 75 students joined the protest, the smallest turnout of the five protests during the last two weeks, and starkly fewer than the 1,000 forecasted by student organizers. The students arrived at Prince William Plaza, the endpoint of three of last week's protests, by 9:00 a.m. and left two hours later.

While the rain may have dampened student enthusiasm, the protest still brought out the faithful.

Clad in a button down shirt and shorts, Jose Guzman, 16, shivered under his umbrella as he explained to a handful of students about a last-minute bipartisan compromise in the Senate on immigration reform.

"The Senate approach would give immigrants who have been here for five years a path to citizenship," said the Freedom High School junior, participating in his third protest.

"It's a good idea, but it still implies that a lot would have to go back home," Guzman said, referring to illegal immigrants who have been in the country for under two years.

Standing slightly apart from the students was 47-year-old Faustino Galindo, a carpenter from El Salvador, and father of one of the students protesting.

"They are doing what the fathers should be doing, and I support them," Galindo said. "Besides, they'd just do it anyway."

Unlike the protests of the previous week, most students drove to the plaza rather than walking from their high schools, arriving in small groups.

And also unlike the previous protests, the flags carried by most students were wrapped around their shoulders for warmth, and they held umbrellas - not protest banners - in their hands.

"It's not like the good ole days," remarked Carlos Labiosa, an assistant probation officer on hand to ensure student safety. "Back in the 60's, we used to protest in all kinds of weather, rain or shine."

Across the plaza under the awning of Featherstone Auto Parts, a group of men stood observing the students.

"If it's that bad," mused Mark Johnson, 44, "why do they come here?" Johnson, a Minnesota resident, works for CarQuest and was part of a team of men helping to open up a new location in the plaza.

"Then where would the manpower come from?" asked a man from Tallahassee, Fl, who declined to give his name. "A lot of jobs they do are jobs we don't want," he said.

As the students rallied by Route 1, Ricardo Juarez, a representative of the National Capital Immigrants Coalition, tried to move the students' energy forward to Monday, where he has arranged for buses to transport them to Washington, DC, where 100,000 protesters are expected.

"We are inviting you to the march on the 10th," Juarez told the students, adding a cautionary note. "You have to bring your parents. We cannot be responsible for the actions of minors."

You know, it's not too late for a cold front to roll in and dump a few inches of snow on Monday for the "Tan Klan" rally. Unfortunately, forecast calls for 60 degrees and sunny.