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Taking immigration to the streets in Vista

By: LOUISE ESOLA - Staff Writer

VISTA ---- Hundreds of demonstrators, fueled by the Minuteman anti-illegal immigration movement and countered by pro-immigration and peace activists, rallied Saturday morning at an outpost known to be a pickup location for immigrant day laborers in Vista.

On one side of the corner of Escondido and South Santa Fe avenues, protesters in support of ending illegal immigration waved American flags, donned red, white, and blue, and held signs that read "23 million illegal immigrants in the United States" and "Go Home!"

In the distance, a crowd of similar size waved Mexican and American flags, shouted in Spanish, "We're here, and we are not leaving," and held up signs that read "permanent residents and U.S. citizens are day laborers, too."


Divided by a line of San Diego County Sheriff's Department deputies in riot gear, both sides touted racism and unfair American business practices that exploit cheap labor. Drivers along two of the city's busiest streets honked horns, waved flags and middle fingers, and shouted obscenities and praise at both groups of demonstrators.

Minuteman founder and candidate for Congress Jim Gilchrist, who drove down from Orange County to attend the rally, said the group only wants people and the government to follow the law by not hiring illegal immigrants and by controlling the U.S. border.

"We have to get this issue addressed," he said. "For 10 to 15 years, this area has been a platform for illegal aliens to be employed by modern day slave traders. (The day laborers) are just as much a victim as U.S. taxpayers."

Gilchrist said the system is bogged down with footing the bill for illegal immigrants, from hospitals going bankrupt to schools funding education of a non-English speakers.

"This isn't racism," he said. "It's the law."

Gilchrist admitted that, if he were a Mexican and could not find work in his country, he would migrate illegally to the United States to feed his family.

"I would do the same thing," he said. "But that doesn't mean it should become the Americans' problem."

A parking lot away, counterdemonstrators said the Minuteman rally tossed a blanket over all Mexicans, calling them all illegal immigrants. That rally was organized by the Vista-based Coalition for Peace, Justice, and Dignity, but was attended by both Mexican and Mexican-American residents, and peace activists who all called the Minuteman group a racist one.

Chuck Lowery, a protester with the North County Coalition for Peace and Justice, said the Minuteman group is in denial in not regarding themselves as racist.

"I was over there earlier today and you should hear them, they say 'those people' and pointing over here," Lowery said. "Saying that is racism.

"The Minutemen want to preserve the perceived whiteness of our country, but they can't," he said. "It's not a justice issue, it's a racist one."

"These workers are just trying to make a living," added Mario Moreno, a Carlsbad resident and member of the Coalition for Peace, Justice, and Dignity. "We are all people of the same race, the human race."

Minutemen members fired back, saying that racism is taking place on behalf of those waving the Mexican flags.

"If they want to wave the flag for their country, why don't they go live there?" remarked one Minuteman protester who did not wished to be named.

Meanwhile, 14- and 15-year-old sisters, Abby and Diocy Almeda, donned their soccer jerseys: a mesh shirt of one-half American flag, one-half Mexican flag. Their team ---- "Dos Naciones," or "Two Nations" ---- is based in Vista. Both sisters said they were born in the United States of legal Mexican immigrant parents.

"They came here for a better life," Abby said. "We don't understand what the problem is. Everybody in the United States is an immigrant. We are one nation, under God."

In agreement was Mark Day of Vista, dressed as Uncle Sam in a red, white, and blue top hat, waving a sign that read: "Uncle Sam to the Minutemen: Immigrants Made America."

Day said he wished the counterprotesters waved more American flags and not that of Mexico. "A lot of these people out here are legal," he said. "I am not in favor of illegal immigration, but I am in favor of humane immigration. I think if we all sat down with a moderator, I think we would all agree on a few things."

So says Fredi Avalos, another counterprotester waving the American flag. As a intercultural communication lecturer at Cal State San Marcos, Avalos said many Americans have historical amnesia. The Irish, for example, were once targeted as illegal immigrants, she said.

"As a United States American, I want people to follow the law," she said. "We need to be in Sacramento, in front of lawmakers and the White House. Targeting the workers is not the answer."

Later in the day, Minuteman members headed to Congressman Darrell Issa's office.

Issa, a Republican who represents parts of San Diego, Orange, and Riverside counties, was on the scene to talk to demonstrators about his push for more border security. Issa helped draft a bill to strengthen border security and halt illegal immigration that is now making its way to the U.S. Senate.

Before leaving, Issa said the demonstrators' hearts were in the right place and that he is doing his job to help stop the free flow of illegal immigrants. "These are people who don't trust the system in Washington," he said. "I came here to be in solidarity with what they are frustrated with."

Contact staff writer Louise Esola at (760) 901-4151 or lesola@nctimes.com. To comment, go to www.nctimes.com.