Thread: Thousands Rally Against Georgia Immigration Law

Thousands Rally Against Georgia Immigration Law

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07 ... ation-law/

ATLANTA -- Thousands of marchers stormed the Georgia Capitol on Saturday to protest the state's new immigration law, which they say creates an unwelcome environment for people of color and those in search of a better life.

Men, women and children of all ages converged on downtown Atlanta for the march and rally, cheering speakers while shading themselves with umbrellas and posters from the blazing summer sun. Capitol police and organizers estimated that between 8,000 and 14,000 protesters gathered.

They filled the blocks around the Capitol, holding signs decrying House Bill 87 and reading "Immigration Reform Now!"


Friends Jessica Bamaca and Melany Cordero held a poster that read: "How would you feel if your family got broken apart?"

Bamaca was born in the U.S., but her mother and sister are from Guatemala. She said she fears they will be deported.

"I would be here by myself," said Bamaca, 13. "I have a feeling (the governor) doesn't know the pain affecting families. If he were to be in our position, how would he react?"

Azadeh Shahshahani of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia called the rally inspiring and said she hoped lawmakers would recognize the law's potential to damage the state.

"I think it's going to have an impact," she said. "Unfortunately, the damage has already been done as far as people of color having second thoughts about moving to Georgia."

Several different groups stood with the largely Latino crowd, including representatives from the civil rights movement. The Rev. Timothy McDonald, an activist who has been supportive of immigration protesters, was among the speakers showing his solidarity.

"You are my brothers and my sisters," McDonald told the crowd. "Some years ago, they told people like me we couldn't vote. We did what you are doing today. We are going to send a message to the powers that be ... that when the people get united, there is no government that can stop them. Don't let them turn you around."

Saturday's rally follows a "day without immigrants" organized Friday, when some parts of the law took effect. It was organized by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. The organization asked businesses to close and community members not to work or shop to protest the law.

On Monday, a judge temporarily blocked key parts of the law until a legal challenge is resolved.

One provision that was blocked authorizes police to check the immigration status of suspects without proper identification. It also authorizes them to detain illegal immigrants. Another penalizes people who knowingly and willingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants while committing another crime.

Parts of similar measures in Arizona, Utah and Indiana also have been blocked by the courts.

Provisions that took effect Friday include one that makes it a felony to use false information or documentation when applying for a job. Another provision creates an immigration review board to investigate complaints about government officials not complying with state laws related to illegal immigration

Let them rally. Come out of the shadows so that you may be recognized for what you are. WE DID NOT INVITE YOU HERE. THE UNITED STATES IS NOT YOUR COUNTRY. YOU LEFT YOUR COUNTRY. YOU BROKE THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY THE DAY YOU ILLEGALLY CROSSED THE BORDER OR OVERSTAYED YOUR VISA. YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS OTHER THAN THE RIGHT TO LEAVE AND NOT COME BACK.

The sob stories have no effect on me what so ever. This is not immigration, it is an Invasion. Georgia is another state that is just overrun with Illegals and between the President, his administration and the judges, States can't even protect themselves.
I am damned sick of Illegals marching in our capitols DEMANDING what they are not entitled to and Govt. and judges pandering to them.
It isn't like they didn't know what they were doing when the illegally crossed the border or overstayed their visa.
Enforce our Immigration Laws and Deport them.

Time for Millions of Americans to march on the Capitols including DC and DEMAND our Immigration laws be enforced and this Invasion stopped and reversed. WE Have the Right....Illegals do not.

Imagine sneaking across the border, then marching in OUR streets demanding and getting welfare, food stamps, wic, free health care, education, housing assistance and other benefits using stolen and fraudulent identities aided and abetted by pro-open borders terrorist organizations, politicians and not paying any taxes but getting the EITC and refunds while those benefits are denied to Americans who lost their jobs and homes. Let's add taking jobs from Americans because illegal aliens are willing to work for peanuts under slave labor conditions, paid under the table in cash and pay no payroll and income taxes taxes while shutting down our hospitals from free health care including organ transplants, delivery of anchor babies and other care, bankrupting our hospitals while the same care is denied to Americans unable to pay for it.

Then these invading piss ants complain when Americans have had enough of this crap and are passing laws punishing invaders for identity theft, welfare and tax fraud when many Americans are wondering if they are going to have a job the following week and will they be able to put food on their tables and won't be able to rely on local food banks and pantries because illegal aliens emptied all of them while they are working and receiving public benefits at the same time, many using multiple social security numbers to receive multiple benefits payments and lying about the number of bambinos they have.

Americans including veterans who lost their jobs are being tossed out in the street while those who don't respect our laws, borders and sovereignty get public housing assistance.

You bet your illegal alien posteriors I am angry. We rapidly are becoming a bankrupt, impoverished, lawless, corrupt third world cesspool aided by the pro open borders putzes on Capital Hell and the Mexican owned Whitehouse. Cities and states are broke and whine to Uncle Sugar but like the idiots in Mexifornia and Maryland spend billions of dollars annually on benefits and services as in-state tuition and welfare on those with no legal right to be in this country. Corrupt politicians afflicted with headisuptheirassititis shall surely destroy this nation.

(Mod edit/separated paragraphs/RB)

"Video at source!"

Latino activists rally against immigration bill
Posted: Jul 02, 2011 7:49 AM EDT Updated: Jul 02, 2011 2:02 PM EDT
Submitted by John Pillow - email

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -

Georgia's Latino community came out in large numbers Saturday at the state capital to protest the implementation of Georgia's new immigration bill.

A federal judge last week banned some of the bill's more stringent measures, but foes say the court ruling didn't go far enough.

Several hundred people attended today's rally, and organizers said many were from other states.

Activists are calling for immigration reform, and an end to what they term as a "climate of hate" currently existing in the state.

Yesterday they urged Latinos not to work or shop in local businesses to illustrate their economic power.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/1501684 ... ng-protest

"Don't you just love how they completely avoid the cost to State?"
which is billions each year!

All illegal aliens must be deported.

What a missed opportunity!! Could have rounded them all up at once. And they say it can't be done. These bunch of criminal losers need to march straight home and good riddance.

Thousands Rally in Atlanta Against Racist Immigration Law
Saturday, July 02, 2011

housands rally against immigration law

By Christian Boone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution



Eighteen-year-old Myra Cerecero said she wakes up every morning praying her parents made it home safely.

"I'm living in a constant state of fear they'll be picked up," said the daughter of illegal immigrants. The American-born Loganville teen was among roughly 10,000 to 15,000 people, according to Capitol police, who jammed the streets of downtown Atlanta Saturday morning to voice their opposition to House Bill 87, Georgia's crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The recently signed bill penalizes those who use false identification to secure jobs as well as government officials who fail to enforce the state's immigration laws.

Though the law went into effect Friday, protest organizers say the fight to repeal HB 87 is far from over.

"This is the beginning of the end, not the end," said Teodoro Maus, president of the Georgia Latino Alliance on Human Rights (GLAHR).

Protesters invoked President Barack Obama's name repeatedly as they marched past the state Capitol, signifying their support of the federal DREAM Act, which would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal immigrants, such as high school graduates, who came to this country as minors.

"We need comprehensive immigration reform," said Helen Kim Ho, executive director of the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, one of 62 organizations that participated in Saturday's march. "Change has to come from the federal level."

Mableton resident Alma Olmedo said she's not optimistic about a federal solution.

"Obviously the federal government is not doing anything for us so we'll have to do it for ourselves," said the 22-year-old, holding a sign declaring "I will not live in the shadows."

Olmedo, who came to the U.S. when she was 5 years old, said she fears the consequences of HB 87.

"I could end up being sent back to a place (Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, where Olmedo was born) I don't remember to live among people I don't know," she said as marchers chanted "Si, se puede," Spanish for Obama's 2008 campaign slogan, "Yes we can."

The message Saturday was about more than politics, according to Adelina Nicholls, executive director of the GLAHR.

"We believe they have the right to stay here," she said. "Our kids have grown up here. We work here. This is our country also."

HB 87's opponents welcomed one small victory this week, as a federal judge blocked some contested parts of the bill, including a provision that empowered local and state police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects and another that punished those who harbor illegal immigrants.

Georgia is one of several states to adopt tough immigration legislation patterned after the groundbreaking law enacted in Arizona last year.

D.A. King, president of The Dustin Inman Society, which he described as "pro-enforcement on American immigration and employment laws," said the rally participants are on the opposite side of the majority of U.S. opinion.

"Most Americans realize that we take in more legal immigrants than any nation on the planet -- more than 1 million a year," King said. "Most Americans watching this rally understand that these people's message is one of anti-enforcement, open borders and separatism."

King said HB 87 "is doing exactly what it was intended to do and I, along with a majority of Georgians who oppose illegal immigration, are very happy -- elated -- to watch illegal immigrants migrate out of Georgia."

King said "we will really know we have an effective immigration law when we make ours closer to what they have in Mexico," which he said is far more stringent.

-- Staff writer Joel Provano contributed to this article.


Atlanta LGBT activists speak out against HB 87 for Saturday's 'March for Justice'

by Dyana Bagby
July 02, 2011 10:45

A queer contingent participated in Saturday's March for Justice to protest Georgia's immigration law that went into effect July 1.

Before the march, several members of Atlanta's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities released statements saying why the oppose the law, HB 87 and titled the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011."

Paulina Hernandez, co-director, Southerners on New Ground: "The LGBTQ community has a lot to risk with the passage of HB-87 and we are outraged that the governor has chosen to ignore all the community outcry from citizens, legal residents and immigrant communities alike, his arrogance will mark a political moment we will not forget," she said.

Paris Hatcher, executive director, SPARK! Reproductive Justice NOW: "SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW stands in solidarity with SONG and other people of color and LGBTQ led organizations in the South for the July 2 Mass Mobilization. We share and echo the call for renewed commitment for justice for immigrants and other marginalized communities who are facing increased surveillance and profiling with the passage of HB87," she said. "As a community centered organization led by the experiences of women of color and LGBTQ people, we understand a temporary injunction is not enough, and only a full repeal of HB87 can mitigate the devastating impact of this racist bill on the lives, families, and communities of our people," she added.

Mary Anne Adams, board member and founder of ZAMI NOBLA, a national organization of black lesbians on aging: "This bill uses racial profiling as a tool of Georgia to police, detain, arrest and deport Latino immigrants. Moreover, it places all people of color in the cross-hairs of Police and ICE collaboration. As a black lesbian organization we are concerned that our base, our communities and our allies will be affected with its passing and implementation. We urge our comrades to build unity across communities that experience homophobia, sexism and racism …," she said.

Craig Washington, prevention programs manager at AID Atlanta: "As a black gay man who has been HIV positive for most of my life, I embody identities deemed as taboo, different, queer, those whose bodies are demonized, criminalized and imprisoned. I do not need to face the same pitfalls as an immigrant to recognize where our paths cross," he said. "Let our chants resound to claim freedom for all, to celebrate the contributions of immigrants throughout Georgia and the nation, to declare that we share the struggle, and that only when we are all free, can we proclaim the victory."

Stephanie Guilloud and Emery Wright, co-directors, Project South: Today, Project South marches with families who have been targeted and profiled by racist legislation whether it’s Islamaphobia, the constant police presence in black communities, or the intimidation and fear tactics used against immigrants. We call on teachers, medical practitioners, faith leaders, students, and community leaders to choose freedom and decide not to comply with these laws," they said.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash put a temporary injunction on some of the more controversial portions of the law as a lawsuit alleging the law is unconstitutional goes through the court system.

Thrash blocked the part of the law that allows police to investigate immigration status of suspects with no identification and who are suspected of committing a state or federal crime. The judge also blocked implementation of the portion of the law that punishes people who knowingly assist or harbor an illegal immigrant.

HB 87 was sponsored by state Rep. Matt Ramsey, (R-Peachtree City). When the bill was signed by Gov. Nathan Deal into law on May 13, Ramsey issued this statement:

“HB 87 is a comprehensive and necessary effort to enforce the rule of law and protect the taxpayers of Georgia from being forced to subsidize the presence of nearly 500,000 illegal aliens in our state. Current economic conditions have made it painfully obvious that the state of Georgia literally cannot afford to continue this broken system.

“This is not simply an immigration issue, but also a problem that burdens our state’s schools, healthcare system and law enforcement community. Georgia’s taxpayers have demanded action to enforce the rule of law and, where the federal government has failed, their state government has listened and delivered.â€

I didn't realize illegal immigrant was a race.