"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 4/28/'06 1:30 PM
"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 4/28/'06 1:30PM
4/28/'06 - The following article(s) were found in the media. Several stories are provided ... with links to the original sources ... for your convenience:
- Protesters expected to crowd Capitol, downtown Monday
- Mexican lawmakers support U.S. immigration protest
- Immigration issues coming to a 'big stop'
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Protesters expected to crowd Capitol, downtown Monday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/28/06
Anybody with business in the state Capitol area on Monday might want to stay away — unless your business is protesting immigration laws.
State authorities are preparing for as many as 100,000 protesters at the state Capitol for a rally scheduled from noon to 4 p.m.
The rally coincides with other May 1 activities, including a boycott, aimed at protesting proposed crackdowns by Congress on illegal immigration.
Beginning about 11 a.m., several streets in the downtown Atlanta area around the state Capitol, Atlanta City Hall and the Fulton County Government Complex will be closed. Portions of Washington Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and Mitchell Street around the Capitol will be closed. Workers Friday began placing metal barriers around the Capitol for crowd control purposes.
Based on crowds at previous rallies in Georgia, state law enforcement officials are preparing for as many as 100,000 people to show up, said Capt. Les Robinson of the Georgia State Patrol's Capitol Police. Robinson said Capitol Police have asked organizers of the rally to encourage participants to take MARTA. The Georgia State and Five Points rail stations both provide service to the Capitol Hill area.
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Mexican lawmakers support U.S. immigration protest
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Mexican lawmakers issued a declaration of support for immigrant protests planned in the United States on Monday and said they will send a delegation to Los Angeles to show their solidarity.
The declaration, issued late Thursday by all the political parties in the lower house of Congress, contrasts with the position of Mexico's Foreign Department, which has said it will discipline any consular officials who take part in the protests.
The delegation of lawmakers will meet with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, it said in a news release from Congress.
"The only thing we are looking for is to end this dehumanizing situation and get the recognition of the migrant labor force," Federal Deputy Maria Garcia said. "People who go looking for work should not be treated like criminals with the risk of being tried in federal courts."
Activists are urging immigrants across the United States to skip work, avoid spending money and march in the streets to demonstrate their importance to the U.S. economy.
The protest, dubbed "A Day Without Immigrants," comes as the U.S. Congress debates immigration bills proposing everything from toughened border security to the legalization of all 11 million undocumented migrants in America.
Activists south of border have called for a boycott of all U.S. businesses on Monday in support of the protests.
Mexicans living in the United States sent back home about $20 billion in remittances last year.
President Vicente Fox has lobbied relentlessly for an immigration reform in the United States. However, his administration has held back from getting involved the immigrant protests, saying it does not want to violate U.S. sovereignty.
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Immigration issues coming to a 'big stop'
| Updated 4/27/2006 11:18 PM ET | E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints | Subscribe to stories like this  |
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Organizers of the May Day walkout call it el gran paro — "the big stop" — and "a day without immigrants." Building on huge marches staged in recent weeks, the boycotts and rallies in many cities will demonstrate immigrants' economic importance as Congress debates legislation, says Armando Navarro of the California-based National Alliance for Human Rights.
"It was one thing to march," Navarro says. "Now we're going to hit 'em where it hurts — in the pocketbooks."
The boycott's "size and impact remain to be seen," says Juan Jose Gutierrez of Latino Movement USA. That group's slogan: "No work, no school, no shopping, no commerce."
'Substantial' participation
Gutierrez says he expects "substantial" worker absences, from Georgia poultry-processing plants to West Coast construction sites. David Jones, president of the Arizona Contractors Association, says builders there expect some no-shows and a work slowdown.
As many as 12 million illegal immigrants are in the USA, and they make up about 5% of the workforce, the Pew Hispanic Center says.
Raul Murillo, director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Hermandad Mexicana immigrant organization, says he's among those acting to oppose a bill passed by the House of Representatives in December that would make illegal immigrants felons. The Senate is still considering an immigration bill.
Businesses with largely immigrant workforces are preparing for Monday in varying ways:
• Cargill, the No. 2 U.S. beef producer and No. 3 pork producer, is closing seven meat-processing plants with 14,000 employees in Iowa, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois and Colorado. "We share a lot of the same concerns many of our employees have," spokesman Mark Klein says. "The immigration process is broken, and we need true solutions to it."
• Tyson Foods is discouraging workers from missing shifts, spokesman Gary Mickelson says. "We don't want our team members to jeopardize their good employment records and incomes by taking unauthorized time away from work," he says.
• All Las Vegas casinos are asking workers to stay on the job, sign petitions to lawmakers and attend a downtown "celebration of immigration" at 6 p.m., says Yvette Monet of MGM Mirage.
• The 17 Spanish-language radio stations owned by Clear Channel Communications will broadcast music without comment from disc jockeys. "Words are my life, but sometimes silence makes a bigger point," morning host Alex Lucas says.
Many Hispanic-owned businesses will be closed. Salvador Pedroza Moreno, owner of Economy Roofing in Chicago, says he'll give his seven workers the day off with pay to attend a march. In Tucson, Ricardo Cazares is shutting Alejandro's Tortilla Factory & Bakery, which has 55 workers. "There are sales that I know will be lost, but if we want something, we have to pay a price for it," he says.
Rallies are scheduled in many cities. Jessica Aranda of the March 10 Movement, a Chicago coalition that drew 100,000 to a march last month, says Monday will draw a bigger crowd. "Our community is coming into our own and realizing our own power," she says.
In nine New York City neighborhoods, "human chains" of Hispanic store owners, workers and customers will link hands for about 20 minutes, says Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
"Some business owners couldn't afford to shut down their businesses all day," she says. "This is an alternative action for people who wanted to join something."
A question of timing
Navarro of the National Alliance for Human Rights says he expects Monday's economic action to get Congress' attention. "Timing is everything in politics, and the timing is with us right now," he says. But others who favor laws that support immigration rights say the walkouts could spark a backlash.
Encouraging children to skip school "just adds fuel to the argument that we don't care about our children's education," says Jose Lagos, a community organizer with Honduran Unity in Miami.
Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles says her group urges workers to get permission from their bosses before taking the day off. If undocumented workers walk out and get fired, "there's very little that they can do," she says.
Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, says his 100,000-member organization opposes worker absenteeism and school walkouts, "but we don't want people to consume anything on that day."
Last month, announcements by Spanish-radio disc jockeys helped build crowds at rallies. Now, the top-rated Renan Almendarez Coello (known as El Cucuy, "the boogeyman") opposes walkouts. "We came here to work and not to say 'don't work,' " he said last week.
Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, who has said he'd order priests not to obey laws against helping illegal immigrants, is cautious about Monday's boycott and instead is promoting a 4 p.m. rally — after school hours. That event could cut crowds at the boycott organizers' noon rally at City Hall.
"If both events go well, that would be great," says Mike Garcia, president of a Service Employees International Union local in Los Angeles, which is neutral on the boycott. "It shows there are differences in strategies, but everybody's fighting for the same thing."
Keen reported from Chicago. Contributing: Luz Elena Avitia in Los Angeles and the Associated Press.
| Posted 4/27/2006 10:29 PM ET | |
| Updated 4/27/2006 11:18 PM ET | |
Erik Voss
erik@ICAtlanta.org
404-457-5901 Direct
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