"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 4/29/'06 12:20AM
"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 4/29/'06 12:20AM
4/29/'06 - The following article(s) were found in the media. Several stories are provided ... with links to the original sources ... for your convenience:
- Capitol prepares for protesters of crackdown on illegal immigration
- Spanish Anthem Has Tepid Support
- Rumors of immigration raids spark fear
- Immigration Impact -- Part III
- Schools And Businesses Brace For 'Day Without Immigrants'
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0429metrally.html?COXnetJSessionIDbuild133=ESmc2wTvRZqUBPYtxX7Mk3rT65UUg61YNwAjFPI7xnftLa5f4PY2!-691559070&UrAuth=%60N]NUOaN]UbTTUWUXUWUZT[U\UWU^U%60UZU\U\UcTYWYWZV&urcm=y
By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/29/06
Law enforcement officials are preparing for as many as 100,000 people to descend on the state Capitol on Monday as part of a nationwide protest of proposed government crackdowns on illegal immigrants.
But a rally organizer said far fewer people — perhaps only 2,000 — will probably show.
Tony Barroso of Duluth, who is married to a legal Brazilian immigrant, said he attended a similar rally in DeKalb County on April 10 that drew 30,000 to 60,000 people. Barroso said he wanted to hold a march closer to decision-makers.
"If we want to be heard, we have to go where people can be seen and heard, like the Capitol," Barroso said Friday. "All of the laws are made at the Capitol, why are we going to take our march to the side?"
The debate over illegal immigration is on the federal level, as Congress considers several approaches to tackling the issue. The Georgia Legislature has already taken on illegal immigration, passing a law earlier this year aimed at cracking down on undocumented workers and those who hire them.
Barroso and his wife own a Brazilian-language newspaper and radio station, he said. Spanish-language media, particularly radio stations, played a crucial role in spreading the word about the April 10 march.
Gina Leyva, programming director at Viva 105.7, one of the stations that talked up the April march, said the station has been promoting Monday as "Latino pride" day. But as of Friday, Leyva said the station knew of no plans for a rally, only a work stoppage and boycott.
Capitol Police were initially told as many as 65,000 people might show up at the Capitol on Monday for the noon rally. They later revised the figure to 100,000. But Barroso said Latino organizers are not helping organize his rally, so he expects the numbers to be much lower.
"We are not, as an organization, supporting the march, but we applaud anyone who feels they want to protest peacefully," said Teodoro Maus, former Mexican consul and a main organizer of the April 10 march.
Maus and other Latino leaders are emphasizing a work stoppage for people who will not risk losing their jobs, and encouraging people to spend no money on May 1. The march at the Capitol "takes away from the impact" of those actions, Maus said.
Still, Georgia Building Authority officials sent out an e-mail to state workers letting them know about the possibility of large crowds, traffic tie-ups and street closings.
Portions of the following streets around the Capitol will be closed: Courtland Avenue/Washington Street (from Gilmer Street to Trinity Avenue), Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (from Piedmont Avenue to Central Avenue) and Mitchell Street (from Central Avenue to Capitol Avenue). Authorities are encouraging rally participants to take MARTA to the Capitol.
"Be prepared for the larger crowd," said Georgia Public Safety Department spokesman Gordy Wright. "If we had an exact number, it'd be easier."
Staff writers Aixa M. Pascual and Teresa Borden contributed to this article.
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http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=79222
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Members of the Latino community will gather at the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, during a national economic boycott. The song was released to help promote the event.
The Spanish version of the Star Spangled Banner is called "Nuestro Himno" or "Our Anthem." It was recorded by Latin American artists to show solidarity with undocumented immigrants. Some of the lyrics have been changed as well.
"They added something along the lines as we're united, we're here to be part of the country," said Victor Martinez of local radio stations La Ley and Radio Mex. "All of our callers agreed it could be taken as an insult. That instead of helping the situation, it could actually make it worse. That the flag, and the country's national anthem are sacred. You shouldn't touch them. You shouldn't change them."
During the April 10 march, protestors held American flags, and wore red, white and blue.
Some Atlantans say boycotts and protests are fine. But changing the national anthem is like rewriting history.
"To me, I've been singing it since I was a little kid, so it's really important to me, so it's not good if they change it," said Victor Covarrubias.
But Casey Fiesler disagrees, and thinks the song is an interpretation, not an insult.
"They're not gonna have kids stand up and salute it in class. I mean, art is art," Fiesler said. "Even if it is something that's sacred, as long as people see the difference, I don't see what harm it can do."
President Bush has weighed in on the song, saying the national anthem should be sung in English, not Spanish.
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http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=103402
Updated Friday, April 28 at 11:31 PM
Rumors of immigration raids spark fearby The Associated Press
MIAMI - Rumors of immigration roundups have prompted thousands of illegal immigrants to stay home this week and are making some afraid to participate in a national immigration protest planned for Monday.
Though federal immigration officials said they were unfounded, rumors of random sweeps were rampant from coast to coast Friday, prompting thousands of immigrants to stay home from work, take their children out of school and avoid church.
The absences caused the rumors to build, as some thought their missing friends and co-workers had been arrested. Construction and agriculture were among the industries most affected.
Len Mills, executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors of South Florida, said he estimated at least 50 percent of workers on construction jobs in the region hadn't shown up for work. He said he believed even some legal workers were afraid.
``This is costing millions of dollars a day, and I don't know who is going to pay for it,'' he said.
Katie A. Edwards, executive director of Florida's Dade County Farm Bureau, said nearly a third of farmworkers didn't come to the fields earlier in the week.
Mari Ramos, a Peruvian nanny whose tourist visa ran out in 2003, listened when friends warned her not to take public transportation or risk arrest.
``That's when I became nervous. I stopped going to my night job,'' the 36-year-old Miami woman said.
``Everybody's edgy,'' said Chris Ruske, owner of a southern New Jersey nursery. ``People are worried, and we're worried. There's an awful lot of rhetoric, and you wonder what's true. You wonder if the immigration Gestapo are coming to get you.''
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd said the agency has received hundreds of calls in recent days asking about immigration raids. He said such rumors were typical after a raid like the one last week in which more than 1,000 employees of pallet manufacturer IFCO were arrested at more than 40 company sites nationwide.
But he added, ``any suggestions that our standard, day to day law enforcement actions are timed or being staged to retaliate are absolutely false.''
ICE officials acknowledged they have stepped up arrests under their ``Operation Phoenix,'' an existing program to find and deport fugitive illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds.
Many wondered whether the rumors would deter people from national immigration protests planned for Monday.
``It is the ugliest of rumors because it has intimidated people who are already afraid. They are living in the shadows of society, wondering who is going to knock on the door,'' said the Rev. Allan Ramirez, pastor of the Brookville Dutch Reform Church in Long Island, N.Y.
In Tuscaloosa, Ala., organizers of an annual Hispanic festival scheduled for Sunday briefly considered canceling it.
The National Immigration Law Center called on organizations across the country to sign a petition urging ICE to assure the public that it will not engage in any immigration arrests during Monday's protests.
The agency said its policy is not to discuss potential operations. ``ICE will continue to operate as it does every day of the year,'' Boyd said.
Elias Bermudez, an activist and talk show host for a Spanish-language radio station in Phoenix, said many believe they are being punished for participating in recent protests in favor of legalizing the status of many illegal immigrants.
``Some people in our community think we're getting payback,'' he said.
The rumors affected a wide variety of businesses. In New Jersey and New York, day-laborer gathering sites drew only a trickle of workers.
In southern New Mexico, construction industry leaders said an unknown number of immigrant workers did not show up to work over fears of being rounded up, setting back plans for the Las Cruces Home Builders Association's spring Showcase of Homes next month.
In the rural town of Homestead, Fla., more than a dozen parents lined up early to take their kids out of Redondo Elementary School Wednesday for fear of a raid, said activist Jonathan Fried, who heads the nonprofit ``We Count!''
``It's caused tremendous fear in our community, like I've never seen before,'' Fried said.
On Friday, ICE announced the arrests of 106 illegal immigrant fugitives and 19 immigration status violators throughout the Midwest over the last 10 days. Of those, 46 had criminal records, according to the department. Earlier this week, ICE announced the arrest of 183 fugitives in Florida alone.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association said Friday it believes some of the concerns may have been fueled by confusion over a widespread fugitive roundup by the U.S. Marshals Service. That roundup lead to more than 9,000 arrests of people wanted for a number of crimes, and ICE assisted in the effort but it said most of those detained were U.S. citizens.
Boyd said the agency makes arrests on a daily basis. ``However, we don't conduct random sweeps. All our arrests are the result of investigations, evidence and intelligence,'' he said.
Associated Press Writers Suzette Laboy in Miami, Bonnie Pfister in New Jersey, Amanda Lee Myers in Phoenix and Adam Geller and Pat Milton in New York contributed to this report.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/28/boycott/index.html
U.S. prepares for 'A Day Without an Immigrant'
Organizers plan massive boycott on Monday to stop business as usual
By Brad Lendon
CNN.com
 Immigrant activists listen to speakers during a press conference in Chicago on Thursday. | |
(CNN) -- Meatpacking plants will shut down. Markets won't open. Trucks won't roll. Students will walk out of school. Millions of people will take to America's streets in possibly unprecedented numbers.
If all goes as organizers plan, major American cities will be disrupted Monday by what's being called "The Great May 1st Boycott," or "A Day Without an Immigrant."
"Millions of workers, men and women without documents and their supporters who are, in fact, legal United States citizens will heed the call to not go to work," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, national coordinator of Latino Movement USA and one of the lead organizers of Monday's planned boycott. (Watch why organizers say the boycott is needed -- 1:40)
"Many hundreds of thousands of students, perhaps millions, will stay away from school and people will not shop and will not sell anything," Gutierrez said. (Immigration by the numbers)
Boycott organizers are demanding amnesty and the chance for the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States to earn citizenship. Gutierrez compares their struggle with that of American colonists against British rule more than 200 years ago.
"The great slogan of the American Revolution was 'No Taxation Without Representation,'" he said. "Millions of human beings today and for many years are being taxed, and they have absolutely no representation. In fact, they are being bashed every day and humiliated."
Monday's proposed boycott and marches are finding support in the streets, in the churches, in the boardrooms and even in some corridors of government.
Jorge Reyes, 49, came to this country as an illegal immigrant from Vera Cruz, Mexico. He's now a citizen with his own printing business in Pomona, California. He has put up $3,000 of his own money to promote Monday's marches, he told CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is urging parishioners to participate in Monday's events, providing links to a Grant Park rally on its Web site.
"On March 10, in Chicago, 100,000 people marched for justice; on May 1, we want to double or triple that number. We will march for human dignity, for new laws that recognize the valuable contribution of immigrants to our nation and communities," the Rev. Charles Dahm wrote in an article posted on the Web site.
Smithfield Foods of Virginia said Thursday it will take time Monday to help employees write to U.S. senators and representatives with demands for changes in immigration law, including "a path to citizenship for those who are willing to work," according to a company press release.
Tyson Foods will shut meatpacking plants on Monday, citing market conditions and a possible shortage of workers. Meatpacker Cargill Meat Solutions will give 15,000 workers the day off so they can participate, The Associated Press reported.
In Los Angeles, the 7th Street produce market, which supplies thousands of Southern California restaurants and markets, will not do business on Monday. "We will not work on May 1st. We will not sell any vegetables or fruits," said Pedro Astorga of the 7th Street Market Merchants Association. (Watch how workers, employers plan shutdowns -- 1:39)
In California's capital of Sacramento, state senators voted Thursday in favor of a resolution supporting Monday's marches and boycott. Passage was strictly partisan, with Democrats prevailing 24-13.
Monday rallies are planned for Poughkeepsie, New York, to Portland, Oregon, and from Stamford, Connecticut, to the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing, according to the Web site, www.infoshop.org.
Although some are saying Monday could be the largest day of protest since the Vietnam War, support for "A Day Without an Immigrant" is far from universal.
Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles doesn't support any walkouts or work stoppages on Monday, though he is an ardent supporter of immigration reform.
"I believe that we can make May 1 a 'win-win' day here in Southern California," Mahony wrote in a statement. "Go to work, go to school, and then join thousands of us at a major rally afterwards."
Some in the immigrant community worry walkouts could give the wrong impression. If students miss school, it "just adds fuel to the argument that we don't care about our children's education," Jose Lagos of Honduran Unity in Miami, Florida, told AP.
The Minuteman Project -- which has organized citizens' patrols along the Mexican border to monitor illegal immigration -- says illegal immigrants cost Americans jobs, and that blacks in the inner cities are hurt most. It plans rallies across the country, beginning Wednesday in Los Angeles, to highlight its view.
Still, more than three-quarters of Americans favor allowing illegal immigrants who have spent many years in the United States to apply for citizenship, according to a poll conducted for CNN by Opinion Research Corp. (Watch how Americans line up on amnesty -- 3:22)
In the poll, released Tuesday, 77 percent of those responding favored allowing illegal immigrants who have been in United States for more than five years to stay and apply for citizenship if they have a job, and pay a fine and back taxes. Twenty percent said they opposed such a measure.
Washington, meanwhile, is struggling with immigration legislation. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada met with President Bush and said afterward they were confident immigration legislation could pass their chamber by Memorial Day.
The Senate bill would include provisions for improved border security, a guest-worker program and options for citizenship. If a Senate compromise is reached, it would still need to make it through the House, where the going could be more difficult.
Boycott supporters won't be waiting.
"Let's show the government, corporations and racist politicians that a powerful, united people's movement has the power to win civil rights, workers' rights and make history," ANSWER, a coalition civil rights groups says on its Web site. "No business as usual on May 1!"
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http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4835145&nav=0qq6
04/28/06
Immigration Impact -- Part III
Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants are living and working in the Coastal Empire and Low Country. Many of them are coming to this country along with their families, and while most of them aren't paying taxes, they are sending their children to local schools and getting free emergency medical care.
They number in the hundreds, though the Savannah-Chatham Board of Public Education doesn't have a specific number. Most of these students have shown up in just the past two years.
Now the question is, should we keep these students from learning because their parents broke the law to come here?
Samuel Montes is the song leader at his Baptist church in Savannah. "When I first come to the United States, I came illegally," he told us.
He came almost 20 years ago from Honduras, first to California, then to Savannah.
Lucy Rodriguez and her family moved here two years ago. "We came here because we lost our jobs in Mexico," she said. "The situation was very difficult."
They both came to America for one reason: opportunity. "We asked for a visa, a tourist visa, so we came here for vacation and we saw the opportunity to live and we stayed," Rodriguez told us.
They also saw an opportunity for their children. Montes has four kids who go to Chatham County schools. Rodriguez's six-year-old son Allen goes to Bloomingdale Elementary.
For the past few years Georgia taxpayers have spent more than $230 million a year educating students who are illegal immigrants.
Deborah Jones is the principal at Port Wentworth Elementary School. "If that money has been spent on education, students, then it's money well spent, it really is," she said.
Her school is one of five in the Savannah-Chatham school district that has an "English as a second language" program. Dana Blair is their teacher. "These students come in and they are way below their grade level," she told us. "They don't know their ABC's, some don't know their ABC's in their native language, and they're in fifth grade."
Until a couple of years ago, Port Wentworth Elementary only had three or four Hispanic students. This year, they have 40.
"Sometimes, they just show up on the first day of school, and more often than not throughout the school year," said Principal Jones. "They show up, we register them and we teach them."
No one in the school system knows how many are here illegally. They don't ask the students or their parents that question. The Savannah-Chatham Board of Public Education says Georgia law requires that all students living here are entitled to a free public education.
Many, including US Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA Dist. 1) believe if parents don't pay taxes, their children shouldn't get a free education.
"It pulls down the rest of the kids, because if you have a child in the room who can't speak English and the teacher can't speak Spanish, then the rest of the kids can't learn geography or algebra or whatever the topic is," he said. "So there's a big cost to our society."
Chatham County natives Attabia and Donald Wilson have a son at Port Wentworth Elementary. They are two parents with two very different views on this issue. "They need an education like everyone else," said Attabia. "Why should their parents stop them from getting one?"
Donald, on the other hand, says it bothers him. "They have to change the way they teach and take time away from these here to take care of them."
But if the children of immigrants are left at home and are not educated, is that worse? "Not going to school and stay home and do nothing, and later they'd become criminals or something like that," said Montes.
The immigrants say they want what every parent wants. "When we come to this country, we come because we want a better life than the life we had for our kids," said Montes.
Taxpayer money isn't just going to educate the kids. What about when they get sick or get hurt? According to the Georgia Department of Community Health, in 2004 Georgia taxpayers spent more than $58 million to provide emergency healthcare to illegal immigrants.
And hospitals like Savannah's Memorial Health University Medical Center and Beaufort Memorial in the Low Country say they often eat the loss. But generally, it's taxpaying Americans who pick up the tab.
Congressman Kingston doesn't want to deny illegal immigrants emergency care, but after a doctor treats them, he says they should be deported.
Coming up tonight on THE News at 11, we'll take you to a Tattnall County onion farm to learn more about the guest worker program. The owner says, without migrant workers we wouldn't have Vidalia onions and many other crops in our grocery stores.
Reported by: Michelle Paynter, mpaynter@wtoc.com
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http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june06/boycott_4-28.html
 | Schools And Businesses Brace For 'Day Without Immigrants' | Posted: 04.28.06 | | |||||||||||
| Immigrants around the country are planning a day away from work and school to demonstrate the impact they have on America's culture and economy, but critics think the effort is misguided. Printer-friendly versions: PDF | | ||||||||||||
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| Organizers are calling the May 1 nationwide boycott "a day without an immigrant." They are asking that immigrants skip work or school and avoid spending money.
Organizers say they want reforms that work to provide a path to citizenship for illegal workers. "We want full amnesty, full legalization for anybody who is here," Jorge Rodriguez, a union official who organized earlier marches, told Reuters. | | ||||||||||||
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| Impact on the economy? | | ||||||||||||
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"There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We're going to close down Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno," said Rodriguez. Some businesses that rely heavily on immigrant labor, such as restaurants, hotels, construction sites and farms, are making plans to close or operate with fewer employees. They acknowledged the significant role that immigrants play in the U.S. economy.
"The bottom line is we need to find a way to design our immigration laws to protect our economy and match those people who want jobs with the number of jobs that exist," Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers' League, told the Seattle Times. The restaurant industry is particularly dependent on illegal immigrant workers. "These people work hard, they will do whatever, they sweep the floors, wash the dishes. If they go away you would have to pay Americans top dollar, and the next thing you know a hamburger would cost $5," the manager of a New York City diner told Reuters. | | ||||||||||||
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| Split in the immigrant community | | ||||||||||||
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| Some Latino leaders think the May Day boycott could lead to further anti-immigration backlash among politicians and Americans in general. "We support [a boycott], but not right now because we believe right now the ball is in the hands of the Senate," Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland, told the Chicago Tribune. The Senate plans to take up the immigration reform debate again after failing to pass legislation prior to its spring vacation. Immigration advocates in general want a Senate bill to be less harsh than legislation passed by the House of Representatives that makes it a felon to be in the United States illegally and proposes building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. | | ||||||||||||
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| Boycott alternatives | | ||||||||||||
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| Some groups have suggested alternatives to a day-long boycott. "We can make May 1st a 'win-win' day here in Southern California … go to work, go to school, and then join thousands of us at a major rally afterward," Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles Catholic archdiocese said in a statement, according to Reuters.
"The fact that most of the people are in fact doing different activities on May 1 [is] in itself is a major step forward in the struggle for comprehensive immigration reform," Juan Jose Gutierrez, director of Latino Movement USA, told the Washington Times. "Without the boycott, they probably wouldn't be doing anything at all." | | ||||||||||||
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| Some Americans' views | | ||||||||||||
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| Anti-immigration groups are not happy with the planned boycott.
Even some politically liberal Americans are conflicted about the recent pro-immigration rallies, according to experts. "Here's a population that for years had been quiet and easily dominated -- they do the work, make the low pay and send it home," Gillian Royes, professor of multicultural relations and communications at Georgia State University, told the Seattle Times. "Now the persona of the illegal immigrant is shifting in the American psyche that perhaps this is not the group to be taken for granted anymore." -- Compiled by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra | |||||||||||||
The boycott comes just weeks after hundreds of thousands of mostly Latino immigrants and supporters protested proposed laws that would crack down on illegal immigration. 
It's estimated that millions of immigrants could participate in the day's events across the county. 
Leaders from Latino Movement USA, one of the national event organizers, said any kind of participation would be good.
"It's intimidation when a million people march down main streets in our major cities under the Mexican flag," Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman volunteer border patrol group, told Reuters.------------------------------------
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Erik Voss
erik@ICAtlanta.org
404-457-5901 Direct
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