"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 5/1/'06 12:45AM
"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 5/1/'06 12:45AM
5/1/'06 - The following article(s) were found in the media. Several stories are provided ... with links to the original sources ... for your convenience:
- A Day Without Immigrants: Widespread actions expected, but some sitting out (AP) (Access North Georgia)
- Alabama Hispanics plan to join in national protests on Monday (AP) (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)
- Immigration reform rally planned Monday (Athens Banner-Herald)
- Across Georgia (Augusta Chronicle)
- Businesses are braced for boycott (Gainsvile Times)
- Day labor -- not a niche market anymore (CNN)
- Some Immigrants Reluctant to Boycott (AJC)
From Google 'Georgia Immigration' (Sorted by Date):
http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2005-09,GGGL:en&q=georgia+immigration&scoring=d
==================================================
Georgia plays new role in struggle over rights
Augusta Chronicle (subscription), GA - 17 minutes ago
... from Congress this year. The sponsor of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, said ...
 | Millions expected to 'walk out' CNN International - 3 hours ago ... Monday's rallies against a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration and a ... Other cities, including Atlanta, Georgia; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Phoenix, Arizona ... |
| Latino boycott may hinge on bosses' attitude Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription), USA - 3 hours ago Organizers hope to shape the debate on immigration law ... In Georgia, immigrants have been asked to avoid buying anything for 24 hours and stay out of work if they ... |
| Millions expected to 'walk out' CNN - 3 hours ago ... Monday's rallies against a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration and a ... Other cities, including Atlanta, Georgia; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Phoenix, Arizona ... |
| Quick Guide CNN Student News - 3 hours ago ... And head to the Georgia Dome for the super bowl of robotics, where the competitors ... Leaders are currently debating ways to reform the country's immigration law. ... |
| Atlanta Prepares For Rally Against Immigration Reform Law WSBtv.com, GA - 5 hours ago Even though Governor Sonny Perdue signed Georgia's Immigration Reform bill into law on March 17, rally organizers hope something can still be done. ... |
| Alabama Hispanics plan to join in national protests on Monday Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA - 10 hours ago ... In opposition to the Hispanic demonstrations, opponents of illegal immigration in Birmingham ... A spokesman for the Georgia-based poultry company, Frank Singleton ... |
 | A Day Without Immigrants: Widespread actions expected, but some ... Access North Georgia, GA - 10 hours ago ... ``The marches are a tool, but they are being overused,'' said Mahonrry Hidalgo, head of the immigration committee of New Jersey's Latino Leadership Alliance. ... |
Story Details:
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=103444
Updated Sunday, April 30 at 1:52 PM
A Day Without Immigrants: Widespread actions expected, but some sitting outby The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Now that immigrants have grabbed the nation's attention, what next?
Monday has been set aside for immigrants to boycott work, school and shopping to show how much they matter to their communities. But with some growing tired of street protests, and others afraid they'll be deported or fired for walking out, people are planning to support the effort in myriad ways.
Some will work but buy nothing on Monday. Others will protest at lunch breaks or at rallies after work. There will be church services, candlelight vigils, picnics and human chains.
The range of activities shows both how powerful the immigrants' rights movement has become in a matter of weeks, and that organizers don't yet have a clear focus on its next step.
``It's highly unpredictable what's going to happen,'' said Harley Shaiken, director of the Center for Latin American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. ``What unites everyone that's going to do something on May 1 is they are making visible their strong feelings.''
Thanks to the success of previous rallies plus media attention, planning for Monday's events, collectively called Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes A Day Without Immigrants is widespread.
Officials in Los Angeles are bracing for massive crowds: Assistant Police Chief George Gascon said as many as 500,000 people could take part.
In smaller cities such as Allentown, Pa., Omaha, Neb., and Knoxville, Tenn., immigrants and their allies have been going door-to-door with fliers, making posters and sharpening speeches. In New Mexico, restaurants are cooking meals this weekend that they'll donate food for Monday picnics in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
In Pomona, Calif., about 30 miles east of Los Angeles, dozens of men who frequent a day labor center voted unanimously to close Monday, said Mike Nava, the center's director.
``If anyone even comes around looking for work that day,'' Nava said, ``the men want him suspended.''
Some insist that a boycott is the next key step beyond marches to show the nation just how much economic power undocumented workers hold. ``The marches are a tool, but they are being overused,'' said Mahonrry Hidalgo, head of the immigration committee of New Jersey's Latino Leadership Alliance. Like civil rights boycotts of decades past, he said, ``this could finally be the spark for our people to advance.''
In New Jersey, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, people boycotting work will march to the offices of elected officials to urge them to support pro-immigrant legislation. In California, though a spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said a boycott would ``hurt everyone,'' Democratic state senators passed a resolution supporting walkouts.
Still, there's a big divide over the boycott's merits.
Many worry that not working or spending money will alienate business leaders, and that cutting classes sends an anti-education message. Even Los Angeles' Spanish-language disc jockeys, who helped fuel marches hundreds of thousands strong in recent weeks, have toned it down. ``We have to demonstrate that we came here to succeed,'' said Eduardo Sotelo, whose morning show, ``Piolin por la Manana,'' is syndicated nationwide.
Many of Monday's organizers are finding less contentious ways of joining.
Some marches and voter information meetings are scheduled for after work and school hours. Those who go to school or work are being urged to wear white clothes or white armbands. Several school districts have sent letters home to parents and threatened punishment if students have unexcused absences, but some plan to focus on immigration issues in classes and seminars on campus.
In each of New York City's five boroughs, thousands of workers are expected to take work breaks shortly after noon to link arms with shoppers, restaurant-goers and other supporters along city sidewalks for about 20 minutes. ``This will symbolize the interdependence of all of us, not just immigrants, but all of society,'' said Chung-Wa Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Phoenix organizers hope to have enough people to make a 25-mile human chain starting at the state Capitol.
Many hope that workers' bosses also will join their efforts and some already are showing their support.
Some big businesses are shutting down operations, corporate spokesmen said: Six of 14 Perdue Farms plants will close; Gallo Wines in Sonoma, Calif., is giving its 150 employees the day off; Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, will shut five of its nine beef plants and four of six pork plants.
Greg Schirf, owner of Wasatch Beers in Utah, said that when some of his Latino employees sheepishly asked if they could take off Monday, he responded, ``How about this? We'll just take a company holiday. We'll call it 'Latino Appreciation Day.'''
Such attitudes are quelling some of the anxiety that has bubbled up nationwide since federal officials arrested more than 1,100 immigrant employees and seven managers at 40 sites of IFCO Systems, which makes crates and pallets. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he plans to step up workplace enforcement of immigration laws.
``During information we've been presenting to different organizations (about Monday's events), we usually spend 20 to 30 minutes just explaining if we were to have or not have a raid,'' said Houston activist Maria Jimenez of the Central American Resource Center. ``We've seen a lot of fear in the community.''
Many are expected to find solace in religious services.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged immigrants to attend Masses instead of boycotting, and suggested that churches toll their bells in memory of immigrants who died trying to come to the U.S.
-----------------------------------------
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/14467796.htm
JAY REEVES
Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Buoyed by recent demonstrations and a newfound sense of solidarity, many Hispanics in Alabama are planning to shut down their businesses, stay home from work and keep their children home from school Monday as part of a national immigration protest.
With a Spanish-speaking population the Census Bureau estimates at 98,388 in Alabama - a number almost universally considered to be ridiculously low - participants say they want to show the economic power of immigrants who have moved to the state in recent years.
In suburban Birmingham, Veronica Ramos and her family don't plan to spend money in anything but Hispanic-owned stores on Monday.
"The Hispanic people have a lot of influence on the economy, and we want to show that," said Ramos. She is helping organize a prayer vigil in Montevallo that night for people who have had relatives die or be killed while trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border.
The owner of a small store in northeast Alabama, where thousands of Spanish-speaking immigrants work in poultry plants, won't open for business, a move he said would cost about $2,000 in sales.
"It's to show support for the people," said Jose Contreras, owner of Tienda del Sol in Albertville. "It's kind of like we're not going to be here. As they say, `One day without Mexicans,' even though we're from a lot of different places."
In opposition to the Hispanic demonstrations, opponents of illegal immigration in Birmingham encouraged citizens to drive with their lights on Monday; fly the U.S. flag upside down to symbolize a nation under siege; and to buy as much as they can to counteract a Hispanic spending boycott.
An immigrant advocate in southeast Alabama, Rich Lopez, said many Hispanics were encouraged to take action by recent marches that brought out some 8,000 people in Albertville and Birmingham. He said a march is planned Monday in Dothan, and adults are being asked to bring their children rather than send them to public schools that day.
"We're going to march about a mile and a half to the courthouse," said Lopez.
Lopez said Latin American employees at a poultry plant in Union Springs are planning to hold a ceremony in a trailer park rather than work their regular shifts, and Wayne Farms LLC said it would idle two plants in Decatur and Albertville amid the demonstrations.
A spokesman for the Georgia-based poultry company, Frank Singleton, said Wayne Farms talked with workers and decided to operate the processing plants on Saturday, when they normally are closed, as a compromise for employees who didn't want to work on a day set aside for demonstrations.
"They are showing solidarity, they have a point of view. They also want to work," said Singleton. As a company, Wayne Farms supports a program to let foreign nationals enter the United States on guest-worker permits, he said.
Protests are being promoted nationwide in Spanish-language media, and some Spanish-oriented businesses have fliers about the demonstration.
The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama wasn't asking people to stay home from work or keep children home from school, but it believes in demonstrating the impact that immigrants have on the U.S. economy, according to executive director Isabel Rubio.
"We are encouraging just a general spending boycott to show that Latinos do have purchasing power," she said.
----------------------------------------
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/043006/news_20060430061.shtml
Immigration reform rally planned Monday
The Athens May 1st Committee and others will march and hold a vigil in downtown Athens Monday evening to show support for comprehensive immigration reform, an issue that demonstrators across the country will take to the streets on May Day this year.
The march will start and end at the First Christian Church, 268 W. Dougherty St., and go through downtown past places like the Clarke County Courthouse and the University of Georgia Arch.
Speakers after the march are scheduled to include Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials; Melissa Arcila, the 2006-07 president of the University of Georgia's Hispanic Law Student Association; and Father Dayro Rico of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
After hearing the speakers, the group will hold a candlelight vigil that features selected motivational readings.
Park advisory panel to meet on Thursday
The Athens-Clarke Leisure Services Department Thursday will host the first meeting of the Rocksprings SPLOST 2005 Advisory Group, a group of citizen volunteers selected to help guide what type of improvements should be made to Rocksprings Park off Baxter Street.
The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the Columbus Avenue Senior Center, 103 Columbus Ave.
The purpose of the meeting is to introduce members of the advisory group to Athens-Clarke government staff, as well as provide a brief, informal overview of proposed park improvements and discuss the expectations for the group.
The Rocksprings Park will receive approximately $2.5 million in sales tax-funded improvements.
For more information, call (706) 613-3580.
Kestrel program set for Audubon meeting
John Parrish, a biologist from Georgia Southern University, will present "The Kestrel Story in Georgia" to the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society Thursday.
A member of the falcon family, the kestrel is considered Georgia's smallest raptor. The southeastern kestrel, a permanent resident of Georgia's coastal plain, is non-migratory.
Parrish has done research in many areas of avian biology. He recently co-authored the field guide Birds of Georgia (2006) with Giff Beaton and the Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds (2003).
The program is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in the ENSAT Building at Sandy Creek Nature Center, Old Commerce Road off U.S. Highway 441 north of Athens.
For more information, call Edwige Damron at (706) 613-9875.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 043006--------------------------------------
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/043006/met_79556.shtml
Football player killed during home invasion
ALBANY - An Albany State University running back was shot and killed after he broke into a house, police said.
Antonio Atkins, 21, of Jesup, and an unknown man are suspected of breaking into the house early Friday, Albany police spokesman Lt. Kenn Singleton said.
Mr. Atkins' body has been sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Moultrie for an autopsy. He would have entered his senior year at Albany State this fall.
Johnathan Young, a barber at the Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany, said he shot one man with a shotgun after two men entered the home's front door by force, according to a police report.
Rally organizer says protest will be smaller
ATLANTA - Authorities are preparing for as many as 100,000 immigration demonstrators to gather at the state Capitol on Monday as part of a nationwide protest.
But a rally organizer says the number of people who will show up will be much smaller.
Tony Barroso of Duluth, who is married to a Brazilian immigrant, said he attended a similar rally in DeKalb County on April 10 that drew 30,000 to 60,000 people. Mr. Barroso said he wanted to hold a march closer to decision makers.
The debate over illegal immigration has heated up as Congress considers several approaches to the issue. The Georgia Legislature has already taken on illegal immigration, recently passing a law that cracks down on undocumented workers and those who hire them.
Mr. Barroso and his wife own a newspaper and radio station, he said. Spanish-language media played an important role in spreading the word about the April 10 march. But he said Latino organizers are not helping organize the Monday rally, so he expects a lower turnout.
"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 an organizer of the April 10 march.
Hispanic leaders are calling for a work stoppage for people who will not risk losing their jobs, and encouraging people to not spend any money Monday.
Court orders animal shelter to be closed
SAVANNAH - A Chatham County Recorder's Court judge ordered a Kensington Park animal shelter closed and its dogs removed by the end of the weekend.
Judge Pro Tem Kevin Street, in a six-page ruling, said Terry Wolf's foster shelter violates zoning laws, and the dozen dogs she keeps there are too close to neighboring homes.
Ms. Wolf's Southern Comfort Animal Rescue ran into trouble last August after she became overwhelmed with dogs abandoned by soldiers after the 3rd Infantry Division's deployment to Iraq.
--------------------------------------
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20060430/localnews/91493.shtml
| Local News - Sunday, April 30, 2006 |
| Businesses are braced for boycott Latinos in state, U.S. expected to skip shopping, jobs Monday By NIKKI YOUNG |
| Also today
Click here to read the story. Click here to read the story. Click here to read the story.
|
For the second time this year, many Latinos in Georgia will avoid shopping and working on Monday to demonstrate their economic contributions to the nation.
Hall County has one of the largest Latino populations in the state, an estimated 37,000 legal and illegal immigrants in 2004, according to the marketing firm Claritas. Though the March 24 boycott had minimal impact on local businesses, this event appears to have gathered more steam nationwide.
Activists have asked immigrants to lobby Congress for "a just, complete and fair immigration reform," as written on a flier distributed by the March 17th Alliance in Atlanta. The alliance, or Alianza 17 de marzo, organized the April 10 "Day of Dignity" march that drew some 50,000 people to Buford Highway in DeKalb County.
As with the March 24 boycott, Latinos are encouraged to skip work on Monday. But that seems to be less of a priority for this event. The group's fliers advocate "Don't buy anything" in large letters, then "and if you can ... Don't go to work" in a much smaller font.
Missing work was a problem for some during the last boycott. Consequently, Que Buena FM in Gainesville has not been broadcasting details of the boycott as it did previously, said Jose Perez of the Spanish-language radio station.
"People, they lose their jobs and that's not good for us," Perez said.
About half of the businesses on Atlanta Highway, a largely Hispanic corridor, were closed March 24. Other area businesses reported some employee absences but no major impact on day-to-day operations or sales.
Cargill, an international food manufacturer and distributor with a local processing plant, is excusing its Latino workers from work on Monday at meat packing plants in the Midwest. The Gainesville plant will not excuse its workers, said spokesman Dave Feider in Minneapolis.
Skipping school has received even less encouragement this time around. Local schools with large Latino populations were practically empty on March 24. Lyman Hall Elementary School, which is 94 percent Hispanic, had an absentee rate of 43 percent, school officials said.
The March 24 boycott and April 10 demonstration were held to protest Senate Bill 529, which denies state services to illegal immigrants, sanctions companies that knowingly hire them and imposes stiff penalties on human trafficking. Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the bill into law April 17.
Not allowing for defeat, the March 17th Alliance along with activists around the country are focusing on the federal angle. Congress continues to debate immigration reform measures, ranging from a "Great Wall of China" on the Mexican border to amnesty for the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigration is a political platform south of the border, as well. A "Nothing Gringo" boycott is planned for May 1 in Mexico, encouraging Mexicans to refrain from purchasing products from U.S. businesses, according to The Associated Press.
Two months ahead of Mexico's presidential election, candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is reiterating promises to create jobs that will help stem the tide of undocumented migrants heading to the United States in search of work, the AP reported.
Contact: nyoung@gainesvilletimes.com; (770) 718-3428
---------------------------
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/29/day.labor.ap/index.html
Day labor -- not a niche market anymore
No. 1 employer of immigrants laborers is homeowners
BURBANK, California (AP) -- Chris James needed help moving a piano and three dozen boxes of records from his music studio, but instead of corralling some buddies he rented a truck and hired day laborers outside the local Home Depot.
The two Guatemalan men finished the job in an hour and a half, hauling a piano and wedging a sofa into his condo, then stacking the boxes in a back room, for less than $40.
It was first time James hired day laborers but it won't be his last.
"Absolutely satisfied," said James, 31.
The No. 1 employers of day laborers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, are homeowners -- not construction contractors, not professional landscapers.
"Day labor is not a niche market," said Abel Valenzuela, a UCLA professor and one of three authors of the first national day labor study, which was released in January. "It's now entering different aspects of the national mainstream economy."
Forty-nine percent of day labor employers are homeowners, according to 2,660 laborers interviewed for the study. Contractors were second, at 43 percent. The study also found that three quarters of day laborers were illegal immigrants and most were from Latin America.
Homeowners like the men who call themselves "jornaleros" because they make up a flexible labor pool with no red tape and no overhead. And they'll do backbreaking jobs much cheaper than regular contractors.
Day laborers like homeowners, too. Shady contractors routinely stiff them. Not homeowners -- the workers know where they live.
"And in houses, they give us food, water and soda," said Herminio Velazquez, 48, one of the men who worked at James's condo.
While some homeowners are uncomfortable hiring people who likely have no work documents, they often don't believe they are doing wrong.
That position is rejected by anti-illegal immigration activists.
"They know they are hiring illegal aliens and breaking the law," said Joseph Turner, who is trying to force San Bernardino to outlaw taxpayer-funded day labor centers. "They are contributing to the illegal immigration problem."
Agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement occasionally arrest day laborers, but they almost never go after homeowner employers. Their priorities are national security work sites such as seaports and the networks that smuggle illegal immigrants into the country.
"We need to stop unlawful employment," said agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice. "But working day laborers sites is not an efficient way to use finite resources."
The federal debate on immigration reform has been on either criminalizing illegal immigrants -- a proposal that has stirred widespread protest demonstrations -- or giving them temporary work visas that might eventually lead to citizenship. Though Senate leaders promise progress, legislation may not pass in this election year.
David Peters, a 37-year-old salesman, is bothered by illegal immigration and believes he's part of the problem, but he says it isn't always possible to hire people with work papers.
He hired day laborers over several months while remodeling his Hermosa Beach house. One man tiled a floor and installed a granite countertop for $1,000, jobs that Peters estimated would cost $5,000 if he used the Yellow Pages.
"I know if they didn't have a job, they wouldn't be here," said Peters. "But we all shop at Target and Wal-Mart, and all their stuff is made overseas with cheap labor."
Maxine Colby started hiring day laborers after her husband died six years ago because she needed somebody to clear brush, pull weeds, trim trees and wash windows. She pays them $11 an hour and serves them a hot lunch.
"They have been fantastic," said the 78-year-old Malibu resident. "I speak a little Spanish, and they speak a little English, and we have a good time."
She doesn't ask about immigration status or worry about breaking the law.
"This is a system that works for most people," she said. "If lawmakers can't figure out how to fix it, I certainly can't."
------------------------------
http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Immigration_Boycott_Day.html
Some Immigrants Reluctant to Boycott
By ERIN TEXEIRA
AP National Writer
NEW YORK — Now that immigrants have grabbed the nation's attention, what next?
Monday has been set aside for immigrants to boycott work, school and shopping to show how much they matter to their communities. But with some growing tired of street protests, and others afraid they'll be deported or fired for walking out, people are planning to support the effort in myriad ways.
 Day laborers wait for work near a Home Depot store in Phoenix, Friday, April 28, 2006. Activists supporting area immigrant workers plan to hold a protest outside the store Monday, as part the 'A Day Without an Immigrant' national boycott. Activists are targeting some Phoenix Home Depot stores where the store's management has asked day laborers seeking work, not to congregate on the premises. (AP Photo/Khampha Bouaphanh) Listen Now: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says as a former border state governor, President Bush understands the problem of striking a balance between immigration and security. COURTESY: C-B-S's 'Face the Nation.' (requires Real Player) |
Some will work but buy nothing on Monday. Others will protest at lunch breaks or at rallies after work. There will be church services, candlelight vigils, picnics and human chains.
The range of activities shows both how powerful the immigrants' rights movement has become in a matter of weeks, and that organizers don't yet have a clear focus on its next step.
"It's highly unpredictable what's going to happen," said Harley Shaiken, director of the Center for Latin American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. "What unites everyone that's going to do something on May 1 is they are making visible their strong feelings."
Thanks to the success of previous rallies plus media attention, planning for Monday's events, collectively called Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes — A Day Without Immigrants — is widespread.
Officials in Los Angeles braced for huge crowds: Assistant Police Chief George Gascon said as many as 500,000 people could take part.
In smaller cities such as Allentown, Pa., Omaha, Neb., and Knoxville, Tenn., immigrants and their allies have been going door to door with fliers, making posters and sharpening speeches. In New Mexico, restaurants cooked meals this weekend that they'll donate food for Monday picnics in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
In Pomona, Calif., about 30 miles east of Los Angeles, dozens of men who frequent a day labor center voted unanimously to close Monday, said Mike Nava, the center's director.
"If anyone even comes around looking for work that day," Nava said, "the men want him suspended."
Some insist that a boycott is the next key step — beyond marches — to show the nation just how much economic power undocumented workers hold. "The marches are a tool, but they are being overused," said Mahonrry Hidalgo, head of the immigration committee of New Jersey's Latino Leadership Alliance. Like civil rights boycotts of decades past, he said, "this could finally be the spark for our people to advance."
In New Jersey, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, people boycotting work will march to the offices of elected officials to urge them to support pro-immigrant legislation. In California, although a spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said a boycott would "hurt everyone," Democratic state senators passed a resolution supporting walkouts.
Still, there's a big divide over the boycott's merits.
"To encourage people not to go to work or children not to go to school is counterproductive," Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."
Opponents of illegal immigration spent the weekend building a fence to symbolize their support of a secure border. About 200 volunteers organized by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California worked on a six-foot barbed-wire fence along a quarter-mile stretch of rugged terrain near the U.S.-Mexico border about 50 miles east of San Diego.
Many worry that not working or spending money will alienate business leaders, and that cutting classes sends an anti-education message. Even Los Angeles' Spanish-language disc jockeys, who helped fuel marches hundreds of thousands strong in recent weeks, have toned it down. "We have to demonstrate that we came here to succeed," said Eduardo Sotelo, whose morning show, "Piolin por la Manana," is syndicated nationwide.
Many of Monday's organizers are finding less contentious ways of joining.
Some marches and voter information meetings are scheduled for after work and school hours. Those who go to school or work are being urged to wear white clothes or white armbands. Several school districts have sent letters home to parents and threatened punishment if students have unexcused absences, but some plan to focus on immigration issues in classes and seminars on campus.
In each of New York City's five boroughs, thousands of workers are expected to take work breaks shortly after noon to link arms with shoppers, restaurant-goers and other supporters along city sidewalks for about 20 minutes. "This will symbolize the interdependence of all of us, not just immigrants, but all of society," said Chung-Wa Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Organizers in Phoenix hoped to have enough people to make a 25-mile human chain winding through the city to symbolize the unity of the Latino community on the day observed elsewhere around the world as International Workers' Day. However, they canceled that plan because of safety concerns and instead set out several smaller demonstrations.
Many hope that workers' bosses also will join their efforts — and some already are showing their support.
Some big businesses are shutting down operations, corporate spokesmen said: Six of 14 Perdue Farms plants will close; Gallo Wines in Sonoma, Calif., is giving its 150 employees the day off; Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, will shut five of its nine beef plants and four of six pork plants.
Greg Schirf, owner of Wasatch Beers in Utah, said that when some of his Latino employees sheepishly asked if they could take off Monday, he responded: "How about this? We'll just take a company holiday. We'll call it 'Latino Appreciation Day.'"
Such attitudes are quelling some of the anxiety that has bubbled up nationwide since federal officials arrested more than 1,100 immigrant employees and seven managers at 40 sites of IFCO Systems, which makes crates and pallets. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he plans to step up workplace enforcement of immigration laws.
"During information we've been presenting to different organizations (about Monday's events), we usually spend 20 to 30 minutes just explaining if we were to have or not have a raid," said Houston activist Maria Jimenez of the Central American Resource Center. "We've seen a lot of fear in the community."
Many are expected to find solace in religious services.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged immigrants to attend Mass instead of boycotting, and suggested that churches toll their bells in memory of immigrants who died trying to come to the U.S.
---------------------------
Erik Voss
erik@ICAtlanta.org
404-457-5901 Direct
<< Home