"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 5/1/'06 5 PM
"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 5/1/'06 5 PM
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:
Cobb Latino businesses shut down (AJC)
- Immigrants demonstrate economic clout (AP)
The one sure immigration fix (St Petersberg Times, FL)
- Capitol braces for rally (AJC)
- Immigrants to stage boycott in US (BBC)
- Reform march, protest today (Red and Black Athens)
- Streets around state Capitol to close at 10:30 (Access North Georgia)
- Fear tears at solidarity over immigrant protests (Scripps)
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http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/breaking/entries/2006/05/01/63671.html
Cobb Latino businesses shut down
By Yolanda Rodriguez | Monday, May 1, 2006, 10:00 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shopping plazas were empty in Cobb County early Monday as Latino-owned businesses shut down to participate in the national boycott in support of immigration reform.
Francisco Zamora, organizer of the boycott, drove through the streets of Marietta and Smyrna heartened by the quiet shops. "It feels good," he said.
At one South Cobb Drive shopping center, most of the stores were closed. One of them, Brito Supermarket, taped a note to its glass doors, telling customers it would be shut down because of the boycott.
Other Latino-owned businesses at the shopping center were also closed. One woman, Vilma Villeda, dropped off advertising circulars but she planned to finish early and not spend any money.
Georgia's law cracking down on illegal immigrants, recently signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, was unjust, said Villeda, 23, a native of Honduras who supports two daughters who live there.
One man who said he had to work expressed his support in another way. George Dipp, 43, a maintenance worker at the Hickory Lake apartments who is from the Dominican Republic, said he planned on spending nothing Monday.
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http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/business/14474630.htm
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/business/14474630.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1910708
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050100801.html
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8HB71480.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/05/01/ap2711581.html
Immigrants demonstrate economic clout
DAVE CARPENTER
Associated Press
Illegal immigrants made their point Monday: Without them, Americans would pay higher prices and a lot of work wouldn't get done.
As nationwide demonstrations thinned the work force in businesses from meat-packing plants to construction sites to behind the counter at McDonald's, economists said there can be no dispute within the context of the contentious immigration issue that the group wields significant clout in the U.S. economy.
"If illegal immigration came to a standstill, it would disrupt the economy," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "It would lead to higher prices for many goods and services, and some things literally would not get done. It would be a major adjustment for our economy, for sure."
Another economist, Diane Swonk, said it would be an economic mistake to restrict entry and work rights when revising immigration policy.
"Given the obvious hardship of having illegal aliens flooding in, we also know they are critical to the functioning of the U.S. economy," said Swonk, chief economist at Chicago-based Mesirow Financial. "To be turning our backs on people who want to work is kind of silly in an environment where you've got tight labor markets and we're getting older and need younger people to work."
While the full impact of the one-day Day Without Immigrants boycott was hard to immediately gauge, it was palpable in some industries with a heavily Hispanic work force. On-the-job turnout was dramatically lower at some locales in the meat-packing, masonry, restaurant and landscaping businesses, and numerous firms closed for the day.
Mike Collins, who owns 500 acres of Vidalia onions in southeastern Georgia, was forced to shut down his packing shed and postpone his harvest when none of his 175 seasonal workers showed up.
"We need to be going wide-open this time of year to get these onions out of the field and we have nobody working today," he said. "Losing a day in this part of the season causes a tremendous amount of problems."
Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, shut five of nine beef plants and four of six pork plants in anticipation of widespread absences. Perdue Farms Inc., the nation's third-largest chicken producer, closed eight processing plants in seven states. Cargill Meat Solutions, the nation's second-largest beef processor, gave more than 15,000 workers the day off and closed plants in six states.
Gold Kist, another poultry producer, shuttered two North Carolina plants and operated its two Georgia facilities at reduced productivity after many employees failed to heed requests by the company's managers and CEO to show up despite the protests.
"We've tried to be open," said Wayne Lord, a vice president for the Atlanta-based company. "They were urged to come to work today because of our focus on satisfying our customer requirements."
Others publicly supported their employees' cause. Arthur Velasquez, founder and chief economic officer of Azteca Foods in Chicago, said he was "extremely proud" of his workers and noted that illegal immigrants keeps alive companies that need seasonal employees.
"It's a seasonal situation, so people need workers right then and there," he said. "And either that or they don't survive."
Many companies rediscovered what they already knew: They can't operate effectively without the extra help.
Work sites operated in the Washington, D.C., area by Beltsville, Md.-based Manganaro MidAtlantic, a concrete and masonry company where immigrants comprise up to 75 percent of the work force, were quiet Monday. John Livingston, a business developer for Manganaro, said his firm has not been able to fill its staffing needs without immigrants for more than a decade.
Low attendance also was the story at hotels in Indianapolis, construction sites in Miami and plant nurseries and landscapers across a wide area.
McDonald's Corp. said some of its employees participated in the rallies, prompting it to operate an unspecified number of its nearly 14,000 restaurants with limited crews, shortened hours or drive-thru service only. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company did not provide further specifics but released a statement saying it strongly supports U.S. immigration reform.
Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank in Chicago, said the boycott underscores that immigration is not only political issue but a big economic one, too.
"The American economy really relies to a large extent on a growing labor force," he said. "There's a certain replenishment to the labor force that immigrants provide, and I think we have to be careful about taking steps that would hinder that process."
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http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/30/Columns/The_one_sure_immigrat.shtml
The one sure immigration fix
 BLUMNER E-mail: Click here |
By ROBYN E. BLUMNER,
Times Perspective Columnist
Published April 30, 2006
What to do about the nation's 11-million illegal immigrants has members of both parties twisting themselves in knots.
Democrats want to appease Hispanics, while not selling out their base of low-skilled workers who compete with illegal aliens for jobs. Republicans want to appear conducive to a law-and-order approach while not disrupting the cheap and exploitable work force on which their business constituency relies.
This tug and tussle of competing interests has our hand-wringing Congress frozen in indecision. It's stuck between a House-passed immigration reform measure that would have us erecting a massive fence along our border with Mexico and making felons of illegal aliens, and a Senate approach of eventual amnesty along with a guest worker program.
Beyond some promising employee verification requirements in the House version, I'm not partial to the primary elements of either package. An American-style Berlin Wall would be a giant gash on our land, offending our spirit of welcome toward legal immigrants. Offering an amnesty program, no matter how many hoops are attached, would only encourage others to subvert our laws in hopes of a similar capitulation in another 20 years.
Remember the amnesty of 1986? It was touted as a "one-time only" pass, since border and work-site enforcement would follow. It didn't happen.
There is only one way to keep poorly paid people from Latin America and Asia from smuggling themselves into the United States: deny them a job. We don't have to deport 11-million illegal aliens, which, as the president suggested, would be impossible. If the work dries up, they will leave of their own accord. Employers are the key, and everyone knows it.
It is on the jobs front that the hypocrisy of our leaders becomes so maddeningly apparent. From 1997 to 2005, we added 4,300 agents to patrol our borders, increasing the force to 11,100 and making it appear as though the government was getting serious about a crackdown. But at the same time, the number of federal immigration agents who investigated work-site compliance actually went down, from 240 in 1999 to 65 in 2004, according to the Government Accountability Office. The same study found that the number of notices of intent to fine employers who had hired illegal aliens dropped to three in 2004. At least 7-million illegal immigrants are estimated to be working, but our immigration service could only find three employers hiring them.
Earlier this month, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff made a big show of arresting 1,100 illegal immigrants and seven managers at a large pallet supply company based in Houston. The managers had allegedly paid an undercover agent for fraudulent documents for the illegal workers and engaged in other immigration no-nos. Prosecuting them is a good step. Now multiply that by 1,000 and we'll start making progress.
When the government fails to do its duty, enterprising people take it upon themselves. The Minutemen Project was formed to observe illegal migrants crossing the Arizona-Mexico border and alert border agents. There is nothing wrong with what these people are doing; they are filling a vacuum.
Howard Foster, a Chicago corporate attorney, is another innovator. He has filed a handful of lawsuits on behalf of citizen-employees who claim their wages have been depressed by their company hiring illegal aliens, and he's using our organized crime statutes to do it.
In 1996, Congress added the hiring of illegal aliens as a predicate crime that could trigger the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, RICO, and the possibility of treble damages. In a suit heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, Foster charges that the RICO laws can be applied to otherwise legitimate companies that conspire with contractors to hire undocumented workers.
Mohawk Industries Inc. vs. Williams is a case that should bring sweat beads to the upper lips of any employer who uses intermediaries to find illegal workers. Foster's suit against the Georgia-based carpet giant, Mohawk, which employs 30,000 workers, alleges that a significant number of the company's workers have faulty Social Security numbers and that the company helped labor recruiters with "a supply of Social Security cards for use when a prospective or existing employees need(ed) to assume a new identity."
If true, and the company denies it is, it sure sounds like an organized criminal enterprise.
Supporters of guest worker programs and amnesty point to our low unemployment statistics and say we need those workers. I don't buy it. Official unemployment figures are misleading since they don't include people who have given up looking. Offer a living wage and provide decent benefits and you'll have a work force.
But if more workers are needed, then we should address the shortfall by opening up our legal immigration process far wider for those who have properly waited their turn.
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http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/breaking/entries/2006/05/01/63663.html
Capitol braces for rally
By Nancy Badertscher | Monday, May 1, 2006, 09:32 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metal barracades and security forces were posted around the state Capitol today as officials prepared for an immigration rally with a wide range of crowd estimates from a few thousand to 100,000.
A major parking lot directly across from the Capitol was closed to the public and serving as a command station for state troopers, national guardsmen and other state personnel called in to assist with crowd control.
Streets around the Capitol will be closed before the rally, which the Georgia Building Authority has said could draw up to 100,000 people around noon.
Key state workers who have reserved street parking around the Capitol were temporarily ordered to park at the Capitol Avenue parking lot. Everyone entering the parking lot was required to show state identification.
Gov. Sonny Perdue had events scheduled in Cobb and Gwinnett counties and was not expected to be at the Capitol until late afternoon, a spokesman said this morning.
The Georgia Building Authority plans to shut down several streets from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. They are: Capitol Avenue from Memorial to MLK; Piedmont Avenue from MLK to Decatur Street; Courtland Street from Edgewood Avenue to MLK; Washington Street from MLK to Trinity Avenue; MLK from Capitol Avenue to Pryor Street; and Mitchell Street from Pryor Street to Capitol Avenue.
The Capitol Avenue from Memorial Drive to MLK and the Courtand Street closings had not been on the initial list of road closings given out Friday.
Permalink | Categories: Immigration rally
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4961734.stm
 The scale of Monday's protest is hard to predict. |
Millions are expected to stay away from work and school, and avoid spending money, in an effort to show how much immigrants matter to the economy.
Called A Day Without Immigrants, the protest comes as Congress wrestles with reform of immigration laws.
About 11.5m illegal immigrants live in the US, many entering via Mexico.
Some commentators say the emerging immigrant movement - the force of which was evident at nationwide demonstrations last month - can be compared with the civil rights protests of the 1960s and 70s.
They are people who are working, who share the values that other Americans share... They're farm workers who are feeding the nation 
United Farm Workers' Union
Monday is a normal working day in the US. Yet Latino leaders are saying that the scale of what will happen is hard to predict.
Some will work but buy nothing. Others will protest at lunch breaks, school walkouts or at rallies after work. There are planned church services, candlelight vigils, picnics and human chains.
But there are fears the action may trigger a backlash and some are questioning how many people will actually participate in the boycott.
The protest is also expected to spread to Mexico and other Latin American countries, where people have been urged to boycott US products for the day.
'Great American boycott'
Giev Kashkooli, from the United Farm Workers' Union, told the BBC: "They are people who are working, who share the values that other Americans share. They're farm workers who are feeding the nation.
"They are construction workers who are building buildings but also helping build communities. They are workers in the hotels and the restaurants.
"On 1 May there's no question that people will be expressing themselves politically."
In California, which has more undocumented workers than any other state, the State Senate has endorsed the planned day of action.
Lawmakers approved what they called "the great American boycott of 2006", describing it as an attempt to educate Americans about "the tremendous contribution immigrants make on a daily basis to our society and economy".
In New York, supporters intend to form human chains. In New Mexico, restaurants are donating meals to protesters, and around the country Latino-owned businesses are simply shutting up for the day.
The protest has had a mixed response from non-Latino sectors of society.
In Gainsville, Georgia, school administrators sent a letter home to parents saying absences would not be tolerated.
But the owner of a beer company in Utah said he had been happy to make the day a company holiday after several of his employees had asked for the day off.
Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, will shut nine of its 15 plants.
Immigration debate
The protest comes with the US Congress caught up in the divisive business of reforming immigration laws.
Right-wingers believe too much emphasis has been placed on plans for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship and not enough on enforcing current laws.
A bipartisan bill currently stalled in the Senate would bolster border security, but also provide illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship and a guest-worker programme long favoured by President George W Bush.
The BBC's Sarah Morris, in Washington, says it seems likely the economic impact of the protest will be noticed.
But softening the views of anti-immigration groups who say the government should do more to stem the tide of people crossing from Mexico may prove harder to achieve, she adds.
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http://www.redandblack.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/05/01/44555699999a1
Reform march, protest today
By ABBI LIBERS
Published , May 01, 2006, 06:00:01 AM EDT
Some Athens residents will march downtown today in support of National Day of Action, a protest for comprehensive immigration reform.
As workers around the world celebrate International Worker's Day by taking the day off from work, activists in support of immigration reform also are urging work and school boycotts across the nation.
Jessica Kelley, a senior honors student from Augusta, organized the Athens march to coincide with the boycotts across the nation, collectively called "A Day Without Immigrants."
Kelley, who has been married for more than two years to a man from Mexico, said she wanted to make sure Athens also was represented because of its large Hispanic community.
"It's important the local community gets involved to empower the people to fight for their rights and have a voice," she said.
The demonstration comes as illegal immigration reform is being debated in Congress, including the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 as well as the Dream Act, which would grant illegal immigrant minors the chance to apply for six years of legal immigrant status upon high school graduation.
The march will begin at 5 p.m. at First Christian Church, at the corner of Pulaski and Dougherty streets, and will be escorted by Athens-Clarke County Police.
After the march, there will be several speakers, including Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, to address the crowd and a candlelight vigil at the church.
Marchers will wear a white t-shirt and bring United States flags, as well as banners opposing the proposed immigration laws.
Kelley said she hopes the demonstration will be "very moving and very empowering."
She stressed the importance of not reacting to any anti-immigration sentiments.
Kelley said though she has been made aware of a Facebook event that has been created to counteract the protest, she is not worried.
The event is called "Illigal Immigration Protest" (sic)
The event has six "confirmed guests," and the Web site says the group plans to protest by standing at the arch with signs at 5 p.m.
"There's always going to be a group opposing us," Kelley said.
Nicolas Stanojevich, a junior from Lima, Peru, has been going around to local Latino neighborhoods to spread the word about the march and said he is expecting a pretty big turnout.
Stanojevich said the goal of the march is two-fold — to protest against proposed federal law and unite the Hispanic community to see its own strength and support.
He also said he hopes to raise some awareness about the issue, which he said a lot of people don't understand.
"These people are not a burden on our tax system, and they deserve the same rights other people have," he said.
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http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=103462
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Streets around state Capitol to close at 10:30------------------------------------
http://www1.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4663454,00.html
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Fear tears at solidarity over immigrant protests
ALEX BOERNER alex.boerner@scripps.com
Volunteers at the Latino Coalition of St. Lucie County put up posters of different leaders during their organizational meeting Wednesday night to prepare for today's A Day Without Immigrants and gathering in Rotary Park. "We're having them as our leaders because they accomplished something that was hard work," said volunteer Zaira Gomez. The posters included Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez.
ALEX BOERNER alex.boerner@scripps.com
Volunteers with the Latino Coalition of St. Lucie County meet Wednesday evening in Fort Pierce to plan for today's A Day Without Immigrants. The group gathered to discuss the legalities and print flyers for workers to give to their employers explaining their actions, among other things.
By CHARLIE REED
charlie.reed@scripps.com
May 1, 2006
FORT PIERCE — Rumors of deportation sweeps are expected to keep many illegal immigrants away from a planned rally here today. But that isn't stopping the Haitian community from joining the Treasure Coast's predominately Hispanic immigration reform movement.
"I received many calls (on the air)," said Etienne. "They're willing to go out there."
Today's event — scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m at Rotary Park — is part of the second wave of demonstrations around the country to convince Congress to pass legislation that would put the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants on the path to legal status.
For Etienne — who fled Haiti in 1981 as a persecuted social activist — gathering en masse to seek governmental change could not be more American.
"We don't have this kind of opportunity in Haiti. They don't have the freedom of speech," she said. "It's always my dream to push (the Haitian community) to get involved."
However, "they're afraid to speak up here because of the life they had back home," she said. "I always tell them 'We're no longer in Haiti.'"
Ironically as the movement to help legalize illegal immigrants grows, so too does the fear among them.
"People are in panic," said local activist Irma Cabriales. "They are really afraid to leave their house."
She helped organize the April 10 "Walk for Justice" in Fort Pierce, which drew about 2,500 locally and tens of thousands at similar events throughout the country that day.
Like Etienne, Cabriales has spurred interest among local immigrants over the airwaves. Cabriales hosts a Spanish-language talk show on La Gigante 1330 AM in Port St. Lucie.
But as rumors of immigration roundups spread throughout the community, Cabriales suspects many illegals are staying home, especially today.
Still, that makes the role of American-born children of immigrants, naturalized citizens, legal residents and supporters even more important, she said.
"We have to come out and speak for the people who can't," Cabriales said.
Billed nationally as a "Day Without Immigrants," many participating in today's event are missing work and not buying anything to show their economic clout and contributions.
But Cabriales said she's promoting the event as "A Day of Respect" to show the mainstream community that illegal immigrants are simply looking to be a part of American society.
"They want to work and raise their families and just be peaceful," she said. "We just want to make the situation better." Meanwhile, federal immigration officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security refused to comment on whether today's demonstrations are possible targets.
"We do not do random sweeps," said Barbara Gonzalez, a Miami spokeswoman for the department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Although Gonzalez said much of the agency's work is focused on illegal immigrants involved in criminal activity other than their lack of status, "anyone who is in the country illegally faces possible arrest and deportation."
A Day of Respect
What: A Day of Respect immigration reform rally
Where: Rotary Park of Fort Pierce, South 23rd Street and Virginia Avenue
When: Today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Why: To raise awareness for a Bush Administration backed guest worker program that would put 12 million illegal immigrants on the path to legal status.
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Erik Voss
erik@ICAtlanta.org
404-457-5901 Direct
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