500,000 March In LA To Protest Possible Illegal Immigration Policy

[DudeAsInCool]

Immigration March Draws 500,000 in L.A.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thousands of immigration advocates marched though downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for any cause in recent U.S. history.

More than 500,000 protesters - demanding that Congress abandon attempts to make illegal immigration a felony and to build more walls along the border - surprised police who estimated the crowd size using aerial photographs and other techniques, police Cmdr. Louis Gray Jr. said.

Read More Here

It's an absolutely insane proposition. This country was built by immigrants.

[DudeAsInCool]

The Washington Post takes a look at the growing anti-immigration bill movement.

...As the immigrant legislation was heard Monday on Capital Hill, a grass-roots movement of immigrant churchgoers, union members, businessmen, media personalities and laborers was hoping to use the power of their numbers to move the debate. Some in the loosely knit coalition speak of the dawning of a new civil rights movement, drawing parallels with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Chicano labor activist Cesar Chavez.

While opponents of illegal immigration have been organizing and even launching their own border patrols for some time, the immigrants themselves have been silent. But the turnout at rallies and demonstrations in recent weeks shows a deepening activism.

Almost three-quarters of a million people in more than 10 cities have marched against the bill. On March 10, about 100,000 marched in Chicago. Crowds have also massed in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Denver and Phoenix. And protests continued Monday when thousands of students skipped class in California, Texas and other states and demonstrators marched on a federal building in Detroit. Organizers said they were gearing up for a nationwide demonstration April 10.

Washington Post

I have a better idea - how about we deny green cards to all the right wingers on capitol hill

[DudeAsInCool]

So who do you think the good guys are... Hint - it's not the guy whose family owns all the HMOs

Yes We Can!

Posted Sunday, March 26, 2006, at 5:37 AM ET

The Los Angeles Times leads with the more than 500,000 people who took to the streets Saturday in downtown L.A. to protest some of the immigration measures that will come before the U.S. Senate on Monday. In addition to legislation co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Edward Kennedy, which would grant permanent residency and possibly citizenship to over 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist introduced a bill that would tighten border security and increase penalties for illegal immigrants and those who employ them.

Read more at Slate:

[DudeAsInCool]

Students Rally On Streets, Downtown Freeways

Mayor Meets With Students To Discuss Immigration Bill

LOS ANGELES -- More than 36,000 students from throughout Los Angeles County skipped classes and marched through streets and on various freeways Monday to protest an immigration bill being debated in Congress.

More than 1,000 students waving Mexican, El Salvadoran, Guatemalan and American flags began gathering on the south lawn of Los Angeles City Hall just after 9 a.m., but crowds finally dispersed by 6 p.m., Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Paul Vernon said.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Police Chief William Bratton and Los Angeles Unified School District officials urged students to return to class Tuesday morning, when schools will be on lockdown.

Source: LA Tiimes

[Malicious Intent]

Surely by the definition of illegal immigrant the government should do something?

I'm an immigrant worker here in Ireland, but I wouldn't expect any hospitality if I had come here illegally.

It also seems ironic to me that people point to the Mexican border as a signal that Bush doesn't really give a damn about terrorists, yet when he does something, people complain about that too.

[DudeAsInCool]

Surely by the definition of illegal immigrant the government should do something?

I'm an immigrant worker here in Ireland, but I wouldn't expect any hospitality if I had come here illegally.

It also seems ironic to me that people point to the Mexican border as a signal that Bush doesn't really give a damn about terrorists, yet when he does something, people complain about that too.

It's a complicated issue for sure. This country was built on immigrants - it's a real melting pot. The reason that a lot our industries work is because of immigrant labor, e.g. agriculture. The issue isnt that immigration laws shouldnt be tightened - but it shouldn't be a felony if you are an illegal worker

[NelsonG]

It also seems ironic to me that people point to the Mexican border as a signal that Bush doesn't really give a damn about terrorists, yet when he does something, people complain about that too.

They are sometimes two different sets of people. The felony thing is out of line ... there is another issue at hand that this bill is trying to wrap itself around to conceal. If I'm not mistaken, it's the piggybackers again...

[DudeAsInCool]

Police To Crack Down On Student Walkouts

Truants Could Face Fines, Community Service

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles law enforcement officials plan to crack down on students who leave campus Wednesday by issuing truancy citations. LA School Superintendent Roy Romer says students leaving campus will be automatically considered truant.

Truant students could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from certain school-sponsored functions. Students who are cited by law enforcement officers can face fines up to 200 dollars and 20 days of community service.

Source

[Malicious Intent]

!update

[Excrement_Cranium]

High school students in my town did a walk-out. Our valley is about 70% Mexican. There are various other mixes from other South-American countries, and a splash of Asian, but for the most part it is Mexican descent.

One of the girls who ended up in the story photo had a kick ass t-shirt, it read:

Mexican.

I am not Hispanic.

I am not Latino.

Why is it kick ass? Because hispanic and latino are lump-in catch alls for people with brown skin, or speak spanish, or both. A somewhat racist way to be politically correct. Since when did Mexican become a dirty word?

[DudeAsInCool]

Here's an update...from a Republican point of view...

***

The Senate resumes work this week on a contentious immigration bill that pits Republican against Republican.

The bill would offer an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants an opportunity for citizenship and expand guest-worker programs for an estimated 400,000 immigrants each year. The president has said such a guest worker program is central.

But many conservatives favor a more restrictive measure passed by the House last December that would make it a federal felony to live in this country illegally and calling for a wall to be built along the border with Mexico. It does not contain a guest-worker provision.

While acknowledging the difficulty faced by lawmakers, Bush told reporters in Mexico on Friday: "I expect the debate to bring dignity to America, in recognition that America is a land of immigrants."

Some conservatives contend he really isn't really one of them.

Source

[DudeAsInCool]

Immigration Advocates Rally Across U.S.

Published: April 10, 2006

Crowds of immigrants and their supporters predicted to total in the hundreds of thousands marched today in more than 100 cities throughout the country, casting off the old fears of their illegal status to assert that they have a right to a humane life in this country.

Crowds of immigrants and their supporters marched in Lincoln, Neb., and cities around the country today.

Thousands took part in a large immigration march and rally in Atlanta, Ga., today. More Photos >

The marches were taking place in big cities like Washington, New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Atlanta, and in smaller communities like Hyde Park, N.Y., Garden City, Kan., and Belle Glade, Fla. Some of the marchers invoked the tactics and slogans of the civil rights era, and others were trying out a new voice for an emerging constituency that in the very recent past has hidden from authority because of their lack of papers, afraid to speak up, willing to work for wages that American citizens will not accept.

Source

[DudeAsInCool]

Senate Shifts Iraq Funds to Border Patrols

The Senate voted Wednesday to divert some of the money President Bush requested for the war in Iraq to instead increase patrols against illegal immigrants on the nation's borders and provide the Coast Guard with new boats and helicopters.

An amendment cutting Bush's Iraq request by $1.9 billion to pay for new Border Patrol agents, aircraft and some fencing at border crossings widely used by illegal immigrants was adopted on 59-39 vote.

Source: Breitbart.com

[Wolfie]

Why not? If the railroad in Mississipi is getting a piece of Emergency Iraq and Katrina fund, why not the border patrol?

[DudeAsInCool]

Immigration Dissent Sweeps L.A. and the Nation

More than 300,000 undocumented workers and their supporters demonstrated today in Los Angeles and flexed their political and economic muscles in support of an overhaul of national immigration policy.

The demonstration was smaller than the weekend rally that attracted half of a million people to City Hall in March. But tens of thousands more demonstrated in the city's neighboring areas and a protest now underway along Wilshire Boulevard was drawing thousands more.

The protest is in response to efforts by Congress to overhaul immigration policy for the first time in two decades.

Read more:

Source: LA Times

The marchers are everywhere today. Lots of American flags. The people were all very friendly and conversant that I ran in to.

[DudeAsInCool]

Immigrants Stage Protests Across U.S.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters gathered in cities around the country today in demonstrations and an economic boycott intended to show the impact the workers have on the nation's economy as Congress grapples with new immigration legislation.

Truck drivers gathered in a park in Los Angeles, Calif. More Photos >

On what they dubbed "A Day Without Immigrants," organizers had urged immigrants not to show up for work and not to make any purchases today. But while the demonstrations promised to be some of the biggest in a series of marches during the last two months, not everyone agreed that the show of unity should include walking off the job, forsaking purchases or staying out of school.

Source: NY Times

[method77]

I get excited when I see people protesting

[DudeAsInCool]

I get excited when I see people protesting

Me, too. Democracy TV is covering the event..

Source Page for Videos

[DudeAsInCool]

CNN's Lou Dobbs suggests that radicals have taken over the movement:

Dobbs: Radical groups taking control of immigrant movement

...Most of the mainstream media has been absolutely co-opted by the open borders and illegal immigration advocates. I'm not opposed to demonstrations and protests of any kind, even by those who are not citizens of this country, because one way or another, demonstrations and protests enrich and invigorate the national debate and raise the public consciousness of truth.

But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters' boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott.

Read more:

Source: CNN

Dobb's pov is mainly one in which he feels citizen's job's and salaries have been hurt by the immigrants. He also points out that one of the organizers threatened to close down LA's shipping ports. He makes good points--however, in my mind, the President and the Republican Congress are the most radical group of politicians we have seen for a long time and they have got to go

[DudeAsInCool]

Bush Set To Send Guard to Border

Assignment Would Be Temporary; Critics Cite Strain on Troops

President Bush tried to ease the worries of his Mexican counterpart yesterday as he prepared for a nationally televised address tonight unveiling a plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to help seal the nation's southern border against illegal immigrants.

Mexican President Vicente Fox called to express concern over the prospect of militarization of the border, and Bush reassured him that it would be only a temporary measure to bolster overwhelmed Border Patrol agents, the White House said.

Read more:

Source: The Washington Post

Nut cases run this country...

[DudeAsInCool]

Conservatives appear unmoved on immigration

Poll suggests Bush address swayed viewers

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's plan to toughen border security may not be enough to overcome opposition within his own party to his "earned-citizenship" proposal, which critics decry as "amnesty," House conservatives said Tuesday.

A day after outlining his immigration overhaul plan, Bush told reporters that an amnesty program for illegal immigrants would be wrong, but that his earned-citizenship proposal would be a fair part of a comprehensive bill.

"Amnesty would mean that more people would try to sneak into our country in hopes of being granted automatic citizenship," Bush said. "But there ought to be a way for somebody to pay a fine or learn English or prove that they've been here for a long time working, and be able to get in line -- not at the head of the line but the back of the line -- in order to become a citizen.

Read more:

Source

Conservatives think Bush is too liberal on this issue...

[Malicious Intent]

It is a very different tactic to the EU. Everyone feared a massive invasion from the new Eastern EU countries when they joined.

I'm not sure if we are OK because the British and Irish economies are healthy enough to obsorbe the immigrants, or if the increase in a young, healthy workforce is stimulating the economies, creating more jobs than taken.

It is always the ones with their heads screwed on that make it here. I was takling to one group of Polish early-20-somethings. 9 of them moved to Ireland after graduating university. 7 of them have Masters, so they are all equally or better educated than me.

Instead of going after top jobs in Poland, they have moved to Ireland as part of a three year plan. All 9 live in a 4 bedroom house within walking distence to work. They don't really go out and minimise their spending in everyway possible. It is making them very rich compared to people in Poland. They are slowly buying up a block of flats in Warsaw, one flat at a time. In three years time, they will own the whole block, and then move back to Poland as very rich landowners.

Perhaps it helps tensions that their women are tall and slim and they are all white-european?

[DudeAsInCool]

Maybe we should be buying flats in Warsaw - are the prices good? :)

[Wolfie]

President Bush's plan to toughen border security may not be enough to overcome opposition within his own party to his "earned-citizenship" proposal, which critics decry as "amnesty," House conservatives said Tuesday.

Does not look like his conservative base is buying it.

[DudeAsInCool]

Does not look like his conservative base is buying it.

...which is kind of horrifying. Maybe the country will wake up now and see the whole administration and republican base need to be thrown out in to the street - their values are out to lunch.