The Immigrant movement

[remek]

Immigrant movement powerful, unfocused

By ERIN TEXEIRA

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Now that immigrants have grabbed the nation's attention, what next?

Today 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 today. 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 immigrant-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 today'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.

On the eve of the protest, about 3,000 people rallied for immigrant rights at a park in Lynwood, a heavily Hispanic Los Angeles suburb. Organizers of the demonstration called on residents and businesses to support the boycott.

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 will donate for picnics today 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 today, 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 demonstrate how much economic power illegal immigrants 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 merits of a boycott.

"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."

Meanwhile, 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 6-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.

In Mexico, where an immigration march is planned to pass in front of the U.S. Embassy, President Vicente Fox urged Mexicans to be prudent in their protests in either country.

"They shouldn't be an element of provocation or one that promotes xenophobia or opposition," he said.

Many worry that not working or spending money will alienate business leaders, and that cutting classes sends an anti-education message. So some marches and voter-information meetings are scheduled for after work and school hours.

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, 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 when some of his Hispanic employees asked if they could take off today, he responded: "How about this? We'll just take a company holiday. We'll call it 'Latino Appreciation Day.' "



This was taken from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...5_immig01.html