Immigration rallies planned nationwide

Immigration rallies planned nationwide

	Published : Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:29 By : Agencies Print this Story

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hispanic and other civil rights groups wrapped up plans for immigration reform marches and rallies Tuesday in dozens of cities, but conceded a replay of last year's huge turnout was unlikely.

Still, organizers said the demonstrations reflect a robust movement determined to win a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

'Just because the 12 million people who don't have legal residency don't attend a march doesn't mean they don't want it,' said Eduardo 'Piolin' Sotelo, a popular Spanish-language disc jockey.

'I tell my listeners that no matter what they do, just don't stop doing something,' he said.

Marches, meetings and voter registration drives were planned from Oregon to Florida.

In Miami, Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean planned to speak to immigrant groups. In Washington, D.C., about 400 members of Asian groups from across the country were set to lobby lawmakers. Two large demonstrations were planned in Los Angeles County -- home to an estimated 1 million illegal immigrants.

Last year's May 1 boycott brought out more than a million protesters across the nation. But later rallies failed to produce large turnouts, as legislation stalled in Congress and bipartisan proposals for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship have become more conservative.

The developments have disheartened many would-be marchers, but organizers said the frustration with Congress also brought out new supporters.

'It used to be that Hispanic immigrants, those who came legally, were more conservative on the issue,' said Joe Garcia, a Cuban-American who heads the Democratic party's Miami-Dade County chapter.

'But now it's become so wrapped up with issues of racism and identity, even Puerto Ricans and Cubans care about immigration,' he said.

Yet stepped-up raids in recent months have left many immigrants afraid to speak out in public -- a major change over rallies in 2006 when some illegal immigrants wore T-shirts saying 'I'm illegal. So what?'

'The raids are intended to terrorize people and make President Bush look tough,' said Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. 'But they are not a solution.'

Some Los Angeles area groups called for an economic boycott and hoped for a repeat of last year, when thousands of immigrants and students stayed away from work and school in a sign of solidarity.

Others have rejected the boycott, arguing that it puts immigrants' livelihoods at risk and deprives children of valuable classroom time. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, urged students to stay in school.

'This is a very decentralized and organic movement, so in all different cities people will be doing what they feel is important in their area,' said Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, a major organizer of rallies.

Among the events planned:

-- In New York, groups are planning an 'American Family Tree' rally, where immigrants will pin paper leaves on a large painting of a tree to symbolize the separation of families because of strict immigration laws.

-- In Fresno, organizers planned a rally focusing on children whose parents had been deported. The San Joaquin Valley is home to thousands of seasonal workers who cross the Mexican border illegally each year to work in the fields and construction industry.

-- In Milwaukee, Ricardo Chavez, the brother of famed agricultural labor leader Cesar Chavez, was expected to speak, as protesters demanded a stop to immigration raids. A raid last year in Whitewater, Wis., saw the arrests of 25 workers and the owner of a packaging plant. Mothers were separated from their children.

-- In Florida, voter registration drives and vigils were planned in Miami, Tampa, Orlando and West Palm Beach, along with after-hours rallies in agricultural towns in the Everglades.

-- In Los Angeles, marches will include demands for a legalization program, a stop to the raids and an anti-Iraq war message. City and transportation officials were planning for as many as 500,000 people in downtown, believing it could be the largest in the city so far this year.

Associated Press writers Garance Burke in Fresno, Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this story.