More than 500,000 protesters

hevusa · 03-26-2006, 04:55 PM

Size of L.A. March Surprises Authorities By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer
Sun Mar 26, 12:25 PM ET

Thousands of immigration advocates marched through 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.

Wearing white T-shirts to symbolize peace, the demonstrators chanted "Mexico!" "USA!" and "Si se puede," an old Mexican-American civil rights shout that means "Yes, we can."

In Denver, more than 50,000 people protested downtown Saturday, according to police who had expected only a few thousand. Phoenix was similarly surprised Friday when an estimated 20,000 people gathered for one of the biggest demonstrations in city history, and more than 10,000 marched in Milwaukee on Thursday.

"We construct your schools. We cook your food," rapper Jorge Ruiz said after performing at a Dallas rally that drew 1,500. "We are the motor of this nation, but people don't see us. Blacks and whites, they had their revolution. They had their Martin Luther King. Now it is time for us."

Many protesters said lawmakers were unfairly targeting immigrants who provide a major labor pool for America's economy.

"Enough is enough of the xenophobic movement," said Norman Martinez, 63, who immigrated from Honduras as a child and marched in Los Angeles. "They are picking on the weakest link in society, which has built this country."

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, require churches to check the legal status of people they help, and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The Senate is to begin debating the proposals on Tuesday.

President Bush on Saturday called for legislation that does not force America to choose between being a welcoming society and a lawful one.

"America is a nation of immigrants, and we're also a nation of laws," Bush said in his weekly radio address, discussing an issue that had driven a wedge into his own party.

Bush sides with business leaders who want to let some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants stay in the country and work for a set period of time. Others, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, say national security concerns should drive immigration reform.

But many protesters rejected claims the national security claim, noting that the legislation would hurt Hispanics the most.

"When did you ever see a Mexican blow up the World Trade Center? Who do you think built the World Trade Center?" said David Gonzalez, 22, who marched in Los Angeles with a sign that read, "I'm in my homeland.'"

Between 5,000 and 7,000 people gathered Saturday in Charlotte, carrying signs with slogans such as "Am I Not a Human Being?" In Sacramento, more than 4,000 people protested immigration legislation at an annual march honoring the late farm labor leader Cesar Chavez.

The demonstrations are expected to culminate April 10 in a "National Day of Action" organized by labor, immigration, civil rights and religious groups.

___

Associated Press writers Bob Jablon and Kim Nguyen contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060326/...ltBHNlYwM3MTY-

RidinHighSpeeds · 03-26-2006, 06:10 PM

I wonder what percentage of those 500,000 are illegal immigrants..haha Probably quite large!

Katczinsky · 03-26-2006, 10:24 PM

Wow, that was quite large. I remember that when I was at the big peace march in Washington a while ago, we had about 300,000 people show up, just for the march (who knows how many showed up over the weekend protest). And most of the mainstream media with perhaps a few in exception reported only 100,000 protestors. Mainly because it was the number that the march organizers were expecting and reported to the press prior to the actual march. But the actual numbers were quite different.

That makes me think how accurate the numbers of this march was. Seeing as we are a nation of immigrants. And it being LA. It's quite possible that there were more than 500,000. But 500,000 is still 500,000. That's a lot of people. And no matter what politicians think about this particular issue, they can't ignore this march, and America's stand against the immigrant laws.

onthefence · 03-27-2006, 07:14 AM

ever play wheres waldo?

here is a new one find the taxpayer in that photo

RidinHighSpeeds · 03-27-2006, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onthefence

ever play wheres waldo?

here is a new one find the taxpayer in that photo

hahaha Seriously!

hevusa · 03-27-2006, 02:00 PM

I found it interesting that these people don't want more illegal immigrants coming into the country.

indago · 03-30-2006, 02:12 AM

From CNN, 27 March 2006:

Quote:

Today, anywhere from 3,000 to 8,000 illegal aliens will cross the border. Most disappearing into American society. A wave of illegal immigration affecting every aspect of American life. Undercutting wages and jobs for low-skilled Americans and legal immigrants and crowding classrooms, hospitals and prisons. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, more people are now coming here illegally than through legal channels. More than half enter without a high school education, and American public schools educate their children.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform says taxpayers spend $12 billion a year on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally. Another $17 billion for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.

It is federal law to provide free emergency health care to those here illegally. Congress has set aside a billion taxpayer dollars each year to reimburse all hospitals. A total, administrators complain, is a fraction of their costs.

Meanwhile, employers hire cheap labor with virtually no risk. The Government Accountability Office found only three employers fined in 2004 for illegal hiring, down from 417 in 1999.

At the same time, America's criminal justice system is bulging with these citizens of other countries. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 30 percent of federal prisoners are not U.S. citizens. At a cost of $63 a day, taxpayers spend more than $3 million every day to house non-U.S. citizen dollars in our federal prisons. Most are thought to be illegal aliens. Up to 20 million people are in this country illegally. An incredible boon for companies, but allowing limitless illegal immigration, as this country has, is an incredible drain on so many other parts of American society.

indago · 03-30-2006, 02:18 AM

From CNN, 3 March 2006:

Quote:

On Ash Wednesday, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles spoke in defense of illegal immigrants.

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY, ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS Angeles: The bishops are asking all of us across the country to enter into prayer and special fasting remembering and recalling our own immigrant roots to make sure that we don't slam the door in the faces of those who are here.

VILES: Mahony also defended giving charity to those here illegally.

MAHONY: We must be able to minister to people, regardless of how they got here. People come to our Catholic charities. We need to be able to minister to these people in the name of Christ.

VILES: At issue, a House-passed bill that states, in part, "Whoever assists, encourages, directs or induces a person to reside in or remain in the United States knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien who lacks lawful authority to reside in or remain in the United States shall be punished.

TOD TAMBERG, ARCHDIOCESE SPOKESPERSON: It would criminalize simple humanitarian gestures like giving a sandwich to a starving person if that person happened to be undocumented, and it could even intrude inside the doors of the church.

VILES: Those who favor the House bill say it would crack down on the business of smuggling illegal aliens and anyone who knowingly harbors them.

IRA MEHLMAN, FAIR: You have church institutions that are providing shelter, help people, knowingly help people to get into this country illegally and remain here illegally. And no institution, even religious institutions, are above the law.

VILES (on camera): Cardinal Mahony has made a personal appeal to the president on this issue. In a letter to President Bush, he said the bill as written would "penalize Catholics for doing what their faith demands of them."

Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.

indago · 04-01-2006, 06:58 AM

From CNN, 31 March 2006:

Quote:

There are some Mexican citizens and some Mexican- Americans who want to see California, New Mexico and other parts of the Southwestern United States given over to Mexico. These groups call it the reconquista, Spanish for reconquest. And they view the millions of Mexican illegal aliens in particular entering the United States as potentially an army of invaders to achieve that takeover. ...Chants celebrating La Raza, the race, and signs proclaiming the true history of the Southwest. A Southwest they say still belongs to Mexico.

Long downplayed as a theory of the radical ethnic fringe, the la reconquista, the reconquest, the reclamation, the return, it's resonating with some on the streets. It's the idea that the Southwest United States is stolen land called Aztlan.

More and more, this thing is becoming a festering sore, created by government with their neglect of the illegal immigration into this country. Now these illegals believe that they belong here, and are willing to occupy the territory and claim it as their own.

conspiriter · 04-05-2006, 03:35 PM

i think that this is stupid the illegals are pretty much saying that they want the benifits of being an american, but they dont want the laws, i couldnt believe it when i first found out about it.