Protest • Thousands
of people gathered in downtown Los Angeles
to protest the passage of the Sensenbrenner
Bill. Ramzy Saleh / Online Forty-Niner
L.A. rally shows opposition to bill
By Ramzy Saleh
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Thousands of protesters marched over a half a mile from Olympic Boulevard and
Broadway Street to the steps of Los Angeles City Hall in downtown L.A. to protest
the Sensenbrenner immigration bill.
House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Homeland Security
Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., drafted the bill, known as the Border Protection,
Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act (H.R. 4437) which was passed
by the U.S. House of Representatives in December 2005. The bill will affect
the lives of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United
States.
It would also make the children of illegal immigrants also illegal even though
the babies were born here.
The protest lasted a little over three hours and was coordinated by a number
of organizations that publicized the event through outreach programs, Hispanic
radio and Hispanic television stations. The thousands who gathered demonstrated
peacefully and were upbeat. Latin music played continuously through giant speakers
everywhere.
“
Sí se puede! Sí se puede! (Yes we can! Yes we can!),” was
the most common chant from the thousands there.
The late Caesar Chavez who was a Mexican-American labor leader and activist
created the chant. Thousands of American flags intermingled with those of Latin
American countries and Asian countries such as Korea, China and the Philippines.
“
This is not a Mexican immigrant issue,” said Jesse Diaz, an expert on
immigration sociology and one of the event’s organizers. “This
is a multi-national immigrant issue. All undocumented immigrants and their
families who support them will be affected by this bill.”
“
No to H.R. 4437,” “Proud to be an Immigrant,” “We love
America” and “We are not terrorists. We are contributors,” were
just a few of the hundreds of different signs carried by the protestors that
came by the thousands from all over California and states such as Arkansas,
Texas, Illinois and Arizona, where similar marches have also taken place in
the past weeks.
Opponents of the legislation say it would punish the good samaritan because
provisions written in the bill would classify almost anyone who aids or provides
work to undocumented immigrants as felons. It would also make undocumented
immigrants, currently seen as immigration violators, into felons and subject
to police arrest.
They also maintain it would grant state and local law enforcements authority
to enforce immigration laws which they feel would undermine security and law
enforcement efforts because people would be less likely to report crimes if
they feared they would be arrested for being here illegally.
“
This is Draconian legislature that takes us back. It’s a racist attack
on all immigrants not just Latinos,” Diaz said.
Supporters of the bill, such as Numbers USA and Federation for American Immigration
Reform (FAIR), see it as a vital part of working towards sustainability in
this country. They caution the United States is facing a population crisis
that will become worse unless laws are enacted to stop what they consider a
never-ending flood of immigrants. They also assert through their own data that
illegal immigrants cost the U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars each year in
education and medical care.
Sen. Hilary Clinton, D-N.Y., recently denounced the Sensenbrenner Bill, calling
it “mean spirited.” She also said it is hypocritical of Republican
lawmakers who claim to support faith and values when this bill would “probably
criminalize Jesus himself,” alluding to parts of the bill that would
criminalize anyone who aids an undocumented immigrant including the clergy.
The Rev. David Lynn of the Amazing Grace Methodist Church in Long Beach spoke
at the rally on the steps of City Hall.
“
H.R. 4437 is unreasonable and unacceptable,” Lynn said. “We are
all immigrants of this land. If this bill passes and I am required to denounce
the undocumented in my congregation, I would gladly choose jail.”
Also, Cardinal Roger Mahoney, who heads the Catholic Church in Los Angeles,
has instructed his clergy not to abide by the new law if it passes.
Other city officials have taken similar action.
The Pasadena City Council passed a resolution stating the city would not enforce
the new laws if enacted and, most recently, the city of Coachella, located
in Southern California, passed a resolution calling the city an “Illegal
migrant safe haven.”
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also attended and briefly addressed
the crowd in both English and Spanish.
“
We are workers, not criminals,” Villaraigosa said. “We say to Sensenbrenner
that there are no illegals here; the only thing illegal is a proposal that
would demonize and criminalize eleven million people. All are welcome.”
He called on the crowd to call its respective congressional representatives
and senators and urge them to dump this bill and support opposing bills like
the McCain-Kennedy bill which calls for a guest worker program that eventually
gives permanent status to the eleven million undocumented who are already in
the country.
Supporters of the bill were a virtual no show at the march except for a lone
member of the Minutemen, a private group of citizens who routinely patrol the
United States-Mexican border and monitor the flow of illegal immigrants. Activists
quickly shouted down the Minutemen member until police fearing his safety escorted
him away.
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