Immigrants flex economic muscles with protest

ILLEGAL immigrants and their allies gathered across America yesterday for marches, prayers and demonstrations on a national day of economic protest, boycotting work, school and shopping to show their importance to the country.

Thanks to the success of previous rallies and media attention, planning for the events, collectively called Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes — A Day Without Immigrants — is widespread, though fragmented.

Although thousands of Irish illegals will be affected by any change to the law, the main focus of yesterday’s actions was the Hispanic community, the group with most to lose from tougher immigration laws.

Several thousand people marched in the rural city of Homestead, home to one Florida’s largest Mexican immigrant populations and many major growers of fruits, vegetables and nursery plants.

Jose Cruz, 23, from El Salvador, said he took the day off from his construction job to attend the rally.

“If I lose my job, it’s worth it,” said Cruz, who has a temporary work permit granted to many Central Americans. “It’s worth losing several jobs to get my papers.”

Others were working yesterday but buying nothing as part of the economic boycott around the country. Some planned to attend protests during lunch breaks or after work. Church services, candlelight vigils and picnics also were planned.

Organisers are protesting against stricter immigration laws that are being debated in Congress, and they hope yesterday’s events will raise awareness about immigrants’ economic power.

In Carmel, Indiana, Jeff Salsbery said about 25 Hispanic workers skipped work at his landscaping company.

“I’m not very happy this morning,” Salsbery said. “We’re basically shut down in our busiest month of the year. It’s going to cost me thousands of dollars today.”

Some big businesses were also shutting down operations, including Gallo Wines in Sonoma, California, which gave its 150 employees the day off.

Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat producer, planned to shut five of its nine beef plants and four of six pork plants.

In Denver, El Centro Humanitario, a non-profit organisation set up to help day labourers, was closed because its managers were helping organise a rally expected to attract tens of thousands of people.

But there was little change at Labour Finders, a temporary office with several branches in the Denver area, spokesman Tim Kaffer said.

“The people who come in here really can’t afford to take a day off,” he said.

In New Orleans, several thousand demonstrators attended a rally, carrying signs that read “Proud to rebuild” and “We come to work.”

Derrick Trundle, 29, of Metairie, Louisiana, said he sends money to his mother in Honduras every month.

“We don’t come here to do anything bad,” Mr Trundle said. “Just support our family because our country is so very poor.”

In California, a spokeswoman for Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said a boycott would “hurt everyone”, while Democratic state senators passed a resolution supporting walkouts.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged students to stay in school and advised protesters against waving flags of their native countries.

“You should wave the American flag,” he said. “It’s the flag of the country that we all are proud of and want to be a part of.”

Activists in Florida said many immigrants were concerned about recent federal raids, in which hundreds of immigrants with criminal backgrounds were rounded up in Florida and throughout the Midwest.

Opponents of illegal immigration spent the weekend building a fence to symbolise their support of a secure border. About 200 volunteers organised by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California worked on a six-foot barbed-wire fence along a quarter-mile stretch of terrain near the US-Mexico border.

In Pensacola, Florida, about a dozen anti-immigration protesters carried signs that read “Illegals Go Home” and “Enforce Immigration Laws.”

Jim Moody said he does not support efforts to make illegal immigration a felony but is concerned about the drain on schools, hospitals and other resources that he believes illegal immigrants cause.

Roberto Aguilar, an Atlanta construction worker from Mexico City, says he was fired after he marched at a demonstration last month. The 25-year-old, though, felt it was important to return yesterday.

“If we don’t come out, they’re going to paint us as criminals,” Mr Aguilar said. “We’ve only come here to earn money with the sweat of our brow.”