Nickerie.Net, dinsdag 02 mei 2006  

Opnieuw massaprotest immigranten in VS

Meer dan een miljoen immigranten in de Verenigde Staten hebben een boycot gehouden van de economie. Ze gingen niet aan het werk en gaven geen geld uit, om zo te laten zien wat hun economische macht is.

Ze voelen zich gecriminaliseerd door de plannen van politici om immigratie hard aan te pakken. Volgens de immigranten doen ze werk dat de Amerikanen zelf niet willen doen. Ze vormen vijf procent van de Amerikaanse beroepsbevolking.

Vele honderdduizenden immigranten zijn de straat opgegaan. In Chicago en in Los Angeles waren de grootste betogingen met meer dan 300.000 deelnemers.

"Meer dan 500.000 demonstranten in  Los Angeles tegen nieuwe immigratiewet VS"

Los Angeles - Tussen de half en een heel miljoen mensen hebben zaterdag in Los Angeles gedemonstreerd tegen de nieuwe immigratiewet in de VS die illegaal verblijf in het land bestempeld als een zwaar misdrijf. Ook in andere steden de VS waren het vooral Latino’s die massaal de straat opgingen tegen de wet die ook beoogt nieuwe muren langs de Mexicaanse grens te bouwen en thans door het Amerikaanse Congres dient te worden behandeld.
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Demonstratie in Los Angeles

De opkomst op de diverse demonstraties overtrof ieders verwachting. In Los Angeles betrof het de grootste demonstratie die ooit in de stad is gehouden. De opkomst in Chicago was met 300.000 mensen eveneens indrukwekkend. In Atlanta ging het om 80.000 mensen. In Denver waar meer dan 50.000 mensen verschenen, had de politie slechts rekening gehouden met enkele duizenden betogers. Ook in Phoenix betrof het een der grootste demonstraties in de geschiedenis van de stad. Daar kwamen op vrijdag zo’n 20.000 mensen opdagen. Op donderdag waren er in Milwaukee zo’n 10.000 mensen op de been.

“We bouwen jullie scholen. We koken jullie eten”, zei rapper Jorge Ruiz na zijn optreden op de rally in Dallas waar 1500 mensen op afkwamen. “Wij zijn de motor van deze natie, maar mensen zien ons niet staan. Zwarten en witten, ze hebben hun eigen revolutie gehad. Ze hadden hun Martin Luther King. Nu is onze tijd gekomen.”

Veel demonstranten keerden zich tegen de hypocrisie van de onrechtvaardige aanval op immigranten die een belangrijke arbeidskracht vormen voor de Amerikaanse economie. De 63-jarige Norman Martinez die als kind vanuit Honduras immigreerde en in Los Angeles demonstreerde zei: “Ze hakken op de zwakste schakels in de samenleving die dit land hebben opgebouwd”.

Een ander thema dat bij de demonstranten speelt is de kwestie van inheemse volkeren. Een deel van de huidige VS behoorde immers in het verleden toe aan indianenstammen die zich bijvoorbeeld tot in Mexico uitstrekten.

Het Huis van Afgevaardigden (De Tweede Kamer van de VS) heeft dus de wet reeds aangenomen waarin illegaal verblijf wordt gezien als een zwaar misdrijf. Tevens kunnen werkgevers die illegale immigranten in dienst hebben nieuwe strafmaatregelen verwachten, dienen kerken de legale status van mensen die ze helpen te controleren en worden nieuwe hekwerken opgetrokken langs een derde van de grens tussen de VS en Mexico. Dinsdag a.s. beginnen de debatten over het wetsvoorstel in het Amerikaanse Congres.

Naar schatting bevinden zich 12 miljoen immigranten zonder papieren in de VS. De meeste van hen zijn ‘Hispanics’, waarmee de massale opkomst van deze bevolkingsgroep wordt verklaard. Ze storen zich ook aan het argument van ‘nationale veiligheid’ dat de Republikeinen gebruiken om de wet te rechtvaardigen. “Wanneer is er ooit sprake geweest van een Mexicaan die het World Trade Centre heeft opgeblazen? Wie denk je dat het World Trade Center heeft gebouwd?” zei de 22-jarige David Gonzalez die in Los Angeles demonstreerde met een bord waarop stond, “Ik ben in mijn geboorteland”.

Verwacht wordt dat de demonstraties tegen het wetsvoorstel hun hoogtepunt bereiken op 10 april tijdens de aangekondigde ‘Nationale Dag van Actie’. Deze wordt georganiseerd door vakbonden, immigratiegroepen, burgerrechtemorganisaties en kerkelijke groepen.

Massabetoging in Dallas tegen immigratiewet

De meeste illegalen in de VS komen uit Mexico en andere Latijns-Amerikaanse landen. In de mars in Dallas liepen veel Hispanics met kleine kinderen mee.

De rooms-katholieke kerk geeft steun aan illegale werknemers. Aartsbisschop John Favalora sprak de betogers in Miami toe.

Thousands rally for immigrant rights

Nationwide protests set for Monday show increased coordination

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Tens of thousands of people banged drums, waved U.S. flags and marched in a protest Sunday urging federal lawmakers to pass immigration reform that would legalize an estimated 11 million undocumented workers.Shouting "Si Se Puede!" -- Spanish for "Yes, we can!" -- the marchers crammed into the downtown streets. They included families pushing strollers with their children and ice cream vendors who placed American flags on their carts. Many wore white clothing to symbolize peace.

Police estimated the crowd at 350,000 to 500,000. There were no reports of violence.

It was among several demonstrations that drew thousands of protesters Sunday in New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Alabama, Utah, Oregon, Idaho and California.

"If we don't protest they'll never hear us," said Oscar Cruz, 23, a construction worker who marched among the estimated 50,000 in San Diego. Cruz, who came illegally to the U.S. in 2003, said he had feared a crackdown but felt emboldened by the large marches across the country in recent weeks.

In Birmingham, Alabama, demonstrators marched along the same streets where civil rights activists clashed with police during the 1960s and rallied at a park where a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. stands as a reminder of the fight for equal rights and the violence that once plagued the city.

"We've got to get back in touch with the Statue of Liberty," said the Rev. Lawton Higgs, a United Methodist pastor and activist. "We've got to get back in touch with the civil rights movement, because that's what this is about."

Organizers in St. Paul, Minnesota, were surprised by the crowd calling for change at a rally at the state Capitol. Police estimated the crowd at 30,000.

The rallies also drew counter-demonstrators.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Jerry Owens, 59, a Navy veteran from Midway wearing a blue Minuteman T-shirt and camouflage pants, held a yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

"I think it's real sad because these people are really saying it's OK to be illegal aliens," Owens said. "What Americans are saying is 'Yes, come here. But come here legally.' And I think that's the big problem."

Sunday's demonstrations come ahead of nationwide protests set weeks ago for Monday, a signal that what began as a string of disparate events -- attracting tens and even hundreds of thousands of people -- has become more coordinated.

"We don't have a leader like Martin Luther King or Cesar Chavez, but this is now a national immigrant rights movement," said Joshua Hoyt, director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which has helped organize rallies in the Chicago, Illinois, area.

Activists say the Senate's decision last week not to push a bill that would have given many illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship is neither a cause for celebration nor a lost opportunity -- it's a chance to regroup.

And that's what they plan to do at demonstrations from Florida to Oregon that include school walkouts and marches in major cities.

Religious groups nationwide have been coordinating the protests in recent weeks, along with dozens of unions, schools and civil rights organizations.

Part of their goal has been to recruit more Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants. Most protesters have been Hispanics and high school or university students.

Many groups had been preparing to rally since December, when the House passed a bill to build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border; make criminals of people who helped undocumented immigrants; and make it a felony, rather than a civil infraction, to be in the country illegally.

Those mostly local and regional efforts, supported by popular Spanish-language disc jockeys, quickly converted into national plans after hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in dozens of cities last month, culminating March 25 with a 500,000-person rally in Los Angeles.

Different organizers have different agendas, but they do agree on the need to convert energy from protests into massive voter registration drives.

Voter registration and citizenship education initiatives are set to begin in several states after a "Day Without An Immigrant" campaign planned for May 1, an event that asks immigrants nationwide to stay home from work and school, and refrain from buying U.S. products.

"Marches will only get you so far," said Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights, a network of Hispanic activist groups in Southern California. "There has to be an electoral component to get the Republicans out of the majority."

Lawmakers: Immigration bill not dead

Specter 'optimistic' as protests highlight political ramifications

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Lawmakers traded blame Sunday over the impasse that left immigration legislation stalled last week in the Senate, expressing hope that the push for an election-year overhaul was not dead.

"I hope it's savable," said Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. "I hope politics doesn't get in the way."

Sen. Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he is "optimistic," but quickly added "I'm always optimistic."

"There's a real risk of significant political fallout here," he told "Fox News Sunday."

In a reminder of the potential political ramifications, tens of thousands of people joined a new series of demonstrations nationwide, demanding rights for illegal immigrants.

Rallies were held Sunday in Dallas, Texas; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Des Moines, Iowa. Marches are planned for Monday in other cities including Washington; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Los Angeles, California.

Both parties are looking to win over Latinos -- the nation's fastest-growing voting bloc -- in this year's midterm elections.

But some Republicans also fear provisions helping illegal immigrants could damage the party's image as tougher on security issues.

And both parties face internal debates over the kind of legislation that should make it through the Senate.

After being touted as a breakthrough, a compromise drafted by Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Mel Martinez of Florida failed to gain enough support Friday before the Senate began a two-week recess.

Republicans are divided over two of the bill's controversial provisions -- a guest-worker program and a process allowing illegal immigrants to pursue legal status to stay in the country and obtain citizenship.

In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Bush called the Hagel-Martinez proposal "promising bipartisan compromise on comprehensive immigration reform."

He restated his support for a temporary guest-worker program and rejected "an automatic path to citizenship."

Sen. John Kyl, an Arizona Republican, on Sunday offered support for a temporary-worker program, but not a "pathway to citizenship" or permanent residence for illegal immigrants.

"A temporary-worker program that might be useful to supply labor needs in our country, when they exist, should be exactly that, temporary, so that when the work is not available for them, you haven't turned them into permanent legal residents and thereby created a situation where you have foreign workers here but no job for them," Kyl told CNN's "Late Edition."

Democrats largely support laying out an avenue to citizenship. But even if the Senate manages to pass a bill after its recess, another uphill battle would follow: having to merge it with a very different bill passed by the House in December.

The House bill focuses on security, calling for tougher border enforcement and no such rights for illegal immigrants. It would also fence off 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and make crossing illegally a felony.

A joint committee of members of the House and Senate would have to reach a compromise.

Opposition in the House

The House majority leader on Sunday rejected the Senate's "comprehensive" approach to immigration but didn't rule out a compromise with the Senate.

"I think we can resolve the differences and we can have a strong immigration-reform bill," Rep. John Boehner told ABC's "This Week."

But the Ohio Republican offered no indication how that would be possible.

"I'm for securing the borders and enforcing the laws," Boehner said. "Until we do that, if you try to create a guest-worker program, all you're doing is inviting more illegal immigration."

New York Rep. Peter King, Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, also indicated he would oppose the Senate's legislation.

"First we have to secure the borders," he told "Fox News Sunday." "Otherwise, we're just going to be taking a bad situation and compound it."

Other measures, he said, could be revisited "in 18 months or two years."

But Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, cast that position as unfair and impractical.

"We do need reinforcement, but we also need compassion. We need a comprehensive bill, one that takes into account that there are 11 million undocumented workers currently in the United States," he told NBC's "Meet the Press."

"The only sane, sensible, compassionate thing to do is to integrate them fully into the fabric of our society," he said. "And they're necessary to the economic well-being of our country. So let's include them."

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, said he does not expect a bill to even get as far as the joint committee.

"I don't think there's more than a 60-40 chance, and 40 being the chance that it would actually get out of the Senate," he told CBS' "Face the Nation."

Specter said he believes there is grounds for an eventual agreement.

"Everybody agrees there's an enormous problem, and everybody agrees with the border security lines," he said.

"I think tempers will cool over a two-week period. And also, there are going to be some expressions by many people very unhappy with the Senate not passing a bill and very unhappy with the House bill."

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