“Another Hollow OnLine Experience”

Thousands of people stream into downtown Los Angeles for what was expected to be one of the city’s largest pro-immigrant rallies, Saturday, March 25, 2006. Many of the marchers wore white shirts to symbolize peace and also waved U.S. flags. Some also carried the flags of Mexico and other countries. ‘The crowd is estimated at 25,000 and growing,’ said police spokeswoman Sandra Escalante. (AP Photo/Matt Warnock)

March 25, 2006

Dis-Associated Press

Thousands Rally Across The Country For Immigrants’ Rights

As the Senate prepares to debate legislation increasing penalties for undocumented aliens and people who hire them, tens of thousands of immigrants rights activists are launching rallies across the nation.

The 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 and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border. The Senate is to begin debating the proposals on Tuesday.

On Saturday, thousands of people streamed into downtown Los Angeles for what was expected to be one of the city’s largest pro-immigrant rallies. Many of the marchers wore white shirts to symbolize peace and also waved U.S. flags. Some also carried the flags of Mexico and other countries, and even wore them as capes.

“The crowd is estimated at 25,000 and growing,” said police spokeswoman Sandra Escalante.

Elger Aloy, 26, of Riverside, a premed student who was pushing a stroller with his 8-month-old son, said of the proposed law, “I think it’s just inhumane … everybody deserves the right to a better life.”

Across the nation, the efforts to crack down on illegal immigration spurred thousands of people to the streets on Friday. They are expected to culminate in a “National Day of Action” April 10 organized by labor, immigration, civil rights and religious groups.

In Los Angeles, more than 2,700 students from at least eight Los Angeles high schools and middle schools poured out of classrooms in protest and visited other campuses, imploring students to join them.

In Phoenix, police said 20,000 demonstrators marched on Friday to the office of Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, co-sponsor of a bill that would give illegal immigrants up to five years to leave the country. The turnout clogged major thoroughfares in what officials said was one of the largest protests in the city’s history.

People also protested outside Kyl’s Tucson office.

Kyl pointed out that most were speaking out against the House bill making it a felony to be an illegal immigrant, not his bill, which would also step up border enforcement and create a temporary guest-worker program.

“They should be pleased that the Senate is probably going to address this in a much more comprehensive way,” he told the Tucson Citizen newspaper during a meeting with its editorial board.

Friday’s Los Angeles demonstration led to fights between black and Hispanic students at George Washington Preparatory High School, but the protests were largely peaceful, authorities said.

At least 500 students at Huntington Park High School near Los Angeles walked out of classes in the morning. Hundreds of the students, some carrying Mexican or U.S. flags, walked down the middle of Los Angeles streets, police cruisers behind them.

In Northern California, about 300 students at Ceres High School near Modesto protested before school. Administrators allowed the demonstration for two class periods.

“We felt it was valuable for them to experience democracy in action,” said Ceres Unified School District Superintendent Walt Hanline. “People need to understand this legislation is creating a lot of fear for people.”

About 100 students refused to go to classes after the demonstration and were suspended for three days. Police cited eight for trespassing after they refused to go to a gym with the other suspended students.

In Georgia, activists said tens of thousands of workers did not show up at their jobs Friday after calls for a work stoppage to protest a bill passed by the Georgia House on Thursday.

That bill, which has yet to gain Georgia Senate approval, would deny state services to adults living in the U.S. illegally and impose a 5 percent surcharge on wire transfers.