Immigrants flex clout in US rallies

By Jill Serjeant and Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of mostly
Hispanic immigrants walked off the job and rallied in cities
across the United States on Monday, wielding their economic
clout to demand rights for illegal immigrants.

Factories closed, day labor jobs went begging, children
skipped school and cargo was left on docks in what the
organizers called “A Day without Immigrants.”

The largely Latino crowds chanted “Si, se puede!” or “Yes,
we can!” and banged drums while waving American and Mexican
flags. Rallies stretched from the lettuce fields of Central
California to the streets of Chicago.

The demonstrations were aimed at pressuring the U.S.
Congress into granting amnesty to some 12 million illegal
immigrants and scuttle a proposal to build a wall along the
Mexican border.

“What the marches have done is give a human face to the
immigration issue in the United States today,” said Harry
Pachon, professor of public policy at the University of
Southern California.

He said the size of crowds proved that it was a national
issue.

Los Angeles police estimated a throng of up to 250,000
people during a noon demonstration at City Hall and 400,000 at
a later rally near the La Brea Tar Pits. Many protesters were
at both rallies.

“Today we say with one voice that we want fair and sensible
bipartisan immigration reform,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, the son of a Mexican immigrant and a lifelong
campaigner for legalization of illegal immigrants.

The economic impact of the boycott was unclear and some
lawmakers and conservative groups predicted a backlash.

Republican legislators in Arizona — the state that is the
biggest U.S. entry point for illegal immigrants — called for a
$100 million crackdown, including deploying National Guard
troops to the border with Mexico.

Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado predicted a
negative reaction from Americans and conservative lawmakers to
the walkout.

‘A CELEBRATION’

Recent polls show only 30 percent of Americans advocate
tougher laws for illegals, while the majority, like President
George W. Bush, wants a guest worker program combined with
better enforcement of immigration laws.

Entire families, many with babes in arms, carried placards
declaring “Hoy Marchamos, Manana Votamos” (“Today we march,
tomorrow we vote”) and danced to mariachi bands in Los Angeles.

“It’s a celebration of immigrants. It isn’t just a protest
or even a boycott,” said Los Angeles Roman Catholic Cardinal
Roger Mahony, who has urged priests to disobey laws that would
criminalize those who help illegal immigrants.

In Chicago, more than 300,000 people marched, waving flags
and pushing baby strollers. Demonstrations unfolded in Denver,
Houston and San Francisco and thousands marched in Mexico in
solidarity with compatriots who make up the bulk of the illegal
immigrants.

Illegal immigrants, who flood across the Mexican border at
a rate of half a million a year, work mostly in low-paid jobs
in agriculture, construction, restaurants, as janitors, meat
packers, maids and gardeners and many other occupations.

Actress Susan Sarandon told a festive rally in New York’s
Union Square, “We now know that you are no longer silent, you
are no longer invisible and let’s keep it that way.”

Several major meat-packing plants were closed to allow
workers to demonstrate, and 90 percent of workers who unload
cargo at the busy ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach joined
the strike.

Managers at American Apparel in Los Angeles, the largest
garment factory in the United States, shut down to allow 3,000
workers a chance to protest.

“The government has to realize how important Latinos are to
this economy and give us full rights,” said American Apparel
customer service representative Ruben Eustaquio.

In Florida, about half the farm workers stayed away from
the fields, according to the Florida Fruit and Vegetable
Association and in the central California Valley fields were
empty and rows of produce left unattended.

The economic loss may not be as big as the realization that
illegal immigrants make up an important part of the economy,
said James Glassman, senior economist at JP Morgan.

(Additional reporting by Jeanne King and Joseph Giannone in
New York, Andrew Stern and Jame Kelleher in Chicago, Aarthi
Sivaraman and Alexandria Sage in Los Angeles, and Jim Loney in
Miami)