A day full of immigrants

If getting 500,000 people to march in the streets of Los Angeles doesn’t constitute a movement, how about doing it twice?

In a show of economic and political strength Monday, immigrants both legal and illegal and their supporters rallied around calls for a A Day Without an Immigrant — a boycott of work, school and commercial goods in cities nationwide designed to halt once and for all draconian federal legislation aimed at the criminalization and ultimate deportation of all who have entered the country illegally.

Chanting slogans like “Today we march, tomorrow we vote,” demonstrators showed up 250,000 strong in the morning near Los Angles City Hall and 400,000 strong in the afternoon along Wilshire Boulevard, from MacArthur Park west to La Brea Avenue, according to police estimates. On March 25, more than 500,000 flooded downtown in what was then called the largest protest event in Los Angeles history.

“I’ve never seen such positive energy from hundreds of thousands of people in my life. I think it’s a historic day for LA and California because I’ve never seen anything like it. Now we need to direct that energy towards Washington,” Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told reporters after speaking in both English and Spanish to marchers gathered at Wilshire and La Brea.

“It’s time to offer respect and the basic dignity of uniting families,” Mahony told the crowd.

‘Out of the darkness’

Protest initially erupted March 25 in response to a Republican-sponsored bill passed by the House of Representatives that calls for the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, build a 700-mile fence along the border and penalize those who hire or provide charity to the undocumented.

Legislation moving through the Senate calls for stronger border controls but would create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants through a guest worker registration program.

Though Mahony and several other organizers of the MacArthur Park rally called on participants not to leave work or school, many did.

Pasadena Unified School District Assistant Superintendent George McKenna reported high school attendance dropped 35 percent Monday, and the Pasadena Job Center on Lake Avenue, a headquarters for immigrant day laborers, was empty save for those using the location to carpool to the protests.

“This society needs the work we do whether the government admits it or not,” said 26-year-old Carlos Ortiz, who immigrated to Pasadena from Honduras just eight months ago.

“We’re closed because so many were planning to march,” said Eric Rosales, a Los Angeles truck driver. Work at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach slowed to a crawl Monday, as only one in 10 port workers showed up for work, according to reports.

“We hoped the idea would catch on, but we thought it would take 10 or 15 years,” said marcher Sergio Arau, director of the film “A Day Without a Mexican,” which chronicles the potential ramifications of what would happen if all undocumented immigrants suddenly disappeared from the US.

While the economic effects of the day’s events remain largely unknown, a recent report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Direct found the cost burdens placed on society by illegal immigrants somewhat balanced by $6 to $7 billion in Social Security taxes paid by undocumented workers who will never benefit from the system.

“I didn’t even know English three years ago, so this is overwhelming to see how this came about and I see how anything is possible here,” said Arau.

Also attending the rally was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who drew the biggest cheers of the day and waved a large American flag.

“This is a testament that they’re hard workers and want to be part of the American dream; they come with American flags,” he said of immigrant marchers.

“We come to build a better life and to participate in the American Dream. We need reform that secures our borders, enforces our laws, has consequences for breaking the law but which also has a pathway to citizenship, to come out of the darkness and into the light.”

‘Our Civil Rights Movement’

While the March 25 gathering was dominated by flags of Mexico and other Latin American nations, Monday’s events were markedly red, white and blue. Music blared through speakers set up among the sea of people, creating something of a festival atmosphere among high-spirited demonstrators.

Aside from a few isolated people on the edge of the crowd, no clear counter-protesting was noticeable. At a Friday counter-rally in South Los Angeles, a few dozen African-American protestors led by homelessness activist Ted Hayes gathered to support stricter border controls, arguing illegal immigration leads to depressed wages for blacks and Latinos alike.

A state Assembly resolution introduced by Speaker Fabian Nunez, a Los Angeles Democrat, would call on Congress to reject any legislation that would criminalize the undocumented, and other local politicians have shown support for the cause.

Monterey Park Democratic State Assemblywoman Judy Chu closed down her district office Monday in support of the boycott, said spokesman Julio Martinez.

Pasadena City Councilman Victor Gordo, who arrived in Pasadena as an undocumented immigrant at age 5, remarked at Monday’s City Council meeting that the national immigration debate “is really about families and the future of families, American families who are here in the States.”

Ironically, without Gordo’s attendance the council meeting would have been canceled for lack of a quorum.

“This is our Civil Rights Movement,” said Pasadena-based Institute for Popular Education organizer Raul Borbon. “Without rights you have nothing — you don’t have access to housing, quality education or anything else. This is a special day.”

Earlier in the day Laugh Factory owner Jaime Masada, who emigrated from Iran at age 14 and will be receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor later this month for his numerous charitable contributions, called a press conference about immigration issues that asked children of immigrants to stay in school.

“This is why your parents have gone to so much trouble to come to America — so that you could have a good education and raise yourself and your family up,” said comedian Paul Rodriguez while standing behind a banner that read “Laughter Tolerance Compassion.”

Signs and T-shirts of protestors at the City Hall and MacArthur Park events echoed a spirit of La Raza, some of them reading: “All Gringos Are Immigrants,” “Republicans Hate Hispanics,” “Legalize LA,” “All Europeans: Illegal Immigrants Since 1492,” and “We Are America.”

Shifting targets

But this Day Without an Immigrant wasn’t just about Latinos.

“I’m the son of two immigrants and I’m walking in honor of them today,” actor Martin Sheen, whose parents immigrated from Ireland and Spain, told the Weekly while marching along Wilshire Boulevard.

Rubaiyat Karim, an activist with the South Asian Network, said his community has been hard hit by post-9/11 immigration crackdowns.

“I support basic human rights,” said Michael Kuos, an immigrant from Poland 15 years ago.

Muslim Americans were also represented at the rally by Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Southern California Council on American-Islamic Relations, who characterized the demonstration as related to class, race and hate.

“Most of these immigrants, documented or not, are people who are trying to make ends meet. There are many reasons behind the movement — certainly basic human rights issues,” he said.

“Many of the same people who are scapegoating immigrants in our country today are the ones who are defaming Islam and Muslims in America. The hatred is shifting targets once in a while but the motives seem to be, unfortunately, xenophobic and bigoted.”