Rant Pt. Deux: Katrina Vics vs. Illegals

[miltie]

I'D MUCH RATHER SEE ADDITIONAL TAX DOLLARS FURTHER HELPING ALL PEOPLE WHO WERE EFFECTED AND DISPLACED BY KATRINA THAN TO SEE THE MONEY GO TO GRANTING AMNESTY TO MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!!!!

THE GOVERNEMENT HALF ASSED HELPS PEOPLE. THEY HALF ASSED HELPED KATRINA VICS (OUR OWN BROTHERS AND SISTERS) AND SIMPLY GRANTING AMNESTY TO ILLEGALS IS ONLY HALF ASSED HELPING THEM.

AND YES, I AM YELLING!!!!!!!!

[Hmph]

THE THING IS WE HAVE AN IMMIGRATION PROCESS!!!!

IT'S CALLED LEGAL IMMIGRATION!!!

AND YES I'M YELLING TOO!!! THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT AND HOW SOMEONE ILLEGALLY IN THE COUNTRY IS GOING ABOUT MAKING THEIR DEMANDS IS A JOKE.

THE MAJORITY ARE FROM MEXICO. WHY NOT PUT THAT SAME DEMONSTRATION ENERGY AND TIME TO PROTEST IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY TO FORCE ITS LEADERS TO GET OFF ITS ASS AND CREATE AN ACTUAL ECONOMY!!!!

AND BETWEEN THE WAR AND KATRINA COSTS, THEIR ISSUES ARE NOT EVEN ON MY CONCERN RADAR.

AND A DAY W/OUT AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT? OOOH SO THAT WOULD BE LIKE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THANKS FOR SHOWING US WHAT WE COULD HAVE W/OUT THEM!

[miltie]

Here's a status tracker on what's going on in Chicago from the Trib.... There are approximately 300,000 people currently gathered for this rally!!!!! I can only imagine it's much greater is more heavily hispanic areas like Cali, AZ, NM, etc. Something to note is that restaurants etc. have signs in the windows rendering they are short staffed due to the rally...Pretty sad, but also an eyeopener.

NO, these people have no right to make demands. Puhhlleeeze.
Also, I hope no one gets hurt in any city and violence is kept to a minimum. What a shame - it's such a waste of our police and military services for today.

****Tax dollars****~~~~ HARD AT WORK!!~~~ awww yeah NOT!



chicagotribune.com

Immigrant rights demonstration
Continuous e-mail updates from Tribune reporters covering today's march and rally in downtown Chicago
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May 1, 2006, 1:09 PM CDT

The march reaches the wider-open spaces of Columbus Drive, and the noise level quickly drops, giving the march a more quiet and peaceful air. There is less chanting, with people just walking toward Grant Park, although some are jogging.


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1:02 p.m. A note of negativity from William Paxson, a Crystal Lake resident and computer programmer who works downtown and was watching the parade:

"I don't think this is going to do them any good," Paxson said, predicting a stronger backlash. "I think most people are happy that they're here, but want them to be out of sight, out of mind. Any group, whether you're German or whatever, that calls this much attention to themselves would have some kind of backlash. I don't think everybody is anti-immigrant. We would just like people to use the proper methods to get into this country."


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12:50 p.m. Latest crowd estimate from Chicago police: 300,000


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12:50 p.m. Skinheads reappear at Jackson Boulevard and the alley called Holden Court, but retreat when they see police. Williams shouts to his troops, "Officers, stay with them." Police on foot and two on bicycles head down the alley to tail the skinheads, who appear to be the same group seen earlier.


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12:38 p.m. There is conflict with three or four skinheads on LaSalle Street. Charles Williams, deputy superintendent of patrol, takes a handful of officers into the crowd and kicks them out. The crowd cheers the police, chanting "paz. (peace)."

The crowd now is chanting, "We want to pay taxes!"


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12:31 p.m. The noise level increases substantially with cheers and chants of "Yes we can" as the march enters the canyon of office buildings in the Loop. The sidestreet crowds near LaSalle Street are thickening, with people standing on concrete barricades taking photos.


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12:23 p.m. Marchers are crossing the Chicago River into the Loop. Watching them are large numbers of office workers on their lunch breaks. A few cars southbound on Wacker Boulevard are forced to make U-turns at the police barricade, but all appears orderly.

People are scurrying to cross Loop streets before the march makes passage impossible


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12:16 p.m. The first Chicago Police estimate of the crowd's size comes from Charles Williams, deputy superintendent for patrol, who makes a "very rough" estimate of 150,000 to 200,000. But he notes the march is still growing, with significant crowds joining along the way. He says the march feels bigger to him than the March 10 immigrant rally, adding that the marchers are very well behaved.

But in one sign that the crowd may not wind up as large as organizers had hoped, police said they no longer think they will have to close Monroe Street to traffic, with Jackson Boulevard providing sufficient access for marchers.


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12:10 p.m. Inside Union Park, where thousands had gathered before the start of the march, organizers stood on top of a cargo van, yelling from a bullhorn for different groups of workers to make themselves heard.

"Where are the restaurant workers?" one organizer called, in Spanish. A deafening roar of cheers rose up.

Also at the rally, political leaders and labor organizers addressed the crowd.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama called the march part of a national movement "that lifts up America's ideals."

"It is time for Congress to recognize all the contributions of immigrants to this country," said state Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago). "We must rise up from our neighborhoods and ask for what is ours, and that is citizenship for all immigrants in this country."

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said the march is part of a long-term political movement toward more lenient immigration laws that include citizenship and voter registration drives. "The eight million residents who are legally registered with our government—we're going to turn them into United States citizens," Gutierrez said, leading the crowd in a chant of "today we march, tomorrow we vote."


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12:01 p.m.: The head of the march is now at Des Plaines and Madison Streets, led by a row of flags from Israel, Japan, Argentina and more. The sign on the pace car reads: "We are are here, like it or not."


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11:54 a.m. The march is underway from Union Park at a slow stroll with several high-ranking Chicago police officials nearby. Cheering crowds are lining Randolph Street at Elizabeth Street, many chanting, "Si se puede" (it can be done), and "USA." Also, some marchers can be heard chanting in Spanish, "When we pay our lights, pay our gas, when we buy…We pay taxes."


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11:15 a.m.: The Wicker Park feeder march headed south on Ashland Avenue with a sound system blaring the late '70s anthem "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" and the song "Walk This Way."

The crowd, having swollen to more than 1,000, displayed multiple flags from the Palestinian Authority, the Philippines, Poland as well as the multicolored banner of gay pride.

But the U.S. flag dominated. Amber Javed, 23, of Chicago, carried a sign in Urdu that translated: "We are America."

"It's going to be a beautiful day," said Javed, an immigrant from Pakistan.


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10:45 a.m. As hundreds of people streamed into Union Park, scores of street entrepreneurs were selling flags, T-shirts and snacks along Ashland Avenue. Members of the Socialist Party, meanwhile, passed out free pamphlets to anyone who looked their way.

Manuel Quizhpi was nearly too busy to talk as he stood at the center of a small crowd wanting buy his flags at two for $5.

"This is to show support for the entire immigrant community," Quizhpi said as he unfolded a wad of bills to make change for yet another customer.

Asked if he believed he would make a lot of more money before the day was over, the manager of a West Side thrift store shrugged and smiled, then posed for a photographer with flags in each hand.


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10:38 a.m. At a busy McDonald's restaurant at Randolph and Dearborn Streets, a crew of about a dozen mostly Hispanic workers was bustling to serve customers lining up for breakfast and coffee. "Everything is normal," said a worker.

Nearby, a letter on the revolving door of a seafood restaurant, Catch 35 at 35 W. Wacker Drive, said the popular venue for business lunches would be closed due to a national boycott in support of legal immigration.

"This boycott of work renders Catch 35 without the staff levels necessary to serve you," the message read.


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10:30 a.m. About 150 people had gathered at Division Street and Milwaukee Avenue by 9:30 a.m., unfurling U.S., Mexican and Polish flags.

"I am seven years here. I love America," said a burly Polish construction worker who identified himself as Jan Kowalski. "We work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. I pay taxes. I pay Social Security."


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9:40 a.m.: At the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center on the Northwest side, dozens of Korean and Filipino immigrants boarded school buses around 10 a.m., saying they wanted to add an Asian-American presence to the march.

Bryant Kim, 24, of Chicago, adjusted the red, blue and yellow sashes of his traditional Korean outfit. He planned to play at the event with the IL Kwa Nori (Work and Play) percussion troupe.

"By participating, this shows that immigration is a universal issue," he said.


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9:10 a.m.: More than 300 people—workers, students and families, most of Mexican descent—waited for buses to the downtown Chicago immigration march and rally at 8 a.m. today at Azteca de Oro, a Joliet banquet hall that closed its doors for the day.

Some carried yellow signs from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "Legalize, Don't Criminalize," the signs read.

Mauricio Vargas, 40, of Crest Hill, a food and beverage manager at a Hilton Hotel in Elk Grove Village, said his employers allowed him and others to take the day off, provided they got someone to fill their shifts.

"They told us, 'Go, as many as you can, as long as you have someone to cover, to take the shift, and get the job done,'" said Vargas, who grew up in Mexico. "They are supporting us, big time."

Vargas waited for a bus with his wife and their three daughters.

He said he and his wife came to the U.S. from Mexico City 17 years ago. Vargas said his two youngest daughters are citizens, and the other family members are legal residents.

Also waiting for a bus was Magdaleno Barragan, 28, whose extended family owns El Portico Bakery in Joliet, which was closed for the day. Barragan said he came to the U.S. from Mexico 15 years ago and he is now a legal resident.

"This is our country," said Barragan, who is vice president of We Are the Community, a multicultural organization in Will County. "I love it, because we have an opportunity for business."


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8:30 a.m.: Several dozen people were gathered at a small plaza at Division Street and Milwaukee Avenue that is a gathering spot for the homeless. The plaza echoed with Spanish-language dance music as organizers prepared a makeshift stage on a flatbed truck.

The North Side intersection is the starting point for a "feeder march" to Union Park that will include immigrants from Poland, Korea and Africa in an effort to broaden the day's message as more than a plight of Mexican workers.

Touche O'Lay, a missionary with the Jehovah's Witnesses who aids the homeless in the area, watched the preparations and shook her head at what she called an intractable problem with illegal immigration. "I understand people want to come here and make a more comfortable life," she said, standing near a fountain dedicated to "the masses who do the city's labor."

"But that isn't enough as it is to take care of everybody. You can't be fair to Mexicans or Koreans and also (not) be fair to the homeless or people with AIDS."

Tribune staff reporters Oscar Avila, Antonio Olivo, Barbara Rose and Hal Dardick contributed.
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

[miltie]

I am also getting REALLY ANGRY with some of the wording choice in comparing this to Civil Rights marches back in the 60's. THESE ARE TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT SITUATIONS!!!!!!! Black people were citizens at that time and had EVERY SINGLE RIGHT TO BE TREATED JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE US!!!!

THE ILLEGAL FOREIGNERS DO NOT HAVE THESE RIGHTS!!!!

[Hmph]

you're preaching to the choir. that angers me too. because they MADE A CHOICE TO COME HERE KNOWING AHEAD OF TIME OF THE SITUATION.

blacks were here pre-slavery and after. from British ruled slavery until the 1980s life was ridiculous and while being taxed for it too.

I'm so pissed at Vicente Fox. his ignorant ass is sitting there making responses like "wait until the U.S. responds w/an immigration policy" like it's our friggin job to fix his economy. he's encouraging them to come over here, while he sits on his LAZY ASS!!!AND FAILS TO DO HIS JOB!!!!

probably so he can set up a drug cartel haven! only thing he's accomplished recently is legalizing drugs like HEROIN AND COCAINE????

[Hmph]

sorry had to fix that long link above, it makes widens window and have to scroll back and forth to read

but check this out:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/01/dobbs. ... index.html

Dobbs: Radical groups taking control of immigrant movement

By Lou Dobbs
CNN

Monday, May 1, 2006; Posted: 3:29 p.m. EDT (19:29 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- We all awoke to headlines in our nation's most important newspapers reminding us that this is "A Day Without Immigrants." Not illegal immigrants, mind you, but immigrants.

USA Today headlined today's demonstrations and boycott "On Immigration's Front Lines." The New York Times headlines its story "With Calls for Boycott by Immigrants, Employers Gird for Unknown." The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times are both calling its coverage "The Immigration Debate."

These major newspapers obviously don't want to disturb their readers with the information that today's demonstrations and boycott are about illegal immigration and amnesty for illegal aliens.

CNN and Fox News are both using a banner calling their coverage "A Day Without Immigrants," while MSNBC is titling its coverage "Immigrant Anger."

Most of the mainstream media has been absolutely co-opted by the open borders and illegal immigration advocates. I'm not opposed to demonstrations and protests of any kind, even by those who are not citizens of this country, because one way or another, demonstrations and protests enrich and invigorate the national debate and raise the public consciousness of truth.

But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters' boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott.

Some illegal immigration and open borders activists in the Hispanic community are deeply concerned about the involvement of the left-wing radical group. But others, like Juan Jose Gutierrez, whom I've interviewed a number of times over the past several months, manages to be both director of Latino Movement USA and a representative of ANSWER.

As Gutierrez told us on my show, "The time has come...where we need to stand up and make a statement. We need to do what the American people did when they pulled away from the British crown. And I am sure that back in those days many people were concerned that was radical action."

Just how significant is the impact of leftists within the illegal immigration movement? It is no accident that they chose May 1 as their day of demonstration and boycott. It is the worldwide day of commemorative demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and even anarchic organizations.

Supporters of the boycott have made no secret of their determination to try to shut down schools, businesses and entire cities. Much of Los Angeles' 7th Street produce market, which supplies thousands of local restaurants and markets, is closed today. Many meat-packing companies like Cargill and Tyson are also closing many of their plants.

"The meat packers are confirming what we know," says University of Maryland economics professor Peter Morici, "and that is that this large group of illegal aliens in the United States is lowering the wage rate of semiskilled workers, people who are high school dropouts or high school graduates with minimal training."

In fact, a meat-packing job paid $19 an hour in 1980, but today that same job pays closer to $9 an hour, according to the Labor Department. That's entirely consistent with what we've been reporting -- that illegal aliens depress wages for U.S. workers by as much as $200 billion a year in addition to placing a tremendous burden on hospitals, schools and other social services.

Radicalism is not confined to Gutierrez and Latino Movement USA. Ernesto Nevarez of the L.A. Port Collective is promising to shut down the Port of Los Angeles today: "[Transportation and commerce] will come to a grinding halt. ...They are going to put a wall along the border with Mexico. We're going to put a wall between us and the ocean. And those containers ain't going to move."

No matter which flag demonstrators and protestors carry today, their leadership is showing its true colors to all who will see.

[Silly Wabbit]

Tell us how u really feel? But I have 2 agree. Illegal immigrants do not have the right to make demands.

I saw today that amnesty was proposed b4. But then there was 1 ,000,000 illegals. Now there r 20,000,000

This is disgusting. More jumped ova border becuz that fool Fox told them to. The employers should b cracked down on.

[MsNikaPooh]

Does anyone else notice that the only "Immigrants" protesting are Mexican? You don't see anyone who family's worked their buts off to get here the right way in the streets making demands. And the thing that makes me mad are the signs that say we are immigrants not criminals. AHHH yea ya are if you snuck in on the back of a truck walked miles or how ever you got here and didn't ask or get permission to be here you are breaking the law. So you are a criminal. I understand you want to come here and work but you should pay taxes like everyone else. And to the ones that say they buy food if you are in Georgia you don't even pay tax on groceries for the most part.

[Hmph]

yup notice that stupid analogy every time the issue of illegal aliens in this country.

there are folks from other countries, but for the most part it's illegal immigrants from mexico who are driving wages down.