Illegal residents to protest openly

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Illegal Residents To Protest Openly

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By CHRIS ECHEGARAY The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 28, 2007

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TAMPA - At pro-immigration rallies here and nationwide Tuesday, a number of illegal immigrants will admit to their status, holding signs touting their work ethic, sharing stories of arduous border crossings from Mexico.

They won't be touched by authorities, leaving immigration critics baffled as to why agents will not arrest people who entered the country illegally and admit to it in public.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents don't do random sweeps, spokesman Marc Raimondi said. They conduct targeted operations.

"They are based on investigations and intelligence geared toward fugitive aliens, egregious violators, significant threats to public safety and national security," Raimondi said.

Having illegal immigrants in the streets is a threat, said Pam Hill of Brandon, a member of the Minutemen Florida Corps, which opposes illegal immigration. She said police should do their jobs by deporting them.

"It's not immigration - it's an invasion," Hill said. "If police could arrest people for other minor things, they can arrest them for this."

Some say the more than 100,000 deportations annually by ICE aren't enough.

"If you had an American citizen smoking pot at a rally, they would be arrested for sure," said Mike Jarbeck, a former Minutemen member and founder of the Florida chapter. "They are both misdemeanors, so it can be compared. But they refuse to enforce the laws against foreign nationals."

Immigration advocates say illegal immigrants realize some people oppose their annual May 1 rallies, but it won't stop them. About 7,000 people turned out last year at Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Drive. Organizers for the Day Without an Immigrant rally expect a similar, but smaller, event this year.

Sweeps at rallies would be intimidating and chaotic, said Lurvin Lizardo, president of Tampa's Hondurans United and an organizer of the rally.

"You have citizens, residents and people who are legally here at those events," she said. "Going through the crowd would be a bad idea."

Amaparo Franco, who crossed the Mexico border illegally 21 years ago, attended last year's rally.

Franco crossed with her two toddlers, who now are grown men. She cleans homes to support the family.

Franco, of Tampa, said illegal immigrants who don't have any legal problems should be allowed to protest peacefully and not be targeted.

"I have not hurt, killed or robbed anyone and never had any problems," she said. "You have to be respectful of the law. I make an honest living. We should be able to ask for progress and not get arrested."

There's a pragmatic reason for not arresting illegal immigrants, said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington organization that favors restricting immigration.

"There's no place to put them," Keeley said. "If you can't detain 28 illegals caught in a truck in El Paso, Texas, where are you going to put 40,000 from L.A. or Chicago?"

Tampa police will be at Tuesday's rally, but they won't carry out immigration enforcement there, said the department's Hispanic liaison, Brenda Canino. Organizers said they welcome police so that the rally is peaceful.

U.S. DEPORTATIONS

From Oct. 1 through April 1:

REMOVALS: 110,748

VOLUNTARY DEPARTURES: 5,868

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Reporter Chris Echegaray can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or cechegaray@tampatrib.com.

[slim 1,525]

I wish our own citizens would stand in the streets with signs about their "work ethics"!!!

(I mean the ones with the free houses that have no jobs... not the ones that are scared the dishwashers and landscapers are going to steal their cubicles!)

Edited April 28, 2007 by slim

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Tampa police will be at Tuesday's rally, but they won't carry out immigration enforcement there, said the department's Hispanic liaison, Brenda Canino. Organizers said they welcome police so that the rally is peaceful.

Will the organizers pay for the police service as well or is that coming out of my tax money? Don't answer. I know. As usual, as a US taxpayer, I get to foot the bill for those that aren't supposed to be here in the first place. Hope none of those guys slips and falls as I'll have to pay for their treatment at the county hospital as well.

Edited April 28, 2007 by ET-US2004

[homesick_american 1]

The thing is...they're getting more and more brazen because they KNOW damn well that the US is too scared to deport them. It's ridiculous and it needs to stop...NOW.

They can bray about their 'work ethic' all they like. I'm sure they do work hard, but that doesn't change the fact that they are CRIMINALS.

Edited April 28, 2007 by homesick_american

[Fandango 1,439]

They're breaking the law...they have no right to speak of 'ethics'

[Fandango 1,439]

Amaparo Franco, who crossed the Mexico border illegally 21 years ago, attended last year's rally.

Franco crossed with her two toddlers, who now are grown men. She cleans homes to support the family.

Franco, of Tampa, said illegal immigrants who don't have any legal problems should be allowed to protest peacefully and not be targeted.

"I have not hurt, killed or robbed anyone and never had any problems," she said. "You have to be respectful of the law. I make an honest living. We should be able to ask for progress and not get arrested."

NO!

and to the bit in red....

You're not, you don't, you shouldn't, you should!

There's a pragmatic reason for not arresting illegal immigrants, said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington organization that favors restricting immigration.

"There's no place to put them," Keeley said. "If you can't detain 28 illegals caught in a truck in El Paso, Texas, where are you going to put 40,000 from L.A. or Chicago?"

What about 28 US lawbreakers? Or would they say 'sorry, have no place to hold you?' Like ** they would

[KarenCee 3]

Amaparo Franco, who crossed the Mexico border illegally 21 years ago, attended last year's rally.

Franco crossed with her two toddlers, who now are grown men. She cleans homes to support the family.

Franco, of Tampa, said illegal immigrants who don't have any legal problems should be allowed to protest peacefully and not be targeted.

"I have not hurt, killed or robbed anyone and never had any problems," she said. "You have to be respectful of the law. I make an honest living. We should be able to ask for progress and not get arrested."

NO!

and to the bit in red....

You're not, you don't, you shouldn't, you should!

There's a pragmatic reason for not arresting illegal immigrants, said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington organization that favors restricting immigration.

"There's no place to put them," Keeley said. "If you can't detain 28 illegals caught in a truck in El Paso, Texas, where are you going to put 40,000 from L.A. or Chicago?"

What about 28 US lawbreakers? Or would they say 'sorry, have no place to hold you?' Like ** they would

Ain't it the truth! They can find a place to put them if they wanted to bad enough. Hmmm...lets see....load them all up on semis and cart their a$$ back over the border?

I refuse to allow excuses for these lawbreakers, whether illegal immigrants or US lawbreakers. Illegals seem to think that "hey, I'm here now...I want to force you to accept me and give me all that you're entitled to" and it makes me dam angry. There is NO reason NOT follow the same procedure the rest of us have had to follow.

Sorry illegals...you do NOT have my sympathy, nor will you ever.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

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[Fandango 1,439]

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Soylent Green is People!

hahahahah

KC...gmta

[Amby 490]

they are breaking the law and are here illegally and ADMIT IT! Why won't they do anything? I think it would be an easy big arrest for immigration. A group of illegals admitting they're here illegally and all together at once.

[choji 0]

Just musing quietly:

This whole situation seems to be spiraling somewhere I can not quite wrap my thoughts around any longer.

An immigrant comes to the country on a K1, gets married, spouse dies before the Conditional GC is approved – immigrant most probably will be “removed”.

An immigrant comes to the country, gets married in good faith, gets Conditional GC, gets abused, gets divorced, gets put into removal proceeding and has to fight teeth and claws to have the removal overturned. (Just two cases here from the board, I am sure there are many others similar.)

On the other hand undocumented immigrants take to the street to protest and are doing so without fear of being seized and put into removal proceedings.

I can certainly understand on a logical level why someone would want to go to another country to escape excruciating poverty. I can even understand on the same logical level the wish to enter that country by ways and means not legal. The basic human drive for survival is very strong and makes people do things one oneself would not feel capable of.

But then things start to fall apart: the person entering illegally stands up and says “I have rights because I live and work here.” The person entering legally gets told “you have no rights, you can not work and certainly not live here.”

This is fundamentally and totally wrong.

However – I have no idea of a solution. “Kicking out” all the undocumented is not a solution on many levels. Giving everybody the same status (as in blanket amnesty) isn’t one either somehow. The only solution possible for me seems to be to strictly enforce existing laws at the employer level to dry up the possibility for work without proper papers plus a speedy introduction of some “guest worker” program to keep certain parts of the US economy functioning.

But once again, this is just some quiet musing about a real and existing problem which can only be solved by those in power. If those do not see the need to act (and apparently they don’t , for many, many, many reasons) – nothing will change.

[GaryC 7]

This sounds like a good opportunity for ICE to do a little business. I would love to see them clap the cuffs on the illegal ones at this protest and give them a one way ticket home. That would stop these protests by the lawbreakers!

[peejay 327]

I wish our own citizens would stand in the streets with signs about their "work ethics"!!!

(I mean the ones with the free houses that have no jobs... not the ones that are scared the dishwashers and landscapers are going to steal their cubicles!)

Lest we forget...an amnesty for illegal aliens is also an amnesty for the crooks that hire them.

As far as illegal alien work ethics...tens of thousands are in our prisons (and not for immigration violations). Not to mention the illegal aliens and their anchor baby welfare tickets that loot our social services to the tune of billions. The US / Mexico border is nothing short of a war zone of criminal activity and anarchy.

Isn't it about time that the idiots that run this country quit rewarding, enabling, and encouraging illegal aliens and criminals to invade our country? Screw amnesty for illegal aliens and their employers. Enforce the damned laws for a change.

I don't buy the message that illegal aliens = good and US citizens = bad. The USA went through a 40+ year period of very little immigration (legal or illegal) from 1924 until the early 1960's and managed to win a world war and to prosper.

Only the ignorant and gullible are easily led to believe the USA will fall apart without illegal aliens. There will be no $10 fast food hamburgers or $5 heads of lettuce without illegal aliens. There will be less money in the pockets of the crooks and slimeballs that benefit from rampant illegal immigration.

[homesick_american 1]

The US and state governments are a bunch of pu$$ies when it comes to enforcing immigration law, and it has gotten WORSE under Bush...sorry to break it to you, Republicans, but under his watch we've had a wave of illegal immigration the likes of which the US has never seen.

And neither party is going to do anything about it because they want the Hispanic vote. F*cking disgusting if you ask me.

[GaryC 7]

The US and state governments are a bunch of pu$$ies when it comes to enforcing immigration law, and it has gotten WORSE under Bush...sorry to break it to you, Republicans, but under his watch we've had a wave of illegal immigration the likes of which the US has never seen.

And neither party is going to do anything about it because they want the Hispanic vote. F*cking disgusting if you ask me.

I am a Bush supporter and I have to agree with you. The pandering on both sides is sick! Here is a message to ALL politicians: ENFORCE THE F*CKING LAWS DUMBAZZES!!!