Amnesty Rally
Jarvis
could write what we found out. So I did, and this is it.
The workers-amnesty rally in Boston Common was spurred on mainly by the
House of Representatives' decision to pass a bill taking firmer
action against illegal immigrants. May Day was chosen as the date,
because of its relevance to workers in the United States. The
attendants of the rally included immigrant workers, students, socialist
sympathizers and members of our own AP US History class. Many of the
speakers were also immigrants and made various references to the
strikes going on in California.
These strikes are also in response to the bill passed by the House,
and were meant to show America what it would be like to have "Un dia
sin immigrante" or a day without an immigrant.
The protesters demands included amnesty for all immigrants, reuniting
separated families and an end to unreasonably low wages for immigrants.
mario...@gmail.com
it is unfortunate that nothing will happen regarding the passing of
legislation until the next presidential election year, at which time
the candidates would use this to their advantage
mbbu...@yahoo.com
to answer or talk about specifically?
Ricky Wat
I spoke to one white person, Eric Conally, a pretty young "instructor"
of mathematics, and asked him why he believed this cause was
important: He replied: "illegal immigrants should deserve the same
rights and privileges as any other American citizen - regardless of
their status we should not exclude anyone" I have high doubts that this
boycott will result in anything significant. It was not as huge as I
had anticipated. Come on, there was only like ~5,000!!! Such a small
boycott....I am comparing this to my own demonstration experience
~+4500,000. Just a little comparison....Chicago had 400,000 and Los
Angelos 300,000 demonstrators.
slugge...@yahoo.com
astounding number of people participating in the boycott, it doens't
mean it won't result in anything significant. This is because it was a
NATION WIDE protest and boycott, so even if it didn't turn out to be so
big in Boston it still contributed to the cause. If you add up all of
the people in the demonstration from each city it would be a pretty dam
big number!
J. Pizzle
again to pictures and video interviews.
Boston Shows Support for Illegal Immigrants
Joseph Poirier
BOSTON COMMON, May 1 - Thousands of people gathered on the Boston
Common to protest the strict immigration laws currently being debated
in Washington. Haitians, Irish, Dominicans, and other Hispanic
nationalities made up the majority of the crowd, while non-immigrants,
however present, made up a small minority.
The rally featured speakers, a march, drumming, chanting in Spanish
and English, and other peaceful activities. Although mounted Boston
Police were on hand, the protest remained calm and organized.
Among protestors were socialists, day laborers, high school and
college students, and established leaders of the Boston community.
Many protestors carried signs saying "Papeles para todo (papers for
all) - No Human Being is Illegal" and shouted slogans such as:
"United States is for immigrants!" and "It can be done!"
A Boston Police sergeant who requested anonymity estimated that
somewhere between 800-1000 people attended the rally on the common,
while a NECN reporter put the figure at around 2,000. Ralph Ranalli,
of the Boston Globe estimates 2,500 were present. An NECN cameraman
commented on the diversity of the crowd. "There was a lot of
different people. Irish were represented; Puerto Rico [was
represented]".
The rally supplemented a national movement that encouraged immigrant
workers to skip work and take their protest to the streets peacefully.
This protest, labeled "Day Without an Immigrant" was not successful
in shutting down the nation as organizers hoped, but it did cause
disruption in some major cities and show the extent of popular support
for more lenient immigration laws.
Ricky Wat
than 2,000 people there. Organizers estimates the crowd around 5,000,
while police estimated 2,000 to 4,000 protesters. Who are you to decide
if I was there or not? I saw first hand what everything happened. I
went with my mom from sity hall down to Boston Common. Its not like you
saw me there, its not like you didn't see me go. wth. I didn't count,
based on that, you accuse me that I did not go?
How do you guys define "Amnesty"?
If it includes Citizenship, then hell no. I oppose amnesty, placing
undocumented workers on the automatic path to citizenship. Granting
amnesty encourages the violation of our laws, and perpetuates illegal
immigration.
America is a welcoming country, but citizenship must not be the
automatic reward for violating the laws of America.
saml...@yahoo.com
of people than it should not be followed. It should be (as Thoreau
said) civally disobeyed. The reason that so many people break these
immigration laws is because they are suffering. These protesters want
to follow all the laws of america and that is why they are trying to
change them.
saml...@yahoo.com
will try to get ben to allow us to show it this week.
Ricky Wat
opportunities in America. There is many other ways to allow people who
are "suffering" to get employment in America. For example, we can
increase the number of H1B work permits/visas so that people can come
to America to work. If you believe immediate amnesty will solve all the
economic problems of these "suffering" aliens, it certainly would not.
Instead of amnesty, America can help those nations where people are
"suffering" as you said, improve their social and economic conditions,
alleviate their poverty problem, and make it a better place. America
can provide money to those poor nations and help them rebuild society
so that illegal immigration to United States would not be an option.
Simply granting amnesty does not solve the root of the problem. They
come because they are "suffering". Its a much wiser solution to improve
those poor nations rather than granting amnesty. There are many other
options which could help these "suffering" people rather than granting
amnesty.