APRIL 20TH (DAY OF ICE CRACKDOWN) IS ALWAYS A GOOD DAY IN AMERICA.
***** AMERICA.
Business raids breathe life into plans for boycott, work stoppage
Putting aside their reservations, illegal-immigrant-rights groups plan
to go ahead with a work stoppage and economic boycott next Monday as a
way to pressure Congress to fix the nation's broken immigration
policies and demonstrate the economic contributions of foreign workers.
Boycott plans had been scrapped because some groups felt two large
illegal-immigration marches in Arizona in recent weeks had already made
a strong political statement and that illegal immigrants couldn't
afford to skip another day of work.
The groups have since revived their plans after immigration agents last
week raided more than 40 locations of a pallet manufacturer that's
accused of hiring illegal immigrants, including 35 who were arrested in
Phoenix.
That led many immigrants to worry that their families could be split up
by similar crackdowns, said Roberto Reveles, president of Somos
America, a coalition of groups that organized a 100,000-person march in
Phoenix two weeks ago.
"It's a major sacrifice for someone to give up a whole day of earnings,
but some of them have turned this week," Reveles said.
Next week's event wasn't expected to draw the same wide participation
as the April 10 march, but organizers predicted large numbers of
immigrants and others will not show up at work and will refrain from
spending money at businesses on Monday.
In Maricopa County, plans were under way for prayer vigils, a human
chain and a food and clothing drive for immigrants who lost jobs
because they attended immigration rallies.
Organizers in Tucson also intend on staging a boycott and an event to
criticize the immigration overhaul proposals in Congress.
David Jones, president of the Arizona Contractors Association, said
builders expect some no-shows and a slowdown of work, the severity of
which is unknown.
"Our members are going to say you have a right to do it," Jones said.
"Now, if it's becoming a monthly event, then it will become a thorny
issue in terms of productivity."
A boycott nearly a year ago affected a few businesses in metropolitan
Phoenix, including restaurants that either shut down or offered limited
fare because of staff shortages. It wasn't clear how many business were
involved.
Reveles said past differences between groups over staging the boycott
won't hurt the goal of pushing for an immigration overhaul that treats
immigrants "fairly."
"There is disagreement from time to time on how to come to grips with
these issues, but there is unanimity in that we have to respond to this
issue," Reveles said.
Fred Solop, a political science professor at Northern Arizona
University, said the difficulty of putting together the boycott
increased when organizers called off their plans, then resurrected
them.
The boycott's success may prove hard to measure.
The number of people who miss work or didn't go shopping is more
elusive than the hard estimates that arose out of the march. The
figures will likely be contrasted, Solop said.
"It may look like the momentum is slowing down some," Solop said.
Organizers also could face a backlash from businesses that may have had
their fill of employees missing work, Solop said.
Alfredo Gutierrez, a former Democratic state senator and an organizer
of the marches, said he isn't worried about a backlash.
More troublesome are some immigration changes being considered in
Congress, such as a
U.S. House bill that would criminalize the presence of immigrants in
the country, Gutierrez said.
Isabel Garcia, a leader in the Tucson-based human rights organization
Derechos Humanos, said efforts to mobilize the immigrant community must
continue "given that we do not have any semblance of immigration reform
right now" in Congress.
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