500,000 Protestors in Downtown Dallas

[kamiller42]

[quote name='Era Might' post='955845' date='Apr 21 2006, 06:04 AM']
Nobody is "for" illegal immigration. That's the whole point: some things shouldn't be illegal.
[/quote]
Wow. That would be very irresponsible of a government to have unregulated open borders. Not even the USCCB would agree with you. A nation has a right to secure its borders.

Whether you believe immigration should or shouldn't have a legal process doesn't really matter. The law of the land right now is you must legally immigrate.

[sweetpea316]

[quote name='Keyser Soze' post='955851' date='Apr 21 2006, 06:08 AM']
The Texas Rangers were going to cancel their season due to a lack of interest.
[/quote]
Hey now, some of my friends are going to the game tomorrow.

[Era Might]

[quote name='kamiller42' post='956155' date='Apr 21 2006, 12:45 PM']
Wow. That would be very irresponsible of a government to have unregulated open borders. Not even the USCCB would agree with you. A nation has a right to secure its borders.

Whether you believe immigration should or shouldn't have a legal process doesn't really matter. The law of the land right now is you must legally immigrate.
[/quote]

That's all well and good. But the point still remains that nobody is FOR illegal immigration. Whether they support an open-border policy or just immigration reform, their point isn't that they like being illegal immigrants, their point is that they want to change the system so that they AREN'T illegal immigrants.

[kamiller42]

[quote name='Era Might' post='956218' date='Apr 21 2006, 12:41 PM']
That's all well and good. But the point still remains that nobody is FOR illegal immigration. Whether they support an open-border policy or just immigration reform, their point isn't that they like being illegal immigrants, their point is that they want to change the system so that they AREN'T illegal immigrants.
[/quote]
Anyone who is for ignoring current law and supports immigration outside the legal procedures is FOR illegal immigration. Simply wishing away laws by one who participates in illegal activity does not negate the illegality of the activity. [b]To willfully participate in an illegal activity is to support it.[/b]

People who participate in illegal activities have always wanted to reform the system to right their wrongs. Drug addicts want to drop the drug war. I wouldn't mind if speed limits were dropped. The rightness or wrongness of a given law should never be determined based on "want".

I have not heard from the pro-illegal immigration crowd the ethical and social reasons why America should have open borders. ([url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041900743.html"]Their home countries are certainly not as gracious as the U.S[/url].) "Because we deserve amnesty" is not good enough.

[Era Might]

Ah forget it. I'm not gonna be around to respond anyway.

Peace.

Edited April 21, 2006 by Era Might

[Keyser Soze]

[quote name='sweetpea316' post='956204' date='Apr 21 2006, 01:34 PM']
Hey now, some of my friends are going to the game tomorrow.
[/quote]

My condolances.

Maybe they should cheer for a real team, like the Red Sox. It's never too late to join the Nation.

[qfnol31]

[quote name='ironmonk' post='941775' date='Apr 9 2006, 10:51 PM']
That nothing is wrong with venial sin and a gross error in interpretation of a bill.
[/quote]

[quote name='Sojourner' post='942027' date='Apr 10 2006, 08:51 AM']
I love how you persist in propagating your false take on this bill despite having been corrected on it multiple times. If that's not genius at work, I don't know what is.
[/quote]

I'm not sure what you're responding to, but it sounds like you might yourself be a little mistaken on how it's being perceived down here.

[quote]Thousands flood Dallas streets

06:03 PM CDT on Sunday, April 9, 2006

Immigrants and supporters flooded the streets of downtown Dallas Sunday afternoon for the immigration rally many called the Great Awakening.

People began lining up as early as 7:00 a.m. in the front of the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin Guadalupe waving American flags, dressed in white as a sign of peace and ready to send a message.

As the throng of people grew larger, police opened the gates early around 12:52 p.m. to make way for more people. The beginning of the march set off a parade of protestors that snaked around streets and buildings through downtown chanting "Yes, we can!" in Spanish and "USA."

The sea of what police estimated was up to 500,000 people began marching from the cathedral, down Ross Avenue to Griffith Street and ended at City Hall.

An hour after the march began, protestors at the front of the line were greeted to the sounds of Neil Diamond's "They're Coming to America" as they reached their final destination. But while people were already dancing to Latino music at the steps of City Hall, many people in the back of the lines still hadn't taken a step.

"Dallas, Fort Worth, metroplex, you came through," said Domingo Garcia, the march organizer, as people poured in to watch speakers.

Two hours after the march began, the stream of protestors were all gathered.

"Today the Latino community has said enough is enough," said Hector Flores, LULAC, as he spoke to the crowd. "We're going to take a stand for fairness and justice and we will not back down."

Speakers said America was a nation built by immigrants and built with their sweat, which they continue to do today.

[b]"We are building America and the concretes, and the buildings, and the hotels, and the restaurants," Garcia said.[/b]

Along with the protestors, police officers hovered overhead in helicopters and patrolled the streets on horses and cars.

While the crowd appeared to be in good spirits during the march, there were a few opposing protestors present that resulted in a few tense moments..

Police brought out their riot gear and pepperball guns when a group of counter demonstrators taunted the crowd and protestors spoke back and threw water bottles. The SWAT team was also brought in and barricaded the area.

A large law enforcement presence was at the rally with about 550 Dallas police officers and 200 sheriff's deputies present. Officers stood in between those marching and the opponents of the rally that held signs that read "No amnesty."

George P. Bush, the nephew of President George W. Bush, was among several scheduled to speak at the rally.

Earlier participants started the day at the Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe for the traditional Palm Sunday mass.

Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week in the Catholic church, and some protesters said it is significant because it represents the journey Jesus Christ made before his death and resurrection.

[b]"It means a lot because I'm an immigrant," said Carmine Palma, who planned to take part in the protest. "Now they're trying to make us criminals, so that's not fair."
[/b]
Thousands also gathered wearing white in Fort Worth and their message was the same.

Fort Worth has had large rallies before, including one in 1993 when thousands filled Main Street during a civil rights rally organized by a North Texas radio station. But Sunday's march will probably go down as the largest in the city's history.

[b]"My father was born in Mexico," said protestor Mary Gonzales. "He came here. He became a citizen and joined the army. He fought in the war. And I am proud to have become an American citizen and I want everyone to be able to have the right to do that."[/b]

Another protestor also talked about a loved one who fought for America.

[b]"This flag was flown in Iraq while my husband was there on his second tour," said a protestor caring an American flag. "His family came here as illegal immigrants and he fights for our country and fights for his parents also."[/b]

The city of Dallas was gearing up for more than 100,000 protesters.

The march was scheduled to begin at Cathedral Guadalupe at 1 p.m., culminating in a rally at City Hall Plaza.

Organizers will lead the crowd down Ross Ave. to Griffin Street, then on Commerce Street and down Ervay Street to City Hall.

"I think the city is prepared," Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said on Friday. "The city manager, the city attorney and the police chief have been having non-stop meetings to be ready for as many as 200,000 people on Sunday."

Dallas Area Rapid Transit said rally organizers had arranged for shuttle bus service from three locations:

• Gate 13 at Fair Park, near the Smirnoff Music Centre

• Townview Center school, 1201 East 8th Street in Oak Cliff

• Stemmons Towers, on Stemmons Freeway near Motor Street

Dallas police said they had no plans to stop traffic on downtown streets during the event, but once the march begins, officers on horseback, motorcycle and on foot will close intersections as protesters approach.

Police asked anyone planning to attend the rally to leave home early and to have patience.

Rebecca Lopez, Chris Heinbaugh, Carol Cavazos and the Dallas Morning News contributed to this report
[/quote]

[quote]Students protest for a second day

04:05 PM CST on Friday, March 31, 2006

KVUE News staff reports

Slideshow of images

For the second day in a row, Austin-area high school students walked out of class and marched in protest of immigration reform.
Johnston students/KVUE News
KVUE News
Johnston High School students marched to the State Capitol Friday.

Around 9 a.m. Friday, students from Johnston High School in East Austin joined the hot button debate. About 75 students walked out of class and began their march toward the State Capitol. Austin police provided an escort for them. Once they arrived, they stood on the capitol steps chanting slogans for equality and speaking out in turn. The demonstration was peaceful but vocal.

The brother of a Johnston High student organized the march. He told KVUE News he thought it was important the students recognize their roots and their families and to protest against tearing their families apart.

[b]"They're getting mad at us because we're getting paid low wages. They don't want to be making $4 or $5 an hour, but we come from a poor country. A dollar is ten pesos, man. That's a lot to us!" said one protestor to the crowd.[/b]

Round Rock students face fine

Round Rock ISD students protested again Friday but this time it wasn't a walkout. School administrators say most of the students who participated never arrived to school in the morning. Instead, they congregated nearby and met up at Stony Point High School where they started their march.

They marched west under Interstate 35, but the walkout fizzled at Memorial Park. That's where police gave the students an ultimatum -- either return to school or be arrested.

"They arrest us, we go to jail for our rights. We fought for what we believe in," said Jennifer Gomez, Round Rock High Junior.

"I don't feel bad because I'm supporting my people. I'm not going to let them down," said Stephanie Barrera, 7th Grade protester.

About 100 students followed the officers' request and arrived at Round Rock High School where a processing area was set up at the high school gymnasium. All the students were cited for violating daytime curfew and face a fine of up to $275.

Bastrop leaders intervene

About 100 students in Bastrop also walked out of class to protest, but not before school leaders did what they could to keep students from leaving. They offered to help students organize a protest outside school hours, but the students refused. They marched to the Bastrop Courthouse. School buses picked them up from there and returned them to class.

Some 700 students from across the Austin-area staged a walkout Thursday in protest. Students from Del Valle, Lanier and Reagan High schools gathered in front of the State Capitol to speak out.

Stony Point students also left class. They walked to Round Rock High School to gather more support, but they were threatened with arrest if they stepped on campus. Round Rock High was placed in lockdown, but no one was arrested. The Stony point students ended their march at Round Rock City Hall.

The Austin-area marches mirror those by high school students in Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Phoenix over the past week.
[b]
The students are protesting against proposed legislation that would make it a felony to enter the country illegally or to help illegal immigrants.[/b]

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said earlier this week he hopes the Senate will pass the immigration reform bill by April 7. However, any bill produced by the Senate would have to be reconciled with a House bill that would make illegal immigrant felons.[/quote]

Unless you can show how the legislation is immoral, then there is not really a reason for them to protest.

I don't know about you, but I think that these protesters are taking things out of proportion. I live about 5 miles from Dallas and get the local paper every morning and believe me...these I posted aren't isolated. If you read, they're protesting something that makes illegal immigration a felony, but many have actually come out and said that the government hates immigration in general. To me, that's a huge misinterpretation.

CNN agrees.

[quote]WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The top Republicans in both the House and Senate indicated Tuesday they don't support language in an immigration bill that would make entering the country illegally a felony.

The proposal has drawn the ire of pro-immigrant groups that have staged a wave of protests in recent weeks.

The provision making illegal immigration a felony was contained in an immigration reform bill passed by the House in December. But in a joint statement issued Tuesday evening, House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee both indicated they wanted the language dropped.

Frist and Hastert also criticized House Democrats, who, they said, opposed efforts by Republicans to strip the provision from the bill before it passed.

"Instead, they voted to make felons out of all of those who remain in our country illegally," their statement said. (Watch the politics of immigration -- 2:28)

Frist and Hastert did not specify whether they wanted unlawful presence in the United States to be a misdemeanor or carry a lesser penalty.

Their statement was also silent on the question of whether they had come to any agreement on two issues that have split Republicans -- creating a guest-worker program, or allowing undocumented immigrants in the country illegally to work their way toward legal status.

The provision making illegal immigration a felony was part of a bill pushed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican. It passed the House in December by a vote of 239-182, with only 36 Democrats supporting the final version of the measure.

Responding to Tuesday's criticism of Democrats by Hastert and Frist, Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, said "no amount of spin can change the fact that Republicans wrote and passed the Sensenbrenner bill, which criminalizes an entire population."

Crider also said Republicans "are feeling the heat" after demonstrations that brought out hundreds of thousands of protesters Monday at rallies in at least 140 cities in more than 39 states. (Full story)

Sensenbrenner, who sponsored the provision making illegal immigration a felony, said last week that he tried to remove it from the bill in December and remains open to making the change as the House and Senate try to reach an agreement on a final bill.

Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, a leading advocate of cracking down on illegal immigration, has accused Democrats of trying to keep the felony provision in the bill as a "poison pill."

But Sen. Edward Kennedy on Tuesday dismissed such characterizations.

"Actions speak louder than words, and there's no running away from the fact that the Republican House passed a bill and Senator Frist offered one that criminalizes immigrants," the Massachusetts Democrat said.

"This debate shouldn't be about making criminals out of hard-working families ... but rather about strengthening our national security and enacting a law that reflects our best values and our humanity," he said in a written statement.

Sensenbrenner's bill also calls for building 700 miles of security fence along the Mexican border and would also make assisting illegal immigrants a felony.

It does not include a guest-worker provision, as President Bush has called for, or a legalization process for people already in the United States illegally. Critics dismiss that idea as "amnesty," while supporters call it "earned citizenship."

House GOP aides said Tuesday that language aimed at punishing people who help illegal immigrants was aimed at smugglers who bring people across the border, not at charities who assist the migrants.

As protests against the House bill mounted in late March, the White House and the Republican National Committee raised concerns that the anti-immigration sentiment coming from some corners of the GOP would turn off Latino voters that Bush and his political team have worked hard to court.

But Republican leaders must also contend with a growing chorus within their conservative base to crack down on illegal immigration. (Watch importance of Latino vote questioned -- 2:07)

Senate attempts to pass an immigration reform bill stalled last week when a measure establishing a guest-worker program and a mechanism for legalization failed to overcome opposition from conservative Republicans.

CNN's Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.[/quote]

And lastly, to clarify that girl's quote, I think technically the government wants tax money that goes to help our too-large government that hands out too much money for the wrong reasons.

[God the Father]

[quote name='Rick777' post='941690' date='Apr 9 2006, 11:33 PM']
Not funny
[/quote]

Actually, considering that these guys would be protesting Taco Bell closing is pretty funny. Just the notion, you know. Because Taco Bell serves Mexican food.

[Cow of Shame]

[quote name='God the Father' post='956591' date='Apr 21 2006, 07:34 PM']
Because Taco Bell serves Mexican food.
[/quote]

...for a very loose definition of "Mexican food"