LAKELAND (Florida) LEDGER

July 24, 2006

A Rally Against 'Relief'

About 900 to 1,000 gather to oppose the ordinance up for final approval tonight.

By YESENIA MORARRO& KEVIN BOUFFARD

AVON PARK -- Unaware that anti-immigrant sentiments were brewing in Avon Park, Everardo Mendoza bought a home there in May and moved from Lake Placid with his wife, Emma, and their 8- and 10-year-old children.

Having been a renter all his life, Mendoza hoped his purchase of a property in Avon Park meant a step forward for his family, he said. But Sunday night, as Mendoza stood with his family at Donaldson Park under cloudy skies and a light rain, he was no longer sure the move was the right choice for his family.

The Mendozas were among a crowd, mostly Hispanic, that gathered in front of Avon Park City Hall to pray and peacefully protest against the proposed City of Avon Park Illegal Immigration Relief Act.

Boyd Singletary, a maintenance technician in Avon Park's Parks and Recreation Department, estimated the crowd at 900 to 1,000.

The Avon Park City Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the ordinance at its meeting at 6 tonight.

The ordinance would prohibit the city of about 8,500 people from licensing any business that aided or abetted illegal immigrants or illegal immigration anywhere in the United States for the past five years. It would also bar renting or leasing property to illegal immigrants and establishes English as the sole language to conduct city business.

Mayor Tom Macklin, who drafted the ordinance, said the city needed it to clean up substandard and overcrowded housing that is often rented to illegal immigrants.

"If we had known that this was going to happen, we would not have moved here," said Mendoza, a Mexican native with U.S. residency. "Although I am a resident I feel like all the (illegal immigrants). If they do something against them, it's as if they were doing it to me. I am dark-skinned and don't know much English. I too am a target for discrimination under the ordinance." The Rev. Jose Gonzalez, pastor of St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Sebring, organized the prayer service in conjunction with immigrant rights groups around the state.

They came from Polk County, Tallahassee, Sarasota and Miami, he said. Gonzalez invited other parish leaders to join the effort against the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, among them the Rev. Jorge Torres, a priest at St. Ann Catholic Church in Haines City and one of the prayer service leaders. Torres said he came with about 20 of his parishioners.

The Avon Park ordinance has raised concerns throughout Polk's Hispanic community, Torres said.

"The community's concerned for two reasons: One, for the people here, and, two, we understand these things can spread," he said.

Hector Chichoni, co-director of the Immigration Division at Squire Sanders & Dempsey, a global legal firm with offices in Miami, said earlier this month ordinances like the one in Avon Park are already spreading to cities around the nation. Two weeks ago Hazleton, Pa., approved an ordinance like the one proposed in Avon Park and Palm Bay is considering one.

“Avon Park is a metaphor of a more extensive kind of discussion about immigration that unfortunately is not taking place," said Manuel Vasquez, associate professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, in an interview earlier this month.

"The message these communities are sending to Congress is, `You are not doing enough. We need to take action,' " he said.

Maria McCourt, 67, of Tampa, who attended the vigil, said the ordinance has captured the attention of the Hispanic community statewide. She is a volunteer for the St. Louis-based National Farmworkers Ministry, which has an office in DeLand.

"Absolutely, we all think it's an injustice," the Mexican-born McCourt said. "It's not necessary. If they have problems with housing, there's better ways to do it."

McCourt held a sign quoting from the Gospel of Matthew 25:35, "For I was a stranger, and you welcomed me."

The theme of welcoming immigrants and giving them a chance for legal residency and citizenship was common among the signs and the prayers at the service.

"Our Spanish ancestors were here long before your English ones were here," said a sign held by Miguel Romo, 53, of Avon Park.

Others read, "Love one another," and "We must stop the hate and ignorance." Several held printed signs provided by the Quaker organization, the American Friends Service Committee, which featured a picture of the Statue of Liberty under "No human being is illegal."

Several dozen children slid down the slides, swung in the swings and ran around the playground at Donaldson Park as their parents listened intently to the program, which included hymns such as "God of the Ages," "A Place at the Table" and "We Are One Body."

Priests spoke out against hatred and racial tensions, and children read accounts by immigrants who faced dangers trying to enter the country.

Alejandra Mendoza, 10, and her brother Ever Mendoza, 12, were among them. They said Maria Rodriguez, director of Florida Immigrant Coalition, asked them if they would like to participate and the young Avon Park residents gladly accepted.

One of the participants read the story of a woman named Angela: "I'm 20 years old and a widow struggling to put food on the table. I left my child with my mother in Honduras to seek a better future for my daughter in the U.S. with my cousin, Juan. At the Mexican-Guatemalan border, I was raped. Finally we crossed the U.S. border, but were found by the Border Patrol. Juan was put in the Patrol car while the patrolmen raped me -- again. We were released and went to a shelter house for immigrants where we decided to press charges. One year later we are still waiting for our case to be heard."

These stories reminded the participants of the hardships many of them encountered on their trip here.

"Why are we stepping on people that are picking our fruits and vegetables?" asked Chilo Casas, a U.S. citizen with Mexican roots who came from Davenport with his wife, Lupe, and two daughters ages 11 and 12. "I'm here because this can affect my family. I look like those people. I am those people. If this ordinance passes and spreads they are going to target my children who are American-born."

Rodriguez, the director of Florida Immigrant Coalition, said people will be gathering at the Avon Park City Council community center as early as 4:30 p.m. today.