TAMPA TRIBUNE September 5, 2006
Protesters In Tampa Call For Immigration Reform
TAMPA - Immigrants and their advocates chose Labor Day to protest, rallying for immigration reform favorable to them. Under the hot sun Monday, more than 50 people waved American flags at Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Avenue. They held signs calling for justice and a solution for the 12 million undocumented people in the country. "This is so people can see we work hard for this country," said Adan Labra of the Farmworkers Association in Apopka. "I think we have worked and earned our right to immigration reform." Nationwide, immigration reform advocates are organizing protests to pressure politicians to resolve the divisive issue. Rallies were held in Chicago during the weekend, and others are planned for Washington, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Locally, advocates are galvanized after winning two battles on immigration. Avon Park and Palm Bay tried to enact ordinances seeking to control immigration, but both failed. "We will not tolerate that in Florida," rally organizer Blanca Gonzalez said. "We have waited too long to hold rallies. This is the day of the worker, so this is appropriate. We are letting Congress know we are still out here." Gonzalez and others are representing the Bay area today at the National Latino Congress in Los Angeles. The four-day conference targets a national agenda, including immigration reform, voting and civil rights. Activists have been relatively quiet since May 1, a day of nationwide protests dubbed "A Day Without an Immigrant." Locally, the protests were at Dale Mabry and Columbus. It was a mistake to keep the topic out of the limelight, said Gonzalez, head of Immigrants United for Freedom. "Families are being separated because of deportations," Gonzalez said. "They are taking fathers away from their wives and children. We have to keep at this." Maria Huesca, a native of Veracruz, Mexico, is fearful of finding herself separated from her husband. Huesca is a stay-at-home mother after having toiled in various jobs in hotels, private homes and stores. Huesca, standing with her three small daughters at the rally, moved from Georgia three months ago. Her husband was lured by construction jobs to Pasco County. They have been in the country for seven years. "We want to improve, have progress in our lives," she said. "I'm here to support that. If we all contributed a grain of sand, we can do a lot. We don't want our families separated. We are here because of them." It's the English-speaking, second- and third-generation sons and daughters of immigrants who have to step up on the reform issue, Mary Perez said. "Those of us who know what they go through have to come out and support them," said the 25-year-old Plant City resident. "My parents were migrant, and they traveled from state to state to work. I was born here. I should have been out here before, but I didn't have the chance." Across the street, three counterprotesting men stood with their own signs: "Close the border," "Preserve Western culture" and "Illegal aliens out." They are unaffiliated, they said. "We're just patriots voicing our opinion," Bobby Ammon of St. Petersburg said. "Our national security is in jeopardy. We are making lots of enemies overseas, and our borders remain unchecked. It's scary."
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