TAMPA TRIBUNE February 23, 2006
'We Aren't Terrorists,' Protesters Proclaim TAMPA - Idania Hernandez said she has been in the United States six years, the past three working construction in Tampa.
A native of Mexico, Hernandez, 27, said she is an undocumented worker. That didn't stop her from making her voice heard Wednesday as she joined about 300 people at Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Drive to protest a federal immigration bill.
"We are here to work," said Hernandez, of Clearwater. "We aren't terrorists; we are workers.
"Everyone knows that if they got rid of all illegals, this country wouldn't have any economic prosperity," she said.
Among protesters' signs: "We are not different. We are just like you."
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the immigration reform bill, HR 4437, in December. The bill is in the U.S. Senate, where it may be revised.
It is being touted as an illegal immigration and antiterrorism measure and, among other things, would require employers to verify an employee's legal status.
With an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country and the threat of terrorism, lawmakers are seeking to tighten the borders.
Day laborers and construction and farmworkers statewide demonstrated Wednesday against immigration reform measures.
The protests, dubbed A Day Without an Immigrant, began this month in Northeast states and have been staged in cities with large immigrant populations.
At a rally in Dade City, farmworker advocate Margarita Romo said employers should help defeat the bill because farmers, growers, landscape nursery owners, construction companies and hotels benefit from migrant labor.
"We need some of those guys to have enough gumption to say, 'We're with you. We need you,'" she said.
Abel Castrejon Jr., who helped organize the Tampa protest, said opponents think the bill would allow local law enforcement agencies to request immigration documentation during traffic stops.
Undocumented individuals could be subject to arrest and deportation, he said, and the law would lead to racial profiling.
"All the police officers are going to become immigration officials," said Castrejon, who said he was born in the United States of Mexican descent.
State and local law enforcement are empowered to help federal agencies rein in illegal immigration, said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies. The Washington-based conservative think tank favors tighter border controls.
"They are trained and are most familiar with what's going on on their beats," Keeley said.
Ezequiel Taque, a Tampa protester, said he came to the United States from Guatemala as a child, graduating from Leto High School in 2003.
Taque, 22, said he is undocumented but works as a bartender and waiter.
"We do the jobs no one wants," he said. "We do the jobs out of necessity. "In our respective countries, they say this is the country of dreams," Taque said. "When you arrive, it becomes the country of nightmares."
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