ORLANDO SENTINEL

April 29, 2008

Orlando vigil will protest treatment of immigrants

Victor Manuel Ramos, Sentinel Staff Writer

An Apopka advocacy group plans a vigil in downtown Orlando on Thursday to protest what it calls aggressive enforcement tactics that have led to a rise in deportations.

The vigil and procession, organized by the Farmworker Association of Florida, will come on the anniversary of massive nationwide rallies that failed to persuade Congress to support an immigration-reform bill two years ago.

The protest is part of a national effort to emphasize the plight of undocumented immigrants on International Workers Day.

The ongoing step-up in enforcement by federal agents and some local law-enforcement agencies has led to an increase in workplace raids and the removal of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants during the past few years.

More than 195,000 deported immigrants were removed nationwide in 2006, an increase of 71 percent since 2001, according to federal authorities. About 5,000 of those deported in 2006 were from Florida, an increase of about 1,400 from two years before.

Activists in Sorrento have denounced the arrests of dozens of illegal immigrants earlier this month that came just days after an incident in which a Lake County deputy allegedly was attacked by a group of Hispanic men.

"We want for there to be a stop to anti-immigrant politics and for the authorities to leave working people alone," said Tirso Moreno, general coordinator of the farmworkers group. "It's become fashionable to attack immigrants, so this is a petition to society and to the community in general for us to be more humane."

A range of events from prayer breakfasts to marches and vigils are planned in other cities, including Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Boston.

In Chicago, the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, a coalition of Hispanic groups, said it is calling for recognition of immigrants' contributions. It wants to appeal directly to the public for reform that "is good for immigrants and good for America."Alliance spokesman Jorge-Mario Cabrera said these gatherings are not expected to draw as many as the record-breaking marches of 2006.

Organizers expect from several hundred to more than 1,000 protesters in downtown Orlando, where more than 20,000 marched two years ago, according to some estimates.

No street closures are planned for this vigil.

"Our intent is not to reach record numbers in the streets," Cabrera said. "Our goal is to reach the hearts of America and the ears of legislators who have sat idly by for too long.”