Notes from Yesterday’s Immigration March

By Jennifer Solis

None of the march participants I interviewed said they were worried about a wall on the border. The real concern is the adoption of a verifiable identification card, which would make it impossible to work at anything but in the underground economy.

They are also convinced that despite that current high profile of the immigration issue in the media, most Americans don’t really care about illegal immigration, as proved by the lack of visible opposition to the recent marches and rallies to grant amnesty. The Minutemen and other “patriotic” groups are viewed as “fringe” annoyances.

Most of the speeches were in Spanish, but the most popular chant was obviously for the ears of politicians: “Today we march, tomorrow we vote!” A large white sheet with black lettering proclaimed, “The Sleeping Giant Is Awake.”

The Los Angeles school district (LAUSD) reported a 27-percent absentee rate today. Last year there were about 10-percent missing. The school district issued a statement in the morning that students would not be marked truant today. That conflicts with an announcement by the State Superintendent of Schools, who stated that schools should enforce attendance.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was scheduled to attend the National Football League meeting in Dallas to try to recruit a team for Los Angeles. How about calling them the “L.A. Illegals?” L.A. football fans have long since said they don’t care about having a local team, since they can now watch double headers every Sunday on television.

The mayor’s arm was twisted by march organizers to make good on his promise to speak at the afternoon rally, and he gave a three-minute address at 6 o’clock, at Wilshire and LaBrea, the end of the four mile MacArthur Park march. He said that police estimated 400,000 attended the afternoon festivities.

The Los Angeles produce market along Seventh was almost completely shut down for the day. One of the largest wholesalers had allowed their employees to vote whether to be open, and they voted to take off Monday. This decision started a chain reaction of closures of the smaller suppliers, and except for a few deliveries, the market area was deserted. The economic loss has been estimated at $2.1-million.

Commuters were pleasantly surprised by the light traffic coming to work downtown, but many businesses had to close early so their workers would not get caught by the march gridlock near Wilshire Boulevard.

The underlying theme of every pro-immigration slogan, sign or chant is, “We have the right to be here.” This belief has been reinforced by Mexico’s president Vincente Fox, who says, “There are no illegals,” and an historical perspective that the southwest United States really belongs to Mexico, and was stolen a century and a half ago.

The pro-immigration activists’ argument has also been sustained by both state and federal courts, which have ordered that, once here, the undocumented have the “right” to obtain free medical care, education and health services. The immigrants along the march say all they want is an “opportunity.”

There were almost no counter-protesters along the line of the march, but a couple of people held signs saying “Enforce Immigration Laws.” Another woman sat quietly on the grass at MacArthur Park next to a sign, “American Citizens Respect American Laws.” She was interviewed by several reporters who passed by.

“My family is suffering right now as a direct result of these illegals. We can’t afford to compete with them, for housing, jobs, education and health care. The clinic I used to go to has closed. They lost their funding because they were overwhelmed. Free health care for illegals shut it down. Now neither my little boy or I have any health care.”

Whatever happens, this is one of the few social issues that will not be solved by simply spending more money. This confuses the hell out of our politicians.