Print

Mail

wiki links

Students protest immigration crackdown proposals

Tens of thousands of students walked out of school in California, Texas and other US states, waving flags and chanting slogans in a second week of protests against legislation to crack down on illegal immigrants.

In Washington, 100 demonstrators wore handcuffs at the Capitol on Monday to protest a bill that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally and would make it a crime to dispense aid to the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants.

Immigrant supporters also object to legislation that would also impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and would build fences along part of the US-Mexican border.

More than 500,000 people gathered in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, and tens of thousands rallied in Phoenix and Milwaukee last week.

On Monday, 36,000 students marched out of Los Angeles-area schools, officials said.

By midmorning, the protests had spread to downtown, where hundreds of students walked the streets and chanted.

The boycott had the tacit approval of school officials in some of the heavily Hispanic downtown schools, where word was passed through hall posters and public address systems.

In some areas, teachers and administrators walked with students "as a safety measure," said Monica Carazo, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles school district.

In Los Angeles, more than 1,000 students encircled City Hall and some met with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in his office.

"We've been here for many years. We work hard. We contribute to the economy of the US," said Belmont High student Fermin Vasquez, 18.

Six students were chosen to meet with the mayor, who then stepped outside and addressed the crowd.

"I want you to know that there are people right now all across the country that agree with you that we need immigration reform that rewards work, that gives people a pathway to citizenship, that allows families to stay together," Villaraigosa told the crowd.

A few schools barred their doors to prevent walkouts. Officials at Huntington Park High locked the gates after classes started, but the students climbed over a chain-link fence and joined marchers in their heavily immigrant community.

About 300 students and adult supporters walked onto a freeway in downtown Los Angeles, forcing police to briefly close some lanes. The demonstrators walked about a mile before they were escorted off, the highway patrol said.

Elsewhere, thousands of teens walked out of several high schools in Dallas, Texas, and headed for a rally at a park, some carrying Mexican flags and others posters calling for Congress to recognize immigrant rights.

In Phoenix, an estimated 400 students walked out of high schools and marched to the Arizona Capitol. A few wrote slogans on their arms.

In Detroit, Michigan, protesters waving Mexican flags marched from the southwest side of the city where many Hispanics live toward a federal building downtown.
This story has been viewed 1755 times.