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 Saturday, May 25, 2013
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RAFAEL MERINO CORTÉS
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Tuesday, April 11, 2006 |
EL PUEBLO UNIDO ON BROADWAY
Within and above a sea of humanity, banners flapped, placards waved and flags unfurled on Broadway in Downtown Manhattan as more than a hundred thousand people protested against pending immigrant legislation. Photo: Rafael Merino Cortés/grupoHuracán
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 ver a hundred thousand people streamed toward City Hall in Downtown, Manhattan on Monday, April 10, 2006, to protest against the restrictive immigrant legislature currently being considered in Congress. The legislature is based on the bill H.R. 4437, which was passed by the House of Representatives on December 16, 2005 by a vote of 239 to 182.
The bill, also known as the "Sensenbrenner Bill," for its sponsor, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), calls for the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexican border, require employers to verify a workers’ legal status, eliminate the Diversity Immigrant Visa and make it a felony for anyone housing an “illegal” with a minimum three-year prison sentence, among other provisions.
Dozens of immigrant and human rights groups staged demonstrations across the United States to express opposition and bring attention to the bill. These groups, along with some limited media participation, helped bring millions of people across the nation to march against the proposed immigrant legislation.
The first major protest occurred in Chicago, on March 10, 2006, where over 100,000 people took to the streets. On March 25, 2006, about a million people filled the streets of Downtown Los Angeles as tens of thousands of high school students staged a walkout, in similar form to the 1968 student protests depicted in HBO film’s timely release of “Walkout,” directed by Edward James Olmos. The majority of protests to date have occurred in major cities throughout the nation with significant Mexican or Latino populations. Yesterday, however, saw the largest single-day event yet, with almost 100 cities holding protests.
The crowds that gathered in Downtown Manhattan, just north of the stretch of Broadway colloquially known as the Canyon of Heroes for its historic ticker-tape parades, was the second major gathering in New York City protesting the immigration bill. On April 1, 2006, tens of thousands of people marched across Brooklyn Bridge toward City Hall.
“When we hit the middle of the bridge all that could be seen was a mass of humanity ahead and behind us, waving flags mostly from Latin America but also from around the globe. It was one of the most beautiful sights in my lifetime,” said activist Vicente “Panama” Alba.
RESIST OR DIE
The dream of working in the United States in order to send money to families left behind has been apparently worth dying for. Hundreds of people lose their lives each year trying to cross the Mexican border into the US in order to find jobs. Any legislation that makes this endeavor more difficult is worth resisting at all cost according to some people who attended Monday’s rally. Photo: Rafael Merino Cortés/ grupoHuracán
The crowds on Monday could have easily been larger, possibly over a quarter million, but it was difficult to tell since the New York Police Department funneled, corralled and otherwise restricted the mass congregations in every which way possible, “bordering on First Amendment breach,” according to one of the organizers of the march.
Canek, a commentator in the NYC Indymedia portal, wrote, “The overwhelming presence of police, double barricades on every block, and the intimidating surveillance made it difficult to feel free in our expression of protest. The exhaust from police scooters that 'escorted' the march down Broadway made it difficult to breath let alone chant, yell and express ourselves...Once we arrived near Downtown, we were expected to stay standing in our pens staring at massive TV screens, at politicians ranting cliché slogans in broken Spanish. I would have liked to confront this sort of police lockdown but it seemed so overwhelming that I felt very disempowered. And, of course, the fact that there were so many families, elders, young children and babies (which was so beautiful to see) made me not want to create a situation that would provoke police violence.”
“This is so unfair. I feel like we’re in a prison yard,” said Luisa Machada of Sunset Park, who attended the rally with her 5-year-old daughter and cousin, Delia. “Look at these cops. Half of them are probably immigrants themselves or at least their parents are. I mean everybody is an immigrant. I don’t understand why they’re suddenly trying to keep us out or locked up,” she continued.
AMERICAN LIKE YOU
Up
and down Broadway, a sea of immigrants and their supporters disputed
the current and proposed laws that define the legal and status of the
‘undocumented’ people in and entering the United States. Photo: Rafael
Merino Cortés/ grupoHuracán |
Luisa was not the only one frustrated with the systematic containment of the crowds. Some participants cursed at police for not allowing them to march directly into Broadway from the side streets or adjacent avenues, like Church Street. Instead, they were ordered to file into the march from as far north as Canal Street. However, the crowds were generally focused on the issues of the protest and were excited, even in a “festive” mood, to be part of the event.
“I think this is really beautiful, to see so many of our people out here. It’s a little intimidating to have so many cops around us, but at least we’re marching and our voices are being heard. You gotta admit, you wouldn’t see this in every country,” said Pablo Fernandez of Astoria, Queens.
In past rallies like the anti-Iraq War protests and the Republican National Convention protest, which drew hundreds of thousands, the NYPD implemented similar crowd control measures for “safety and to protect private and public property,” according to officials.
Regardless of the constrictions, the masses of mostly Latino people continued to pour into Lower Manhattan throughout the afternoon and into the early evening, leaving no doubt that the issue of immigration legislation was very much in the consciousness of most New Yorkers.
As historic as some may have viewed the protest, the media had mixed coverage (or feelings) of the mass gathering. In the way some people complained about the confinement of the rally, the news coverage of the immigration unrest throughout the country has been curiously limited as well.
The New York Times was the only major English-language daily in New York City to give the protests front-page prominence, although it used an image from the Washington, D.C. rally that same day. The Daily News and Newsday gave the rally smaller front-page coverage, which is more than could be said about the New York Post, which made no mention of the rallies on its cover. Newscorp, parent company of the Post, the Fox Television network and other media entities, has been criticized in the past for maintaining an extreme right-wing, Anglo-centric and conservative perspective in its editorials and news coverage.
Despite the dubious mass media coverage, independent media across the nation was clearly focused on the protests that took place. Christina Z in the NYC Indymedia wrote, “When I first walked out of the subway in front of city hall, I was baffled by the sheer numbers and energy of the people, waving flags of all colors, chanting, ‘Los pueblos, unidos, jamas seran vencidos.’ (The people united will never be defeated.) As I stare out the sea of people of all races and cultures, I wonder fearfully, ‘What if they all just disappeared?’
Thousands of employers may find out what that feels like on May 1, 2006, when a massive worker boycott is planned in protest of the immigration bill. But immigration laws may not be the only piece of legislation affected by these actions. A boycott on May 1 could spur enough interest to reinstate Labor Day to its appropriate time on the calendar in this country.
El pueblo unido, indeed.
RAFAEL MERINO CORTÉS
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