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People take part in the May 1 march for workers' rights in Santa Rosa. BETH SCHLANKER/PD
By JULIE JOHNSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The number of immigrants deported from Sonoma County was on the minds – and signs – of people who marched through Santa Rosa Sunday for the annual May Day rally.
People carried hand-painted posters that read: “No illegal deportation,” “No immigration raids,” and “Car impounds = legal racism.”
Santa Rosa residents Vicente Gaona, 22, and his wife, Jael Garcia, 25, joined a large group marching down Sebastopol Avenue in the hot sun, chanting for President Barack Obama to reform the nation’s immigration laws.
“We’re trying to make it heard. We want immigration reform,” said Gaona, who works for a concrete company.
Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe and the U.S. marched on May 1, or May Day, to champion workers’ rights. The largest crowds were reported in Europe, including 200,000 protesters who took over a central plaza in Istanbul, Turkey. In the United States, immigrant rights also have become part of the day’s message.
In Santa Rosa’s Roseland neighborhood, May Day brought hundreds of people to the Dollar Tree store on Sebastopol Road at 1 p.m. for a rally and a winding march through Railroad Square and downtown to Juilliard Park.
Once there, an immigrant rights group held a mock immigration raid, complete with handcuffs, orange jumpsuits and fake federal agents. During the skit, two Santa Rosa Junior College students sat on a nearby bench and talked about how many of their friends and family have been deported.
“Everyone is effected by it,” said Mike Gomez, 26, of Santa Rosa. “Everyone hears the stories. They see how bad it is.”
The pair counted more than a dozen people in their lives who have been deported.
“A lot of people have no criminal backgrounds, and they’re put in jail and treated like crap,” said Diné Lonewolf, 26, of Santa Rosa. “I don’t see it as a crime to look for a better life.”
Police officials estimated between 800 and 1,000 people came to the rally. Many people had expected a larger turnout.
Staff at Lola’s grocery at Sebastopol Road and Dutton Avenue put out boxes of water, juice and apples for the marchers, however the crowd barely made a dent in their offerings.
In past years Santa Rosa’s march has attracted thousands of people, including as many as 10,000 in 2006. Last year, about 3,500 boisterous people joined the rally, galvanized by furor over the Arizona governor’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
This year’s event was peaceful, though tension briefly mounted between rally-goers and police officers after a snack vendor was taken in handcuffs to the police station.
The man had failed to show officers a permit to sell food and didn’t have identification, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Rich Cell said. He was cited for violating a city ordinance, a misdemeanor, and was released, he said.
CLICK HERE to view a photo gallery from the May Day rally
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It’s not racist to want the laws enforced for everyone of all races. It’s not racist to deny a job to someone who has no legal right to work here. It’s not racist to expect that criminals of all races receive proper justice.
I didn’t see a single comment arguing that these people didn’t have the right to assemble or redress grievances.
If only they actually would assemble and go about getting the law changed. Absolutely no one here is against that and no one posted comments to that effect.
You say the laws are unfair. How? What’s unfair? Are there a bunch of people from Poland getting a break and the Latinos being singled out? How did Edyta Sliwinska slip by the border? We know she didn’t move in to Roseland and open a dancing school.
Wanting the laws enforced is not a smokescreen. For you it’s a way to rationalize the situation and call it racist. That is your mistake.
Roseland is a hole. That’s not a matter of racism. Did Polish people screw it up? Was that why Edyta didn’t open her dance school there?
Jaime I’m glad you’ve posted your last response because you’re not adding anything meaningful. The real racists here feed off statements like yours.
Come up with something rational and reasonable and no amount of racism will prevent you from success. Keep playing the broken “racism” record and you’re doomed to failure and ridicule.
Jaime obviously did not READ the article!
The article said the march was focused on ending deportation of illegals for crying out loud.
If he has an issue with the comments then his main complaint should be with the way the ARTICLE was written, not the comments responding to the article!
Jaime is a knee jerk reactionary, nothing more, and should get over himself.
Here’s the first paragraph of the article for Jaime:
“The number of immigrants deported from Sonoma County was on the minds – and signs – of people who marched through Santa Rosa Sunday for the annual May Day rally.”
What Jaime and others fail to understand is that it’s not about racism (or ignorance for that matter), it’s about RESENTMENT.
Resentment that 11 million people have broken US immigration laws, and think their crimes (including driving without a license) should be ignored, and that something is owed to them. Resentment that illegals parasitically suck up funding for healthcare and education, money that could otherwise be spent on US citizens. Resentment that people carry Mexican flags at a labor rally in the US – if you want to be in a chaotic country like Mexico, feel free to go. Resentment that supposedly 3rd and 4th generation Americans support illegal immigration.
Resentment at being called racist, when objective people can see it’s the people pointing fingers and yelling the loudest who actually are the racists.
@Mitch I am getting a little sick of your demands that I “explain” (and also of your brushoff of racist and hateful comments as merely “ignorant”) but here’s the last of my responses to you and yours. The March for International Workers Day was a March of Solidarity for All Workers. SOME (not all) marchers took the opportunity to inform and agitate for their request for changes in the immigration law to the extent that it harms and divides families in Sonoma County.
The right to peaceably assemble and to petition for the redress of grievances is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution. People in the US (all people) have every right to have a march and to agitate for change in laws that are unfair.
All of the racist comments about how the march was nothing but illegals and criminals who are arguing in favor of not obeying the law (they are petitioning to change the laws and opt out of a federal law- not for “breaking the law”) is a rhetorical smokescreen for the racism that is so evident on these boards (look at the posts about Roseland development which basically trash a whole neighborhood as thieves and criminals)that the constant and lame denials would be amusing if they were not so wrong. Is that enough of an argument for you?
Jaime… there’s no disputing there are lots of ignorant comments posted here.
What I’m asking you to do is make some kind of logical argument that immigration laws should not be enforced on Latinos. Why should we not enforce the traffics laws against Latinos either? Why should the laws against counterfeiting social security cards go unenforced against Latinos?
In short, everything this group of supposedly legal immigrants are protesting for is simply a demand that these laws should not apply to them. Is it a right now to have special classes exempt from the law?
All the local Latino advocates can come up with is that it’s “racist” to enforce these laws? You seem to have taken the same tactic. All you or anyone has come up with is the standard “it’s racist” line of reasoning.
Assume for the sake of argument every person in the United States is a racist. Now, explain why the laws should not apply to Latinos?
Jaime,
Can you please explain to me why you believe people who want our existing laws enforced are “racist”? All over the world, May 1st marches are about “worker’s rights” and honoring labor. Can you please explain to me why here in Sonoma County, our so called “worker’s rights” march is now all about a group of people complaining about deportations of illegal aliens? It has become focused on altering our immigration laws to accommodate people who shouldn’t be here. How far would I get if I tried that in Mexico?
Can you explain to me why illegal aliens should be given a free pass on our laws?
I work hard for a living too. Should I march to demand that I be allowed to pick and choose which of our laws I will follow? Really, does it make me “racist” if I believe that our laws should be applied and followed equally and by all?
Everyone should have the right to be treated equally. This also means that if you want to come to this country to live and work- you need to abide by our laws. You need to be here legally. Nothing racist about that.
@ Mitch the argument and evidence is in my post but if you like I can repeat it. Please follow along:
1. the comments in this thread consistently talk about how many ‘illegals” were marching in the Workers Day March.”i.e go home to Mexico” “too many Americans are out of work to worry about these illegals” 2. These commentators are obviously unable to know the immigration status of a marcher or a participant simply by looking at them in a picture.
3. Thus they are apparently ASSUMING that any Latino participant in the march is here illegally. That’s racism (as well as illogical) You Included. Hope that helps you.
Jaime come up with an argument for your position other than the standard racism claim and you’ll improve things on this forum which you continue to read in spite of your belief that it’s a joke. The joke is on you if you think the problem is racism. The law must apply to everyone of every race equally.
The true racism present on this forum has been posted by apparent Latinos playing the race card instead of defending their position with something substantive. YOU INCLUDED.
@Chris the reason there is no “controversy” on this topic anymore is that the whole Watch Sonoma County site has become a joke. Nothing but racists and tea partiers on here ranting about how everyone in the march was illegal. HOw do they know? Just because the people are Latinos?After all you can’t tell people’s legal status by just looking at them. Here’s a big fat clue, not everyone who is brown is undocumented. Many of us are third and fourth generation AMERICANS and Californians. So you show your ignorance and racism by attacking everyone in a workers rights march who is brown as “Illegal” And we are tired of arguing with ignorant racists on this right wing chat group! That’s why there are no sensible discussions on here anymore. It’s just tea partiers trying to outdo each other with Latino Bashing and Crazy Beckism…
Wait for the next president. Then the buses will be full. 12 million full.
I’m thinking we could have filled several buses for mexico with those marchers. Let them try that stunt south of the border.
You know what’s amazing about this. Normally with the immigration post on here, you would get a lot of response in regards to those who against illegals, and rebuttals of the pro-illegal group. However, and even this story is showing, people aren’t really responding anymore. This has become a mute subject, all because our government doesn’t want to enforce our laws and we know that they won’t do anything.
@Alicia Roman:
Maybe the police were doing there job, protecting the peaceful people from possible harm.
I’m just glad they did their job.
@TheObserver:
I agree that many on the republican side of the aisle ignore the issue of illegal immigration due to thier desire to maintain a good relation with Agri-business interests. However, I couldn’t disagree with you more that the democrats don’t also greatly ignore the issue of illegal immigration due to their close relationship to the labor interests. Lets be real here, both equally ignore the issues for their own reasons.
@Alicia Roman:
Laws are worthless and ineffectual when they aren’t enforced, take for example our immigration laws…
How many more uneducated, illegal immigrants do we need to work in the restaurants cooking, washing dishes and gardeners? Judging by the numbers standing on the side of the road, the labor pool has enough already in this class.
With the high unemployment in Sonoma County and the State of California these poor, uneducated people are a drag on the economy. To the democrats and unions they represent potential votes, to the society at large they represent a tax burden and a changing culture in this country.
SEIU and their socialist fellow travelers, illegal immigrants, want this state and country to become another socialist paradise. Just read the comments in the article. Sneaking into this country is like a burglar breaking into your house. The burglar just wants what you have because you have too much and you have enough to go around.
Well, many here have had enough of this and demand that our laws be enforced and illegals need to stay home or go home and fix up their own houses and countries.
Sgt. Celli:
Did you guys really have to harass the Paletero man at the otherwise peaceful May 1st march?
Let me tell you who wants illegal immigrants in this country to be left alone…BUSINESS.
Yep, republican, conservative businesses — from farmers to retailers to corporations who want lower prices for janitorial contracts — is the reason immigrants aren’t chased out of this country by the racists. It’s quite a conflict for many of the wealthy who are racists and elitists, but who are also interested in saving or making a buck.
This is why no money is available to police the borders and why we don’t have a coherent policy on immigration. It’s BUSINESS; not unions, not liberals, not Tea Party haters…it’s money poured into the campaigns of politicians by businesses…
Try this in Mexico…
Was this a mardh for worker’s rights or a march in support of letting illegal immigrants remain in the U.S. free of consequence? Guess what, it’s illegal to cross our border without permission and the proper documentation. Why? To protect this country, it’s culture, it’s citizens and it’s borders. This march was just another political statement to draw attention to the “inequity” of the illegal immigrant compared to the either natural born or naturalized citizen. And carrying the Mexian flag in the march, OMG only in America. If you hate it so much here, please leave. You crossed over illegally, you can cross back whenever you want. If you believe that you should be rewarded for breaking the law of this country, please leave. If you believe that enforcement of our laws is racial discrimination, then it proves the point that you have no idea of what this country is based on, laws, and please leave.
And to Dine, it isn’t a crime to try and achieve a better life for you or your family in general, but the way you go about it may in fact be a crime, i.e. crossing a border illegally, or taking property that may not be yours for example.
Have we gotten so politically correct that a crime is no longer a crime and not worthy of a consequence? Not in my opinion, if you don’t want to suffer the punishment, don’t do the crime. Every person who crosses our border illegally does so knowing that they are committing a crime and that they may suffer a consequence, deportation and criminal conviction. There is a good reason countries require a process to immigrate into, security and integration are just a few. Illegal immigration has more negative impacts then positive and costs our country millions in both education and healthcare. Lets all apply a little more common sense and a little less “politics” or we will all suffer the negative consequences.
A sad day for legal immigrants.
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-seals-mexican-immigrant/
Keep screaming and waving your mexican flag. The more you do that the more you tick off the regular joe. Too many AMERICANS are out of work to be worrying about a bunch of ILLEGALS.
Wait, 1000 march for workers rights, but the number of illegals deported were on their minds? What? So, technically, this was a immigrant march and not a worker rights march. And then complain that there were less than expected? People have lives, and maybe people are finally getting the picture. HOW disrespectful to fly the Mexican Flag here. Oh, but it’s ok right, because they are from Mexico or have allegence to them…THEN GO BACK THERE. Really people, WAKE UP.
I’m so tired of the idiocracy of some of the people here. Look at our country, our dollar is cheap, we have unemployment, but we have to cater to the illegals.
If your marching for Worker Rights, don’t intermix illegal immigrants issues with it, and claim it to be an IMMIGRANT issue. And don’t complain because “ICE” is doing their job. I bet if you need the police and they decided ‘well, I don’t feel like really responding to this call because, people don’t like us anyways’, you’d be the first one on the bandwagon and start being sue happy because the police didn’t do their job. You want anarchy, then fine, when it comes…DEAL WITH IT!
If America is such a racist hellhole, why don’t these paragons of purity and respect for law hightail it back to Mexico?
Oh, that’s right. They were effectively deported by their oligarchical govt. to reconquer the American southwest.
How do Americans typically respond to aggressive invasions?
12/7/1941 springs to mind…
As a cite4zen of the US, the protests are highly offensive to law abiding American. Law enforcement needs to do their job and protect us form these criminals breaking the law.