Monday, April 10, 2006
Pro-Immigration Rally in Greenville, S.C.
Here in Greenville, pro-immigration demonstrators are out in force downtown (having real work to do not being bankrolled by left wing foundations, I've been nowhere near the place). Not a word about the Constitution or about the rule of law. Some of those in this country legally and holding up signs denying being criminals are doubtless right; but some of those they are supporting undoubtedly are criminals.
Btw, if Hispanics are entering this country out of "economic despair," as one man says, does this not imply that NAFTA did not work, and that the "solution" to the failure of internationalism is now to import more poverty in America? Ah! NAFTA was not supposed to work, unless you are in the economic top 5 percent in either nation. Silly me!
Monday, April 10 | Upstate South Carolina News, Sports and Information
Immigration demonstrators fill City Hall plaza
Published: Monday, April 10, 2006 - 11:55 am
Last updated: Monday, April 10, 2006 - 1:30 Pm
By Claire Anderson
STAFF WRITER
canderson@greenvillenews.com
More than a thousand people are on the plaza today beside Greenville City Hall on Main Street as a show of strength and concern about how Congress deals with immigration and those who are in the United States illegally.
Jose Florez, a Colombia native and cabinet maker who has been in the United States 11 years, stood with a group holding a sign that said: “We are not criminals.”
Requel Gonik, who came with her son, said, “We came here to support the Hispanic community, not protest. We’re here to plead with the Senate to consider a change for us.”
Gonik said she married a man from Greenville and has obtained legal status. But she said it has been much more difficult for other family members.
Wilfredo Leon, who organized the demonstration, said he opposes Bill 4437 that was passed by the House of Representatives in December. The bill would make coming to the United States as an illegal immigrant a felony crime rather than a misdemeanor.
Leon said today’s demonstration is important because immigration reform will impact the 50,000 Latinos living in the Upstate.
Leon, who is Puerto Rican and settled in Greenville after visiting a friend in the area, publishes a local Hispanic newspaper called Latino Newspaper.
“You have to admire the fire in someone’s belly that makes them get up one day and go to a land where they don’t have any support,” Leon said. He said most Hispanic immigrants come to the U.S. out of economic despair.
David Rutledge and his wife, Debbie, came to the demonstration to express their support for immigrant rights.
“I believe that immigrants are human beings and should have the same rights as everyone else,” said Rutledge, a Greenville lawyer who handles some immigration cases.
Btw, if Hispanics are entering this country out of "economic despair," as one man says, does this not imply that NAFTA did not work, and that the "solution" to the failure of internationalism is now to import more poverty in America? Ah! NAFTA was not supposed to work, unless you are in the economic top 5 percent in either nation. Silly me!
Monday, April 10 | Upstate South Carolina News, Sports and Information
Immigration demonstrators fill City Hall plaza
Published: Monday, April 10, 2006 - 11:55 am
Last updated: Monday, April 10, 2006 - 1:30 Pm
By Claire Anderson
STAFF WRITER
canderson@greenvillenews.com
More than a thousand people are on the plaza today beside Greenville City Hall on Main Street as a show of strength and concern about how Congress deals with immigration and those who are in the United States illegally.
Jose Florez, a Colombia native and cabinet maker who has been in the United States 11 years, stood with a group holding a sign that said: “We are not criminals.”
Requel Gonik, who came with her son, said, “We came here to support the Hispanic community, not protest. We’re here to plead with the Senate to consider a change for us.”
Gonik said she married a man from Greenville and has obtained legal status. But she said it has been much more difficult for other family members.
Wilfredo Leon, who organized the demonstration, said he opposes Bill 4437 that was passed by the House of Representatives in December. The bill would make coming to the United States as an illegal immigrant a felony crime rather than a misdemeanor.
Leon said today’s demonstration is important because immigration reform will impact the 50,000 Latinos living in the Upstate.
Leon, who is Puerto Rican and settled in Greenville after visiting a friend in the area, publishes a local Hispanic newspaper called Latino Newspaper.
“You have to admire the fire in someone’s belly that makes them get up one day and go to a land where they don’t have any support,” Leon said. He said most Hispanic immigrants come to the U.S. out of economic despair.
David Rutledge and his wife, Debbie, came to the demonstration to express their support for immigrant rights.
“I believe that immigrants are human beings and should have the same rights as everyone else,” said Rutledge, a Greenville lawyer who handles some immigration cases.
