(CBS) HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. Students from Huntington Park
staged a walkout Friday to protest an immigration bill before Congress that
would strengthen enforcement of immigration laws, California authorities
said.
Friday’s march comes a day
before a larger rally planned in L.A. tomorrow, when immigrant-rights groups
will gather to protest the legislation of HR 4427.
Ellen Morgan of the Los Angeles Unified School District said
roughly 500 students walked out of school and split into two groups.
Some 300 students walked toward two
other high schools in the area, she said.
HR 4427, which would "amend the Immigration and Nationality
Act to strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws, to enhance border
security and for other purposes," according to its sponsors.
Opponents of the measure have called
it racist and said it would penalize legal immigrants for associating with
"illegals."
Immigrants have the
support of President Bush, who on Thursday urged lawmakers to avoid pitting
groups against each other.
“When
we discuss this debate, it must be done in a civil way,” Bush said after he,
Vice President Dick Cheney and top strategist Karl Rove met with groups allied
with him in the debate. “It must be done in a way that brings dignity to the
process. It must be done in a way that doesn’t pit people against another.”
But Bush and the leader of his party
in the Senate are starting out with different ideas about the best way to
address the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country.
Bush wants Congress to create a
program to allow foreigners to gain legal status for a set amount of time to do
specific jobs. When the time is up, they would be required to return home
without an automatic path to citizenship.
Bush said his message to foreigners is: “If you are doing a
job that Americans won’t do, you’re welcome here for a period of time to do that
job.”
Immigration is a divisive
issue for the country and the Republican Party. It splits two main GOP
constituent groups—businesses and social conservatives.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., says he understands the economic concerns being expressed by
businesses, but his focus is on the main concern voiced by the social
conservatives—national security.
“The most important thing is that we keep our borders safe,
we keep America safe,” said Frist spokeswoman Amy Call. “It’s obvious there are
drugs, there are criminals coming through those borders. There are also people
from known terrorist organizations coming through those borders.”
The public appears to be more on the
side of tougher border control. Three-quarters of respondents to a Time magazine
poll in January said the United States is not doing enough to keep illegal
immigrants from entering the country. Roughly the same amount said they favor a
guest worker program for illegal immigrants, but 46 percent said those workers
should have to return first to their native countries and apply. About 50
percent favored deporting all illegal immigrants.
Frist’s bill sidesteps the question of temporary work
permits and would tighten borders, add Border Patrol agents and punish employers
who hire illegal immigrants. He has left open the possibility of replacing his
legislation with a measure being drafted by the Senate Judiciary Committee that
includes a guest worker program.
“We’ve scheduled two weeks of debate,” his spokeswoman said,
underscoring the divisiveness of the issue. “We need all two weeks.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid,
D-Nev., backed by labor unions, has said he will do all he can, including
filibuster, to thwart Frist’s legislation. So has Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton,
D-N.Y., who said legislation seeking to criminalize undocumented immigrants is
not in line with Republicans’ stated support for faith and values and “would
literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself.”
While the Senate Judiciary Committee
considers the issue Monday, Bush plans to attend a citizenship ceremony in
Washington. And more demonstrations were planned in the nation’s capital.
Tema anterior
Primer 