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Immigrants Protest New Laws

Aired May 01, 2006 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.
A nation of immigrants faces a day without them. From coast to coast, immigrants, legal and illegal, are staging a boycott. No work, no school, no shopping. Their way of saying no to tougher immigration proposals while flexing their economic muscle.

We've got extensive live coverage of this Day Without Immigrants starting with New York City, and our senior correspondent, Allan Chernoff, is there.

Set the scene for us, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, about 20 minutes ago we had a long line here of people extending for several blocks, people from all walks of life: garment workers, students, some illegal immigrants as well, holding up sign in favor of immigrant rights. They came together here at Chinatown in two different locations.

Altogether, we're estimating probably between 400 and 500 people. Some people, in fact, who were involved said the turnout was a little bit disappointing frankly.

But within New York City there are about nine different location where rallies did take place. And later this afternoon at Union Square there's going to be one larger mass rally.

We're joined now by one of the participants, Anthony Ng (ph).

Anthony, tell me, why did you come out today?

ANTHONY NG, PROTESTER: I came out just to lend support to what's happening here. You know, I think the bill that the House passed is terrible. I'm an immigrant and my family is immigrants. And this is to show support that immigrants are part of this country.

CHERNOFF: The bill that would actually make it a felony for illegal immigrants to be here in the country?

NG: Yes. The House bill is a poor bill, yes. That's the bill that I'm, you know, against. And I think we need to pass -- we need fair immigration reform. We need to be able to have families being reunited. Immigrants are part of America.

CHERNOFF: Anthony, some of the signs that we saw here during the rally actually said "no deportation." Do you think there's lots of worry within the immigrant community right now? NG: Probably some because of some of these measures that some people are talking about in the House. As I understand it's more like enforcement only. And, you know, some punitive measurements. I think people are afraid of some of these things.

CHERTOFF: Anthony Ng, thanks for joining us this afternoon.

So Kyra, here in New York City, in Chinatown, certainly, we did somewhat of a turnout for this first rally of the day. More rallies coming.

But in terms of boycotts, that is not happening here in Chinatown. Of course, in other parts of the country. But here, business as usual. As you can see, the stores open, the restaurants open. Many people just walking up the street, certainly spending their money here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Allan Chernoff, thanks so much.

It's a banner day in Milwaukee: banners, flags, signs by the hundreds as thousands of people march from a heavily Latino area to Veterans' Park. One of the banners reads, "Open the Doors to Citizens." Live pictures right now via one of our affiliates, WITI, right there in Milwaukee.

We'll continue to follow, of course, all the live coverage in the protest from Milwaukee to New York to all across the country.

Let's go ahead and get to Chicago now where also we're seeing another huge rally. It's taking place. Our Keith Oppenheim is right there in the middle of it -- Keith.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

And it is so packed here where I'm at, at Grant Park in -- excuse me, Union Park in Chicago. This crowd in making its way to Grant Park. That's going to be about a three-mile march that all of these folks are going to take.

And you can see that it's really a sea of American and largely Mexican flags. And while there are other immigrant -- immigrant groups here representing nations from Asia and also Europe here, this is largely Hispanic crowd with flags from Mexico and the U.S. represented.

Now, keep in mind that it was on March 10 that there was a fairly quickly organized rally that drew 100,000 protesters, people standing for immigration rights. The question is, exactly how large will this rally be here today? It's been estimated that it could be between 300,000 to 500,000. With rain looming it's really too soon for me to know, at least, yet how big this is going to be today.

But it certainly is a dramatic show of unity so far. And the police have been telling us that it's been very, very calm so far. Police have not worn riot gear. They have been working with community groups ahead of time to work out a plan to organize this event, and so far seems to be going smoothly.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Keith, just a little side note. I don't know how much you've had a chance to talk about this with we are reading from you and a number of your producers about this same day, May 1, 1886, of course, not your time. You didn't experience this. But there were the Haymarket Riots in Chicago. Another huge movement with regard to the U.S. labor force.

OPPENHEIM: That's right. And you are correct that the Haymarket Riots were before my time. But having said that, eight police officers died during the Haymarket Riots. I believe it was 1886. And it was that union and labor event that really made May 1 a labor oriented day internationally.

We're getting -- I've been hearing from my producer, actually, that the current estimate of the crowd is 100,000. And that is flowing from this area, from Union Park to Grant Park. The question is whether or not more people will come into the destination area, into Grant Park, where they gather for some speeches by a number of dignitaries and leaders.

By the way, this march got started about 45 minutes early. And I think the reason for that happening, Kyra, is because there are just so many people gathered in this spot right here that they kind of had to relieve the pressure and get folks to move down the street, down -- down their way to Grant Park.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Keith Oppenheim, we'll continue to check in with you, of course, throughout the day. Thanks, Keith.

And you're getting a look now at Atlanta, Georgia. Big crowds as we can see via these live pictures that we've got through our affiliate, WSB. They're converging on Georgia's capital there. It's actually just a few blocks away from the CNN Center here.

Elsewhere, stores, stands, food courts, they've all been shut down at the Plaza Fiesta. It's all in a show of support for all the demonstrators across the country today.

And with the battle raging on Capitol Hill over illegal immigrants entering the U.S., we take a look at those immigrants who come to this country legally. Here's the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): The Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS, estimates there were 11.6 million legal permanent residents, or immigrants, in the U.S. in 2004.

Mexico has sent the most legal immigrants to the U.S. since the latter half of the 20th Century. More than 175,000 Mexicans were admitted in 2004. The number of legal immigrants arriving in the U.S. varies from year to year. In 2004, the total was just more than 946,000.

There are several ways to become what INS calls a legal permanent resident. A foreigner who marries a U.S. citizen may apply for a permanent resident visa, commonly known as a green card. The green card allows an immigrant to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely.

Other ways of obtaining a green card, including being sponsored by an employer or a close family member living in the U.S. INS also conducts a lottery every year, awarding 50,000 green cards to immigrants selected randomly from a computerized drawing.

Another fact to consider, refugees seeking political asylum. Once qualified they face another daunting hurdle. A backlog due to the sheer volume of those eligible to immigrate. At the end of 2003, there were more than five million immigrant petitions pending.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And of course, we want to hear from you. How is this Day Without Immigrants affecting you? Is it affecting you at all? E- mail us. The address is Livefrom@CNN.com. We'll read your responses throughout the afternoon right here on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now out of Chicago, Illinois, where you're seeing the marchers converging all across the country today. On the streets here of Chicago, as our Keith Oppenheim was telling us, quite a multicultural march. Activists had asked demonstrators to bring out the stars and stripe in support of the U.S. But also you'll see flags from Mexico, Puerto Rico and dozens of other countries.

We're also watching the live rallies in Houston, Texas. Those there looking for pretty Texas-sided turnout.

Reggie Aqui is in CNN affiliate KHOU is there. Reggie, give us a feel for what it's like.

REGGIE AQUI, KHOU CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

There are several thousand people here at Memorial Park, which is a park just near downtown Houston. But judging by the light traffic here in Houston and number of businesses closed, it's a pretty safe belt that for every person here, there are many more sitting at home who are not carrying flags, who aren't wearing the T-shirts but are really doing nothing. And for many of them, that's the whole point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AQUI (voice-over): Some one's missing; some things closed. And for one day, someplace has a lot of elbow room. On a typical Monday this Houston fast food parking normally sees a few dozen laborers hoping for work. But today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe ten, ten people.

AQUI: It's almost eerily quiet.

Same story down the street, where Mary Mancia (ph) showed up to work at Madam Oro's (ph) meat market.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make the rent (ph) money.

AQUI: But half of her fellow employees decided to stay home. No big deal really. Their boss let them, and to be honest, today there's not much of a rush for breakfast tacos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I no have customer.

AQUI: On this so-called Day Without Immigrants, the point isn't so much the show we see but the show we don't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just to basically make a statement in a peaceful manner to show the impact that not only Hispanics but other illegal immigrants, the impact that we have on the economy in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AQUI: And the other point of all this is to get people involved politically. Because that, they say, is the lasting impact.

This is where they're signing up people to register to vote. I just talked to this gentlemen a few minutes ago, and he tells me that you're in the military, you've been living in Houston for decades and this is the first time you're ever going to vote.

So obviously, Kyra, there is something here that is being done right now where immigrants and people who are families of immigrants can say that they have made a difference.

PHILLIPS: Reggie Aqui, WHOU, our affiliated there in Houston Texas. Reggie, thank you so much.

And for Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Phoenix, Arizona, days without immigrants are pretty well nonexistent until today. Joining me now is Albuquerque mayor, Martin Chavez, and on the phone, Phoenix mayor, Phil Gordon. Great to have you both.

Mayor Chavez, let's start with you. Set the scene for us there in your city and tell us what's taking place.

MARTIN CHAVEZ, MAYOR OF ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: Well, we're early in the day. There really isn't much indication of meaningful boycott activity, although we do expect thousands in the late afternoon for rallies, and we have a strong history there.

We've been dealing with consequences of the lack of federal immigration policy for decades at the municipal level, and that's one thing I hope would come out of this. At least folks in Washington would be listening and get us some meaningful immigration form. PHILLIPS: Well, Mayor, what are you doing? What are you pushing? What's your solution? And what are you telling Washington?

CHAVEZ: Well, I think it has to be thoughtful. I'm not a big fan of the boycott talk. I'm not a big fan of foreign flags being flown. But it has to be done in an intelligent, thoughtful way. Decide rationally those who are here illegally, who goes back, who stays. Certainly some are going to have to stay. Our economy could not afford that type of hit.

But it has to be done in a nonpartisan fashion. And I think they're up to it. And I think the time is now.

PHILLIPS: Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. Mayor Gordon, tell me about Phoenix, Arizona. Can you sort of set the scene and tell us what's taking place right now in your city?

PHIL GORDON, MAYOR OF PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Thank you, Kyra.

Yes, not much different than what Mayor Chavez was talking about. Very quiet. People that are out, not a lot of numbers. But very peaceful. Police are well-organized to make sure that we continue to maintain order and peace in the city of Phoenix as we've done on a major march last -- two weeks ago.

And like Mayor Chavez, you know, I say the same thing. This is and has to be solved in the Washington, D.C., halls of Congress. It's got to be solved now. To me, it's -- no simple answers and rhetoric can solve one of the most complicated issues that has occurred in this country in decades.

PHILLIPS: So Mayor Gordon, how do you convince those politicians to listen and do something when so many -- when you take a look at the illegal immigrants, for example, they don't vote. So why should the politicians pay attention to what illegal immigrants are trying to say today?

GORDON: What I have said to our elected officials, and continue to say, is as a mayor of the fifth largest city in the United States, is this country and this city is frustrated. We've been able to maintain peace and order so far, but people want a solution.

Most people in this United -- in the country know that it has to be solved comprehensively in D.C. That's a workable, strong border policy that has a new immigration legal policy and a workable guest worker program. And it has to be done now.

So I'm targeting that message specifically, saying doing it now, asking our population, our residents to calk, to write, to get involved and if need be, go to D.C. with me to say do it now.

PHILLIPS: Mayor Chavez, can you get -- give me a guess as to how many illegal immigrants you have in your city and the type of impacts that illegal immigrants have on your city and if you are concerned today about an economic hit? CHAVEZ: Well, Kyra, it's a guesstimate at best, but I would say it's in the tens of thousands. Certainly in the blue collar industry, roofers, stucco, plaster, type of work, frankly a lot of the work that you wouldn't see Americans doing otherwise. And it would be a hit to our economy.

The bottom line is, and I have a governor, Bill Richardson, who's taking a lot of heat saying we need strong borders. And I agree with him. The vast majority of those coming here, legally and illegally, are very peaceful, hardworking individuals. There's a small minority that create problems with crime, drug activity. And we need to have secure borders to defend against that.

But we have to deal with it rationally, thoughtfully, on a national level so that we decide, what happens with those that are here? Because there's no way we could physically send all of them back. We just don't have that capacity.

PHILLIPS: Mayor Gordon, can you give me a number, possibly, of illegal immigrant in your city and what kind of impact they make on your city? And are you concerned about today? And what kind of hits do you think you'll take?

GORDON: Well, the Hispanic population, legal and illegal, is probably in the 40 percent range. I don't have any estimate as to who's documented and who isn't.

The issue today, I think, is, again, another notice to the Washington, D.C., elected officials that this isn't going away, and rhetoric isn't going to solve the issue.

I think businesses are going to be hurt. Any type of boycott is hurting small businesses and hurting a lot of individuals that are trying to stand up for everyone's rights.

But I do believe that rather than a boycott, we should be engaging the individuals that want this solution solved and targeting it to Washington, D.C.

You know, it's pretty simple, again, to me. You've got the president of the United States. You have Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy's bill, that they all agree upon some similar version of. Let's get that passed and then local government can continue to enforce the laws that were designed to enforce. Go after the violent smugglers. Go after those that are committing violent crimes. And let the federal government do their job, which is the immigration work.

PHILLIPS: Mayor, that's interesting you say you see this as a simple solution. Mayor Chavez, I don't know if there's anything simple in what we're seeing today and the issue at hand.

CHAVEZ: Well, once you have a good immigration policy, then it's all about enforcement. And this is something that the feds have been unwilling to do. And it starts at the workplace. You have to go after the employers who knowingly employ those who are here illegally. To me that part isn't that simple. It's a matter of political will. But they have to have the framework. It has to be in the context of a good federal policy and immigration.

PHILLIPS: Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, I know both of you are going to have busy days today. Gentlemen, thanks for your time.

GORDON: Thank you.

CHAVEZ: Thank.

PHILLIPS: Coming up on LIVE FROM, a trip on the devil's highway. A true and tragic story of a group of abandoned border crossers. We're going to talk with the author right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures once again. Oh, we've got three live pictures. What are these, guys? Are they all Chicago? All right. Chicago, Chicago, Chicago. People gathering in Union Park, just west of downtown. Planning to march into Grant Park in downtown. Organizers actually estimating between 300,000 and 500,000 people will show up for the various rallies that are all coming together. Should make it one of the city's largest demonstrations.

Chicago police also told CNN that they worked with those organizers of this rally to be sure that it remains peaceful. So far, so good. They don't plan to wear riot gear while securing the rally points.

And our Keith Oppenheim even said it's quite a diverse rally. You're seeing flags from the United States, Mexico, other countries. And it has remained quite peaceful to this point.

We're monitoring that rally and, of course, all other rallies around the country: New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Denver, Atlanta. You name it.

And CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider, she's keeping a close watch on all those states. And pretty much, it's been beautiful around the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Bonnie, thanks.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Immigrants across the country are boycotting businesses today, but how are those protests affecting the economy? Susan Lisovicz, live from the New York Stock Exchange with some answers.

Susan, you and I were talking about this weeks ago. You really couldn't see an affect, but we weren't seeing a boycott like today and all the people involved from various states. Are you able to tell anything to this point?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's obviously very hard. I mean, most economists will tell you that it's impossible to gauge numbers when you see a protest like that.

But, if you look at the pictures that we've been showing all day, Kyra, whether it's Chicago, which we just saw, or New York City or New Orleans or Las Vegas you can see this -- or in Los Angeles, you can understand that what you will absolutely definitely see is an interruption of service.

Today's protests are shutting down many local businesses, for instance, along march routes and heavy immigrant areas. Companies that rely on immigrant workers are getting by with skeleton crews or shutting down altogether.

But Kyra, it's not just limited to small businesses. There are big businesses that are closing down today. They include Perdue Farms, which is closing six out of 14 plants. Tyson Foods, which is the world's biggest meat producer, closing five out of nine beef plants and four out of six pork plants. And Gallo Wines in Northern California, it's giving 150 employees the day off.

Also, perhaps an interruption in deliveries, for instance. Many warehouse workers who unload or sort deliveries may walk off the job today. And that may halt deliveries and have a ripple effect on ports -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Talking about specific businesses. And we've been talking about specific states. So is this more of a discussion of, OK, we might be able to see the impacts on states that have large Hispanic communities versus an impact on the national economy?

LISOVICZ: Well, you know, it almost doesn't matter whether you're talking local or national, Kyra, because it's only one day. This is not like, say, Hurricane Katrina, where ports were shut down, businesses were shut down, some -- some which have yet to reopen.

Or even the New York city transit strike. Here in New York City, for instance, which -- I mean, some of that business, that lost business over the holidays, could never be recouped. This is only one day. The protesters say it's one day. And we know that shoppers, for instance, who may be withholding purchases today, will probably make those purchases tomorrow.

And you know, and not only that, within the immigrant community, it's not a done deal. There's a lot of debate as to the boycott merits, because not working or spending money could alienate some business leaders. Cutting classes, for instance, could offend education advocates. I mean, taking kids out of classes. I mean, that's not something that everyone favors, obviously.

So it's probably not something or most likely something that will not affect the huge U.S. economy overall.

PHILLIPS: All right. So let's talk about the big employers of immigrants then. And specifically, what segments of the economy will and could be affected the most?

LISOVICZ: Well, it's quite predictable, Kyra. Restaurants, whether it's in front serving you or in the back washing dishes. Line order cooks. Construction, construction crews, farms. All big employers of immigrants.

But here's something that you may not know. You know, whether it's businesses -- the biggest employer of day laborers are people like you and me, for instance. Private homeowners are by far the biggest employers of day laborers, 49 percent.

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