Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-05-02 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Protesters lamented a deepening economic crisis and tougher restrictions on illegal immigrants as they rallied in Washington on Thursday to protest local and federal immigration crackdowns and to seek an easier path to legal status.

Carrying signs saying “No human is illegal” in Spanish and other slogans, protesters said legal and illegal immigrants are reeling from an economy with fewer jobs and an enforcement climate in which illegal residents feel much more likely to be deported than a year ago.

“We are under this economic crisis, we are losing jobs, we are losing properties, we are losing incomes and on the other side, we are being prosecuted by local police and federal raids and deportations,” said Ricardo Juarez, coordinator of the Virginia group Mexicans without Borders.

Prince William County jail officers have processed more than 700 illegal immigrants for potential deportation in a policy that took effect in July, and two federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in March and April on Virginia businesses have produced a new feeling of urgency.

About 40 people protested at a rally outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters, and 20 at the Republican National Committee offices Thursday, claiming neither party was doing enough to improve their situation and win their votes.

Several hundred rallied at Malcolm X Park later in the afternoon, part of a nationwide effort for May Day, a day that celebrates workers’ rights.

Turnout has dropped since the first nationwide rallies in 2006, when more than 1 million people protested for illegal-immigrant rights.

That is partly because immigrant groups have been overwhelmed by requests for help handling deportation orders and outreach, said organizer Ruth Castel Branco of D.C. Jobs With Justice.

Illegal-immigration critics say the protest likely will have little effect.

“We agree things are getting more difficult for illegal aliens to participate in the region, because of the economy and the tighter ICE checks,” said Brad Botwin, a founder of the Capital Area Alliance Against Illegal Immigration. “That’s the idea. It’s called enforcing the law.”

But protester Vicente Rodriguez, of San Diego, said immigrants are being “terrorized.” He said families with illegal immigrants must now consider separation an imminent possibility.

“What can you say to a child who doesn’t know if daddy is coming home from work?” Rodriguez said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com