Sep 01 2006
On the ground in Maywood CA
I found this article very interesting. The columnist, Bridget Johnson was on the ground in Maywood where the immigration rallies resulted in a Mexican Flag being hoisted over a US Post Office.
The imimgrant rights supporters have constantly used the race card in this debate, but as this report shows, the race card has two sides.
Something’s wrong with immigration protests
BY BRIDGET JOHNSON, Columnist
THE city of Maywood - a 1.2-square-mile town with an official population of just over 28,000 about eight miles south of downtown Los Angeles - is a pocket for illegal immigrants, lauded by immigrant advocates and decried by detractors. In this 96 percent Hispanic town, signs advising pedestrians to use crosswalks are printed in Spanish and English, and many storefronts’ signs are in Spanish as well. The last census says 55 percent of residents are foreign-born, and 92 percent speak a language other than English at home.
Earlier this year, the Maywood City Council passed a resolution opposing the Sensenbrenner immigration bill after it passed in the House, and the town was designated the first "sanctuary city" in the state. The city also nixed police checkpoints so as not to net illegal immigrants without driver’s licenses, and disbanded its traffic division for the same reason.
That explains the reason that Save our State decided to protest there.
On Saturday, Save Our State showed up to protest that policy in front of Maywood City Hall, numbering several dozen with "Don’t tread on me" and American flags. "Not anti-Hispanic, anti-illegal alien," read one sign; "Maywood is part of the U.S. and its elected officials need to act accordingly," read another. One man held a small sign that read "traitors," and the group was fronted by a banner championing Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo for president. ("Tancredo? Who’s that?" a confused counter-demonstrator asked me.)
Heh. FWIW I think Trancredo has gone overboard a bit, but I will blog that another day.



