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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Thousands Protest Despite LA School Lockdown : Immigration Reform Demonstrations Continue Thousands Protest Despite LA School Lockdown Immigration Reform Demonstrations Continue POSTED: 6:57 am PST March 28, 2006 UPDATED: 11:52 am PST March 28, 2006 LOS ANGELES -- At least 6,000 Los Angeles area students joined street protests Tuesday against possible immigration reforms. Police herded students off an access road leading to the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro on Tuesday. Student marches were also staged Tuesday morning in Bellflower and Compton. NBC4 reported that students from about 20 schools walked out on Tuesday. Despite rain and a lockdown in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a group of about 200 students massed near 223rd Street in the Harbor Gateway area in San Pedro and started walking south on Avalon Boulevard shortly after 8 a.m. A separate group of students in San Pedro tried to get onto the Vincent Thomas Bridge, but police stopped them and turned them around, detaining a few. In the San Fernando Valley, students reportedly walked out of Birmingham High School. Los Angeles Unified campuses were locked down to prevent walkouts on Tuesday, but the immigration bill that sparked two days of protests was scheduled to be a topic of classroom discussion, officials said. March 25 Images: 500,000 Protest March 24 Images: Students Protest More than 36,000 students from 26 school districts throughout Los Angeles County skipped classes on Monday and marched through streets and on freeways to protest the immigration bill being debated by the U.S. Senate. About 1,000 students rallied for much of the day at Los Angeles City Hall, with several representatives meeting privately with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor later spoke to the students, saying their voices were being heard, but urging them to return to class. Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton said Monday's rainy forecast would also likely prevent any more mass walkouts by students. LAUSD officials said middle and high school classes throughout the district would have classroom discussions on Tuesday about a bill introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., which would crack down on employers hiring illegal workers and people smuggling illegal immigrants into the country. "We will have in-class teachings for students so that they can have conversations to deal with this issue in a very productive way," said Rowena Lagrosa, executive officer of educational services for the district. "We are being proactive so that those students will show up for school tomorrow." The class discussions will also address freedom of speech, civil protests and events in U.S. history that have involved public protests, according to a district statement. In addition to the lockdown, police presence will be beefed up on LAUSD campuses, district officials said. Students who took part in the mass demonstration on Monday and last Friday could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from cebtain school-sponsored functions, Lagrosa said. The LAPD was placed on citywide tactical alert during Monday's protest, which led to five arrests during a demonstration at Van Nuys City Hall, LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon said. Some students also snarled traffic when they marched on the Harbor (110) and Hollywood (101) freeways in downtown Los Angeles. Other students were reported marching on freeways in San Pedro and Orange County. "We may be illegal immigrants, but we are human," Metropolitan High School senior Melania Preciado said at City Hall as she waved a Mexican flag. "We deserve the same rights as everyone else, not be treated like criminals." The Sensenbrenner bill, HR 4437, would require employers to verify Social Security numbers with the Department of Homeland Security, increase penalities for immigrant smuggling and stiffen penalities for undocumented immigrants who reenter the United States after having been removed. Under the bill, approved last December by the House of Representatives, local law enforcement agencies would be reimbursed for detaining illegal immigrants. Refugees with aggravated felony convictions would also be barred from receiving green cards. The U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee softened the immigration reform bill on Monday by voting to create a path for some of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens without first leaving the country. Under the version voted on by the committee, additional foreign workers would be allowed to enter the United States temporarily under a program that also could lead to citizenship. Additionally, the committee adopted an amendment by Sen Richard Durbin, D- Ill., that would protect charitable organizations and churches from criminal charges for providing aid to illegal immigrants. The bill will now move to the Senate floor, where an intensive debate likely to find Republicans fighting each other is expected to begin this week.
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#17. To: Mind_Virus (#0)
Drudge kept harping on his radio show last Sunday that the "big protest" is slated for either April 10th or 11th. I can't remember which day but can hardly wait.
They have to get it out of the way before Cinco de Mayo.
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