Marchers say gringos,not illegals, have to go
Activists turn tables, offer no amnesty for 'non-indigenous' on 'our continent'

WASHINGTON – While debates about guest-worker programs for illegal aliens take place in the corridors of power, in the streets of America's big cities no amnesty is being offered by activists calling for the expulsion of most U.S. citizens from their own country.

While politicians debate the fate of some 12 million people residing in the U.S. illegally, the Mexica Movement, one of the organizers of the mass protest in Los Angeles this week, has already decided it is the "non-indigenous," white, English-speaking U.S. citizens of European descent who have to leave what they call "our continent."

The pictures and captions tell the story.

"This is our continent, not yours!" exclaimed one banner.

"We are indigenous! The only owners of this continent!" said another.

"If you think I'm illegal because I'm a Mexican, learn the true history, because I'm in my homeland," read another sign.

"One of the more negative parts of the march was when American flags were passed out to make sure the marchers were looked on as part of 'America,'" said the group's commentary on the L.A. rally.

Both Rep. James Sensebrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a proponent of tougher border security, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were caricatured as Nazis by the group on its posters and banners.

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Spanish Media Organized Nationwide Mass Protests

(AP) LOS ANGELES The marching orders were clear: Carry American flags and pack the kids, pick up your trash and wear white for peace and for effect.

Many of the 500,000 people who crammed downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to protest legislation that would make criminals out of illegal immigrants learned where, when and even how to demonstrate from the Spanish-language media.

For English-speaking America, the mass protests in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities over the past few days have been surprising for their size and seeming spontaneity.

But they were organized, promoted or publicized for weeks by Spanish-language radio hosts and TV anchors as a demonstration of Hispanic pride and power.

In Milwaukee, where at least 10,000 people rallied last week, one radio station manager called some employers to ask that they not fire protesters for skipping work. In Chicago, a demonstration that drew 100,000 people received coverage on local television more than a week in advance.

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Police To Crack Down On Student Walkouts
Truants Could Face Fines, Community Service

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles law enforcement officials plan to crack down on students who leave campus Wednesday by issuing truancy citations. LA School Superintendent Roy Romer says students leaving campus will be automatically considered truant.

Truant students could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from certain school-sponsored functions. Students who are cited by law enforcement officers can face fines up to 200 dollars and 20 days of community service.

Despite school lockdowns and rainy weather, some 11,000 students from nearly two dozen Los Angeles County campuses skipped school Tuesday as immigrant-rights rallies continued, leading to some arrests.

About 8,000 students from the Los Angeles Unified School District and 3,000 students from other schools countywide took part in protests Tuesday, or at least did not show up for class, LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer said.

"It's one thing to have a spontaneous demonstration of free speech, but it's another to have continued absences," Romer said during a City Hall news conference Tuesday afternoon. "A parent has a legal obligation to have their youngsters in school."

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Mexican illegals vs. American voters
By Tony Blankley

It is lucky America has more than two centuries of mostly calm experience with self-government. We are going to need to fall back on that invaluable patrimony if the immigration debate continues as it has started this season. The Senate is attempting to legislate into the teeth of the will of the American public. The Senate Judiciary Committeemen — and probably a majority of the Senate — are convinced that they know that the American people don't know what is best for them.
National polling data could not be more emphatic — and has been so for decades. Gallup Poll (March 27) finds 80 percent of the public wants the federal government to get tougher on illegal immigration. A Quinnipiac University Poll (March 3) finds 62 percent oppose making it easier for illegals to become citizens (72 percent in that poll don't even want illegals to be permitted to have driver's licenses). Time Magazine's recent poll (Jan. 24-26) found 75 percent favor "major penalties" on employers of illegals, 70 percent believe illegals increase the likelihood of terrorism and 57 percent would use military force at the Mexican-American border.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll (March 10-13) found 59 percent opposing a guest-worker proposal, and 71 percent would more likely vote for a congressional candidate who would tighten immigration controls.
An IQ Research poll (March 10) found 92 percent saying that securing the U.S. border should be a top priority of the White House and Congress.
Yet, according to a National Journal survey of Congress, 73 percent of Republican and 77 percent of Democratic congressmen and senators say they would support guest-worker legislation.

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Border Patrol nets marijuana, suspected smugglers
FROM STAFF REPORTS

Border Patrol agents seized nearly 2,000 pounds of marijuana and arrested two smuggling suspects after stopping two vehicles traveling together on Interstate 8 west of Yuma Sunday afternoon.

The first of two vehicles, a 2004 Kia Sorento, was stopped in the Buttercup area of the Imperial Sand Dunes, about 20 miles west of Yuma, the patrol said in a news release. Agents found 928 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle.

The second vehicle, a 1992 GMC Sierra, continued west on I-8 and tried to elude agents by crossing the median and traveling west in the eastbound lane, the patrol said.

The vehicle rolled over shortly afterward when it tried to avoid a tire deflation devise agents had placed on the highway, the patrol said.

The driver was uninjured, the patrol said.

Agents seized 959 pounds from the second vehicle.

The drivers, identified as illegal aliens, were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the pot, which was valued at more than $1.5 million.

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Agents nab 67 illegal immigrants
FROM STAFF REPORTS Border Patrol agents busted three different drop houses in a trailer park in Yuma loaded with a total of 67 illegal aliens Tuesday morning, according to Border Patrol spokesman Ben Vik.

"The three trailer houses did not have electricity or running water," Vik said.

The Border Patrol did not say how agents discovered the drop houses at the trailer park on May Avenue, but Vik said the incident is currently under investigation. The patrol declined to release a more specific address for the park.

A drop house is a place where human smugglers store illegal aliens as they wait to help them out to their final destination, Vik explained.

Vik said the incident was the largest drop house bust Yuma Sector agents have seen in recent days.

Earlier this month, Yuma Sector agents found 134 illegal aliens packed into one trailer, in conditions that agents then described as hot, dirty and standing-room only.

"To smugglers, aliens are treated like commodities ... that's the way they operate," Vik said.

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Police: Underage drinking shifting to Algodones
BY BLAKE SCHMIDT, SUN STAFF WRITER

The California Highway Patrol has been handing out DUI tickets like candy to drunken drivers — many of them minors from Yuma — near the Andrade port of entry, according to CHP Sgt. Steve Henry.

"This is (a problem) that did not exist three months ago," Henry said, adding that in the last three months, El Centro CHP officers have nearly written more DUI tickets, about 200, than they did throughout all of 2005.

The majority of tickets being handed out, Henry said, are being given to party-goers heading back into the United States from Algodones on the weekends.

Henry said the "huge" increase in drunken drivers leaving Algodones is the result of a largely young and Yuman party-going population shifting from San Luis, Ariz., where police have recently cracked down on underage drinking, to the much smaller Algodones.

Along with the increase in underage drinking and DUIs has come fights at the U.S. Port of Entry at Andrade, Henry said. Last weekend, one fight involved a weapon, and in another, a Yuma teen was sent to the hospital, he said.

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State House votes $50M for border radar

By Howard Fischer

CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX — Ignoring pleas to wait for federal immigration reform, the state House of Representatives voted Tuesday to spend $50 million on a radar system to find people coming across the border illegally.

Tentative approval came over the objections of some Democrats who noted the nearly simultaneous debate going on in the U.S. Senate over changes in the laws dealing with illegal immigration. They pointed out Congress may approve far more resources to protect the border, as well as a guest-worker program that could lessen the need for people to try to enter this country illegally.

Rep. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, said far better things could be done with the money. Others were more blunt in declaring the radar a waste of taxpayer dollars.

"It's a $50 million toy," complained Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, who questioned its usefulness. And Rep. Ted Prezelski, D-Tucson, said $50 million "is an awful lot of money to be spending on a prop for a press conference."

But Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, said he has seen this kind of system at work while serving as an intelligence officer in the Army Reserve at Fort Huachuca. He said it can tell those who monitor the system what kind of vehicle is moving through the desert and can identify whether someone on foot is alone or in a group.

"And the idea that it can't determine if you're a human being or a coyote is ridiculous," he said.

The radar would be monitored by state police, National Guard troops or civilians who would report incursions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.