Jubilant marchers grab nation's attention

LOS ANGELES — More than 1 million mostly Hispanic immigrants and their supporters skipped work and school and took to the streets Monday, flexing their economic muscle in a nationwide boycott that succeeded in slowing or shutting many farms, factories, markets and restaurants.

From Los Angeles to Chicago, Houston to Miami, the "Day Without Immigrants" attracted widespread participation despite divisions among activists over whether a boycott would send the right message to Congress considering an overhaul of immigration laws.

"We are the backbone of what America is, legal or illegal, it doesn't matter," said Melanie Lugo, who with her husband and their third-grade daughter joined a rally of about 75,000 in Denver. "We butter each other's bread. They need us as much as we need them."

In Los Angeles, an estimated 250,000 demonstrated at City Hall in the morning and 400,000 gathered at the La Brea Tar Pits in the afternoon, according to police and the mayor's office.

Police in Chicago estimated 400,000 people marched through the downtown business district.

Tens of thousands more marched in New York, along with about 15,000 in Houston, 50,000 in San Jose, Calif., and 30,000 more across Florida. Smaller rallies in cities from Pennsylvania and Connecticut to Arizona and South Dakota attracted hundreds.

In all, police departments in more than two dozen U.S. cities contacted by The Associated Press gave crowd estimates that totaled about 1.1 million marchers.

The mood was jubilant. Marchers standing shoulder to shoulder filmed themselves on video cameras, and families sang and chanted and danced in the streets wearing American flags as capes and bandanas. In most cities, those who rallied wore white to signify peace and solidarity.

In Los Angeles, the city streets were a carpet of undulating white that stretched for several miles. Marchers holding U.S. flags aloft sang the national anthem in English as traditional Mexican dancers wove through the crowd.

In Chicago, immigrants from Ireland and Poland marched alongside Hispanics as office workers on lunch breaks clapped. In Phoenix, protesters formed a human chain in front of Wal-Mart and Home Depot stores. Protesters in Tijuana, Mexico, blocked vehicle traffic heading to San Diego at the world's busiest border crossing.

Many carried signs in Spanish that translated to "We are America" and "Today we march, tomorrow we vote." Others waved Mexican flags or wore hats and scarves from their native countries. Some chanted "USA" while others shouted slogans, such as "Si se puede!" Spanish for "Yes, it can be done!" Others were more irreverent, wearing T-shirts that read "I'm illegal. So what?"

The White House reacted coolly.

"The president is not a fan of boycotts," said press secretary Scott McClellan. "People have the right to peacefully express their views, but the president wants to see comprehensive reform pass the Congress so that he can sign it into law."

The boycott was organized by immigrant activists angered by federal legislation that would criminalize illegal immigrants and fortify the U.S.-Mexico border. Its goal was to raise awareness about immigrants' economic power.

Industries that rely on immigrant workers were clearly affected, though the impact was not uniform.

Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, closed about a dozen of its more than 100 plants and saw "higher-than-usual absenteeism" at others. Eight of 14 Perdue Farms chicken plants also closed for the day.

The agriculture industry saw some impact in California's Central Valley, where growers are harvesting lettuce and thinning fruit trees. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of fieldworkers elected not to go to work Monday, said Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League.

None of the 175 seasonal laborers who normally work Mike Collins' 500 acres of Vidalia onion fields in southeastern Georgia showed up.

"We need to be going wide open this time of year to get these onions out of the field," he said. "We've got orders to fill. Losing a day in this part of the season causes a tremendous amount of problems."

In the Los Angeles area, restaurants and markets were dark and truck traffic at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the nation's largest port complex — was off 90 percent, said spokeswoman Theresa Adams Lopez.

The construction and nursery industries were among the hardest hit by the work stoppage in Florida. Bill Spann, executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida said more than half the workers at construction sites in Miami-Dade County did not show up Monday.

But the effect was minimal in some places. On Manhattan's busy 14th Street, only a few shops were closed, including a tiny Latin American restaurant.

The impact on some school systems was significant. In the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, which is 73 percent Hispanic, about 72,000 middle- and high-school students were absent — roughly one in every four.

Officials from the Chicago Public Schools estimated that as many as one-third of the city's 435,000 students didn't show up for class. At Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen, where nearly all of the students are Hispanic, 17 percent of the 1,560 kids showed up, spokeswoman Ana Vargas said.

Some of the rallies drew counter-protesters, including one in Pensacola, Fla.

"You should send all of the 13 million aliens home, then you take all of the welfare recipients who are taking a free check and make them do those jobs," said Jack Culberson, a retired Army colonel who attended the Pensacola rally. "It's as simple as that."

The chief House proponent of tough measures against illegal immigrants said the boycott would help his cause.

"I couldn't be happier," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., "because every single time this kind of thing happens, the polls show that more and more Americans turn against the protesters and whatever it is they are trying to advance."

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., addressing demonstrators in Chicago, said: "To those who think we can simply close off the borders and deport, let me say this: There is no reason to fear people who have come here for the same reason as generations of Americans. They want a better future for their children."

Compiled from reports by The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Reuters