Hollister
– Hundreds of people rallied in downtown Hollister Monday as
part of a nationwide work and school boycott calling for immigrant
workers, students and their families to stay home and not spend
money in an effort to demonstrate their economic power.
Hollister – Hundreds of people rallied in downtown Hollister Monday as part of a nationwide work and school boycott calling for immigrant workers, students and their families to stay home and not spend money in an effort to demonstrate their economic power.
About 200 people – mostly Hispanic, including immigrants, both legal and illegal, and students – gathered on the corner of Fourth and San Benito streets chanting “Si se puede (yes we can)” and holding signs calling for “Justice and dignity for all U.S. immigrants.” Demonstrators waved both American flags – some upside down – and Mexican flags. Many motorists honked their horns as they passed the demonstration.
“We’re here to express that we’re not terrorists. We come to work. We’re important,” said Leonor, who was among the demonstrators. She declined to give her last name.
While some commercial businesses were closed in Hollister – including Hollister Super Market and some local Mexican food restaurants – the boycott mostly affected agriculture businesses in San Benito county where almost 48 percent of residents are Hispanic according to the 2000 Census.
Labor contractor Jose Rodriguez of R&R Labor said that 95 percent of his employees didn’t show up to work Monday. Rodriguez said that most of the employees that took the day off gave him notice, so it didn’t come as a shock. Rodriguez wasn’t sure how much the lost workday would cost his businesses, but there would be an effect on his bottom line, he said.
Earthbound Farm, the county’s largest employer closed its plant on Monday and had workers come in on Sunday instead. Phone calls made to numerous local farms on Monday went unanswered, an indication that they may have closed for the boycott as well.
Neither San Benito County nor the City of Hollister had above-average absence rates among employees, officials at the respective agencies said.
Approximately 18 percent of San Benito High School’s 2,606 students were absent on Monday, according to Superintendent Jean Burns Slaters. The school lost $33.60 in state funding for each student not in class – a total of $9,643. The school typically has an attendance rate of about 94 percent, Slater said.
“We know that the community was encouraging kids to stay in school, and we had hoped that they would attend,” Slater said.
The boycott comes on the heels of nationwide demonstrations calling for immigration reform that allows foreign workers to work legally in the U.S. and gives those already in the country illegally a path to citizenship. Hundreds of thousands of people walked off work and took the streets nationwide yesterday. Last month, hundreds of supporters of amnesty for illegal immigrants marched through downtown Hollister. In March, students from San Benito High School and Anzar High School held separate demonstrations also.
A sweeping immigration bill was gridlocked as lawmakers left Capitol Hill last month for Easter break. The stalled bill would provide for stronger border security, regulate future entry of foreign workers and create a complex new set of regulations for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally. Also under the proposal, an estimated 9 million illegal immigrants – those who could prove they have been in the U.S. for more than two years – would eventually become eligible for citizenship. Senate Majority leader Bill Frist said he hopes to revive the bill and have immigration legislation passed by Memorial Day. The Senate is anticipated to begin debating the legislation again this week.
Among those gathered on the corner of San Benito and Fourth streets Monday, some demanded for amnesty for illegal immigrants in the U.S. while others called for a guest worker program that would allow people to cross the border and work legally.
Roberto, who crosses the U.S./Mexico border illegally to work the fields, said he believes the U.S should create a guest worker program.
“It’s a necessity to work in the U.S., that’s why we’re here,” he said through an interpreter.
Jaime, a construction worker who came to the U.S. from Mexico 15 years ago, said he was participating in the boycott and rally because he doesn’t agree with proposed laws that would make undocumented immigrants criminals. He said that he lived in the U.S. for six years before he got his green card, allowing him to work in the country legally.
A anti-amnesty demonstration organized by Hollister resident Henry Sumaya had a meager turnout. Sumaya and a handful of family members gathered across from the immigrant rally and listened to patriotic marching band music for about an hour before packing it in for the day. Sumaya, who said his parents immigrated from Mexico legally, said he opposed amnesty, but believes that there needs to be a guest worker program.
“We’re against amnesty and illegals, that’s it,’ he said.
Elizabeth Reynaga, a 14-year-old SBHS student, turned out for the pro-immigrant rally because she is worried about what might happen to family members in the U.S. Illegally.
“I want to help my people,” she said. “I have a lot of family that don’t have papers. I don’t want them taken away.”
A second demonstration, this one organized by the local League of United Latin American Citizens, started up Saturday evening on the corner of Fourth and San Benito streets.
Associated Press Contributed to this report.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
