Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Students protest immigration bill at U. Kansas
By Kristen Jarboe
University Daily Kansan (U. Kansas)
04/11/2006

(U-WIRE) LAWRENCE, Kan. — Protesters gathered on Wescoe Beach Monday to voice concerns about the immigration bill being discussed in Congress. Students walked out of class at 11:45 a.m. to join a few Lawrence, Kan., residents in the day proclaimed a National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice.

Kim Coughlin, Lawrence senior, helped organize the event as a Community Action Committee member and was the first of nine speakers. She stood up to speak on one of the stone planters on Wescoe Beach under a tree with a sign that read "No one is illegal." Her voice rose as she continued.

"We're asking people to take action and stand in solitude of undocumented people," she said. "The so-called compromise bills are not really compromised bills.

"If you look at the language of the bills, the people are referred to as aliens and they are not fucking aliens. They see with their eyes and eat with their mouths. They're human beings."

According to an Associated Press article, provisions of the bill include: Illegal immigrants who have been in the country for at least five years could receive legal status after meeting several conditions, including payment of a $2,000 fine and any back taxes, clearing a background check and learning English. After six more years, they could apply for permanent residency without leaving the United States. They could seek citizenship five years later.

Also, illegal immigrants who have been in the country between two and five years could obtain a temporary work visa after reporting to a border point of entry. Illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for less than two years would be required to leave the country and apply for re-entry alongside anyone else seeking to immigrate.

For about an hour, students spoke out against the bill, played drums and chanted "No! No! No one is illegal!"

Beth Chronister, Topeka, Kan., senior, spoke about her work as a social worker with students at Northeast Middle School in Kansas City, Mo., in an after-school program. She said the bill was de-humanizing and made the children and her felons.

Emily Patrick, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore, recently went to El Salvador as part of the SHARE Foundation to hear people's stories and help them in various ways, such as holding a funeral service because they couldn't afford one.

"In talking with some of the younger people, I learned that 12-year-olds knew more about U.S. government than I did," she said.

Lawrence residents who attended the rally included Gwen Wiens, who said, "Just because someone comes from countries with poverty doesn't mean they should be used for profit. It's sad that families are being divided because of these laws. Families can't come here."

Ronald Francisco, professor of political science, said that issues like this happened every 10 years. He estimated that normally about 1 percent of the population felt strongly enough about a particular issue to take part in a physical demonstration, but that about 5 percent of the population were protesting this bill.

"There is more mobilization this time than I've ever seen, so the bills are surprising to me in that aspect," he said.

Francisco was not surprised a walkout rally occurred on campus. Demonstrations drew thousands of protesters Sunday in New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Alabama, Utah, Oregon and California, according to an Associated Press article, and thousands more people protested Monday in Washington, D.C., and throughout the nation.

Rallies continued in local areas Monday. There was one in the afternoon in Kansas City, Mo., and one in downtown Lawrence Monday night, in which protestors marched from St. John the Evangelist Church, 1234 Kentucky St., to the front of the Douglas County Courthouse, 111 11th St. Coughlin estimated that 300 people attended the rally.

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