Since I'm in Tucson, I'm at ground zero for much of the day's festivities. So far, however, I haven't found a lot of information about what, exactly, is planned for the day, or how many are expected to participate. Here's a sampling of what I've managed to find so far:
The commercial port of entry at San Luis, MX (near Yuma) will be closed on Monday. Got it.
The Arizona Daily Star offers that "[m]any Tucsonans plan to stay home from work and spend no money," but it does not specify how many "many" is. Instead it highlights the plans of a few illegals. For example:
"It is the only way to make a change," Salvador Partida, who lives illegally in Tucson, said of the boycott in which his family will participate. "Such a change could allows us to work in tranquillity and live without the fear of always thinking we can be deported at any moment."
I'm sure U.S. immigration officials won't be interested in that disclosure at all, Sr. Partida.
The Daily Star has also listed the "official"
Tucson's NBC affiliate, KVOA News 4, is reporting on an effort to negate Monday's protest, by spending money:
The other local TV network affiliates, KGUN 9, KOLD News 13, and Fox11 AZ, seem to be more concerned with local, non-immigration news -- at least their websites seem to suggest as much. This being May sweeps, however, they likely have big "I-Team" reports scheduled for their upcoming 10pm newscasts.“To all the real Americans, you can do one small thing on May 1st: Spend money to counteract those boycotting businesses to show their support for illegal immigrants."
That's the message some people are circulating on the internet.
“I think the Americans should get out there and spend their money,” says Al Garcia, a native Tucsonan.
The Minuteman National Blog is reporting that the U.S. Border Patrol (Local 2544) has big (spending) plans for May 1st. Namely, purchases of computers and other big-ticket items. They also would like to see the illegal immigrants take their protest a step further:
May 1st - Local 2544 will be making purchases of computers and other expensive items we normally would purchase at some point anyway - on May 1st. We wish all the illegal aliens would take their May 1st "protest" a step further, and completely remove themselves from the country. This would really demonstrate how upset they are at being treated like common lawbreakers. It has to be terrible to be a lawbreaker, and then be called a "lawbreaker", or even worse, to actually be held accountable for breaking "laws". Ouch! Afterwards, we could put all the unemployed Americans back to work, force employers to pay a fair wage, and see if the country really falls apart as the radical illegal immigration activists would have everyone believe. We say CALL THEIR BLUFF.
Right on.
Of course, all eyes in the MSM will be trained on the protest events. It should be a pretty interesting day, regardless of the outcome. I don't expect a massive economic breakdown in Tucson, but we'll see how correct I am. For my part, I plan on spending my hard-earned American dollars. And carrying a camera, just in case anything noteworthy happens.
UPDATE, at 11:30 p.m. on 4/30/06: The ever-reliable Michelle Malkin comes through again with a look at counter-immigration protests that are planned on Monday (and throughout the month of May), including a listing of upcoming events in about a dozen states, and links to other blogs and grass-roots organizations, for those looking to get involved. It's worth a look-see.
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