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Edition:  þ FLORIDA   o  METRO (DC-MD-VA-NY)
US IMMIGRATION NEWS 1 MAY 2006
Immigrants Unite in Mass Action; Filipino Participation place Asian Face on Issue
Supporters held the American Flag at the demonstration chanting “USA! USA!” and “We love America!”
ORLANDO  -- “YES WE CAN!,” exclaimed Romie Dela Paz, as an estimated 30,000 cheered in a mass action supporting comprehensive immigration reform. “I subscribe to the position to oppose the bill criminalizing the illegals. America is a nation of immigrants.”
Mr. Dela Paz, Chairman of the Florida Chapter of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) delivered the position of his organization. “We do not support legislation to criminalize the very vulnerable segment of our society who are undocumented,” said Mr. Dela Paz. “We ask our legislators to pass a comprehensive reform bill. It should include measures on family reunification to eliminate the backlog of more than twenty years of waiting time before families can join their petitioners.” “Mabuhay!” Mr. Dela Paz called out as he completed his rousing bilingual speech. “Its a tremendous gathering. We’ve done a good job of stressing our concerns for a fair and humane immigration reform.”
		“The May 1st march and rally in Orlando and nationwide for a comprehensive immigration reform wa a cry for fair and just treatment of hardworking people.” -- Volunteer, Cinco de Mayo Festival, Fellsmere, Florida “Be careful. We need the issues to be heard. We need people who are able to lead and continue the discussion of urgently needed immigration reform,” -- G.Z., Satellite Beach, Florida “I’m for a comprehensive immigration reform especially a dramatic increase of immigrant visa numbers for family-based petitions to eliminate waiting time of 20 or more years for family reunification,” M. Cruz, Palm Bay, Florida
Romie Dela Paz, NaFFAA Florida Chairman gestures as Sister Ann Kendrick of the Farmworker Ministry look on at the assembled marchers.
It was a satisfactory culmination to the march which was unprecedented in Orlando’s history. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my 35 years in Orlando,” said Sister Ann Kendrick of the Office of Farmworker Ministry in Apopka.” The march was well-organized and vigorous.“I arrived at parking lot at T.D. Waterhouse at 11:30 a.m. The assembly was at the south side where the. march started noontime,” narrated Mr. Dela Paz. The packed marchers inched its way through downtown Orlando to Lake Eola and passed by the offices of Sen Martinez and Sen. Nelson. The crowd was chanting “USA, USA!” “We love America!” “Yes we can!” There were small groups of individuals bearing placards written with “Illegals are criminals” “Amnesty is economic treason.” as marchers passed by. “Its a free country,” said Mr. Dela Paz. “I saw great support from people watching out from buildings who were cheering as we marched. There were people bringing out boxes of bottled water and were providing these to the marchers.” Marching at the vanguard were leaders Tirso Moreno and Sister Anne Kendrick of the Farmworker Association of Florida, Romie dela Paz, of the NaFFAA, and other organization leaders. The march ended back at the assembly place where leaders stepped-up to speak about immigration issues, jobs with justice. Mr. Dela Paz’s speech made its way into Orlando’s major media outlet. “A representative from a group of Philippine immigrants spoke to the crowd on behalf the 1 million illegal immigrants who are (from the) Philippines,” said the Orlando Sentinel on its printed and online editions.
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“In addition to that, Filipino participation placed an Asian face on the issues, to show that we have the numbers too and this is not just a Latino issue,” said Mr. Dela Paz. “We need to exercise our voting rights. The vote is a powerful tool to express concerns of the community. We need to get out the vote.” The march was organized by the Farmworker Association of Florida and ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) . “I was very happy to find a young Filipino who was a staffer with a mainstream organization like ACORN.” Mr. Dela Paz added further,“We cannot be just bystanders on issues. We marched today, tomorrow we vote.” (BASTA PINOY NEWS)
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