You probably missed it, because it seems like everyone else did, but there was a boycott of Prince William County businesses last week organized by groups that oppose the Prince William County ordinance that would deny public services to illegal immigration. By all accounts, the boycott was pretty much a flop, with most “boycotted” business owners not even aware that it was taking place, and not experiencing any real decline in business.
That stunning success was capped off yesterday by a march and rally at the McCoart Building in Woodbridge:
Carrying American flags and chanting “S?, se puede” (”Yes, we can”), several thousand Latinos rallied at the seat of Prince William County government yesterday to denounce the Board of Supervisors’ plan to curb services to illegal immigrants.
Protesters from as far as Minnesota converged on the Sean T. Connaughton Community Plaza for speeches and a two-mile march, organized by Mexicans Without Borders and other immigrant advocacy groups.
“We come in peace,” said Karla Makris, 26, a paralegal born in Nicaragua. “We’re not stealing. We’re not criminals.”
On July 10, the Prince William board thrust the county into the middle of the Northern Virginia immigration debate, adopting a resolution directing officials to determine which government services can be lawfully withheld from anyone in the country illegally.
The measure also authorizes Prince William police to ask about residency status if they have probable cause to believe that an individual is in the country illegally. Exactly what constitutes probable cause, and how legal residency would be verified, is still under review by the police.
The county’s Latino community responded with a week-long economic boycott, concluding this weekend, targeting businesses deemed hostile to immigrants.
I don’t live very far from the McCoart Building and was interested to see what, if any, impact this march would have on the area. Outside of a few V-DOT road signs on Old Bridge Road and Prince William Parkway warning us to “Expect Delays” for a “pedestrian event”, and a helicopter or two circling over the area around the McCoart Building, I noticed nothing. No real delayed traffic on Old Bridge Road, no noise and, if I didn’t know the march was taking place I wouldn’t have known anything had happened yesterday.
But given the success of the boycott, this shouldn’t be surprising:
It has been difficult to gauge the effectiveness of the boycott, although it seems to have had only a marginal impact on the national chain stores that are its chief targets. Latino customers continue to patronize such businesses as Wal-Mart and Giant and fast-food restaurants.
Well, so much for that plan. Now, onto the work stoppage on October 9th.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I was not even aware of the boycott or the parade. However I did see some pictures on someone’s blog. One of the pictures had someone holding a sign saying “racism is stupid” - when did this turn into a “racism” thing? I think playing the racist card is going too far.
Also, there was something about equality in the article - along the lines of we are all human beings so we are all equal. However, how are we equal if some are not held accountable - such as living here illegally in the US? Illegal is illegal no matter what way you look at it. If I break the law by stealing, I can go to jail. If I don’t pay my taxes, I can go to jail. I do not see a correlation between “human beings” and “equality”. Equality means we are all here legally and paying for services rendered by county, state and federal government entities and following the rules set forth by our government. Illegals getting services from the county that they do not help pay for is “stealing” plain and simple, and not being held accountable in the same way as those that are here legally is unjust.
This whole issue is not about “racism”, “hatred” or “equality” it is about “Illegality” period.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
This is not a racial issue rather than a legal one. The illegal immigrants come here via their friends who are here illegally. As a result they are able to live here and some how gain access to welfare, WIC, schools, hospitals etc. The problem is they are here illegally with access to services meant for citizens not non-citizens.