Better than school any day

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

> NBC 4
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> AP Image
> IMMIGRATION REFORM
> Survey: <http://www.nbc4.tv/print/8289535/detail.html#>Border Wall Survey: 
> <http://www.nbc4.tv/print/8289535/detail.html#>Your Immigration Priorities
> BACKGROUNDERS
> Link: <http://migration.ucdavis.edu/>Migration Dialogue/U.C. Davis Link: 
> <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/>Migration Policy Institute
> POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
> Interactive: <http://www.nbc4.tv/print/8289535/detail.html#>State Of Play 
> Interactive: <http://www.nbc4.tv/print/8289535/detail.html#>Write Your 
> Rep. Slideshow: <http://www.nbc4.tv/print/8289535/detail.html#>Today In 
> Political History Link: <http://www.opensecrets.org/>Follow Money In 
> Politics Link: <http://thomas.loc.gov/>Monitor Federal Legislation Link: 
> <http://www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/legislative/index.html>Legislative Resources
>
>
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> Students Rally On Streets, Downtown Freeways
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> Mayor Meets With Students To Discuss Immigration Bill
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> POSTED: 6:30 am PST March 27, 2006
> UPDATED: 4:05 pm PST March 27, 2006
>
> LOS ANGELES -- The Senate Judiciary Committee approved election-year 
> immigration legislation Monday that clears the way for millions of 
> undocumented workers to seek U.S. citizenship without having to first 
> leave the country.
>
> After days of street demonstrations that stretched from California to the 
> gounds of the U.S. Capitol, the committee also voted to strip out proposed 
> criminal penalties for residents found to be in this country illegally.
>
> The panel's vote cleared the way for the full Senate to begin debate 
> Tuesday on the emotional immigration issue.
>
> "All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening," said Sen. 
> Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who played a pivotal role in 
> drafting the legislation, approved 12-6.
>
> Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., voted for the bill but signaled 
> that some of the provisions could well be changed by the full Senate.
>
> In general, the bill is designed to strengtehn border patrol, create new 
> opportunities for so-called guest workers and determine the legal future 
> of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.
>
> At several critical popints, committee Democrats were united while 
> Republicans splintered. In general, GOP Sens. Lindsay Graham of South 
> Carolina, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike DeWine of Ohio, who is seeking 
> re-election this fall, sided with Democrats.
>
> That gave Democrats a majority that allowed them to shape the bill to 
> their liking.
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> Student Protests
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> Thousands of Southland students skipped classes, rallied at City Hall and 
> marched through streets and on downtown freeways Monday to protest aspects 
> of the immigration bill.
>
> <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/ITFIAF/legislation_jan06.pdf>Migration 
> Policy Institute: Bill Comparison
> <http://www.nbc4.tv//slideshow/news/8294009/detail.html?qs=1;s=1;dm=ss;p=news;w=400>March 
> 27 Images
> <http://www.nbc4.tv/slideshow/news/8289505/detail.html?qs=1;s=1;dm=ss;p=news;w=400>March 
> 25 Images: 500,000 Protest | 
> <http://nbc4la.feedroom.com/index.jsp?fr_story=52921a74cd1e02db3d038c6ba12bf1119c1bb7a6&rf=fr_std&auto_band=x>Video
> <http://www.nbc4.tv/slideshow/news/8233693/detail.html?qs=1;s=1;dm=ss;p=news;w=400>March 
> 24 Images: Students Protest
>
> More than 1,000 students waving Mexican, El Salvadoran, Guatemalan and 
> American flags began gathering on the south lawn of Los Angeles City Hall 
> just after 9 a.m. and stayed through the early afternoon, Los Angeles 
> Police Department Lt. Paul Vernon said.
>
> Across the county, an estimated 21,975 students from various school 
> districts took part in protests, according to Monica Carazo of the Los 
> Angeles Unified School District.
>
> The protests, while causing some traffic disruptions, were generally 
> peaceful, Vernon said while monitoring the demonstration outside City Hall.
>
> Shortly after 1 p.m., however, about 100 student protesters took their 
> march onto the Harbor (110) Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. The students 
> brought traffic to a stand-still on the northbound lanes of the freeway, 
> then broke into two groups heading both north and south on the Hollywood 
> (101) Freeway.
>
> Officers on motorcycles attempted to direct the students off the freeway. 
> Authorities said some students were arrested because they failed to obey 
> officers' directions.
>
> At City Hall, Alejandro Aguirre, 15, and his father Sergio said they 
> attended the demnnstration to voice their opposition to a bill introduced 
> by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., which would crack down on 
> employers hiring illegal workers and people smuggling illegal immigrants 
> into the country.
>
> The students outside City Hall cheered loudly when Mayor Antonio 
> Villaraigosa came out after speaking with six students selected by protest 
> organizers. He said their opposition to the Sensenbrenner bill was heard, 
> but urged the students to return to class.
>
> "You've come today, you registered your commitment to your families, your 
> opposition to the Sensenbrenner legislation, but it's time to go back to 
> school," Villaraigosa said. "But in your schools, I want you to work to 
> educate the other students about why it's so important for us right now.
>
> "You need to go back to school. You need to teach your fellow students how 
> important it is to stand up for what they believe in."
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> The LAPD was placed on citywide tactical alert as a precaution because of 
> the protests in various parts of the city, Vernon said. That status allows 
> police commanders to deploy officers beyond the end of their shifts as needed.
>
> LAUSD school board member David Tokofsky said as many as 21 campuses took 
> part in the protest, and that the district was ready to provide buses to 
> take the students back to their schools.
>
> "There's always a tender balance between the learning that happens in text 
> books and the learning that happens from experience, especially with 
> government issues," Tokofsky said as he watched the students gathered at 
> City Hall. "I know that the children are very concerned about their 
> parents and grandparents and how this law might affect them, but I would 
> much rather have the kids sitting in a classroom, reading about how a bill 
> becomes a law."
>
> On Friday, thousands of students left the campuses of Huntington Park, 
> South Gate, Montebello, Jordan, Garfield, Roosevelt, Washington 
> Preparatory and Bell high schools, said Ellen Morgan of the LAUSD.
>
> Los Angeles School Police Chief Lawrence Manion told KNBC today that his 
> department was focused on ensuring the safety of the students.
>
> "Our concerns are their safety in the roadway, traffic collisions -- we 
> can only be at one place at one time," he said. "We can't be everywhere 
> simultaneously. So we will do the best that we can to provide a safe 
> environment whatever happens this upcoming week.
>
> "But we want to stress the learning environment is where we're at. And 
> that's what our primary concern is: to provide a safe learning environment 
> for our kids on the campus."
>
> <http://www.nbc4.tv/download/2006/0325/8240681.pdf>Text Of HR 4437
> <http://nbc4la.feedroom.com/index.jsp?fr_story=8d4f3426744d05aef022c849b5e1980955fc6d04&auto_band=x>Video: 
> Conan Nolan Reports On Bill
>
> Monday is Cesar Chavez Day, a day to honor the founder of the United Farm 
> Workers union. LA city offices are closed, but schools, courts and other 
> government offices are open, and Metro buses and trains are on their 
> regular schedules.
>
> Cesar Chavez Day was established in California in 2000 to promote service 
> to the community in honor of Chavez's life and work. It is to be observed 
> on a Monday or Friday near the date of his birthday. Chavez was born March 
> 31, 1927, in Yuma, Ariz., on a farm his grandfather homesteaded in the 
> 1880s. At the age of 10, his life as a migrant farm worker began when his 
> family lost its land during the Great Depression. In 1962, he founded what 
> was to become the United Farm Workers, the first successful farm workers 
> union in U.S. history. The battle to gain recognition for the union for 
> farm workers, many of them illegal immigrants, was boosted by a consumer 
> boycott of grapes and other produce harvested by migrant workers.
>
> Chavez was hailed by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy as "one of the heroic figures 
> of our time," and was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
> the nation's highest civilian award.
>
> March 25: <http://www.nbc4.tv/news/8233518/detail.html>500,000 Rally 
> Against Bill