In numbers not seen since the Vietnam War, immigrants take to Providence streets in a nationwide demonstration for immigrants' rights.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 2, 2006

BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- They started with a blessing of the mops and brooms; tools of the worker trades.

Then, as people chanted, "Si se puede" (Yes, we can), trumpets blared and banners snapped in the breeze, a jubilant immigrants' rights march led off from Central High School and quickly swelled to proportions that many said they hadn't seen locally since the Vietnam War.

Rhode Island's "Day Without An Immigrant" joined a nationwide demonstration intended to underline the significant economic and social roles played by immigrants -- legal and illegal -- in the United States.

Against a backdrop of stymied congressional debate, it was also a plea for comprehensive immigration reform, including "legalization without criminalization," and a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million people living illegally in this country.

Rhode Island's boycott was organized by a coalition of organizations and activists under the name Immigrants United. Across the state, the strike included an estimated hundreds of business shutdowns in central Latino commercial districts, consumer boycotts and worker and student absenteeism.

By any standards, yesterday's march -- the main event in Rhode Island -- was enormous, a sea of many thousands. Demonstrators left Central High School at 4:15 p.m., and reached the State House at 4:40 p.m. where a rally began. A half-hour later, marchers were still streaming up Francis Street from below the Providence Place mall.

"The American dream is not just an idea; it's a reality, and that reality has a name -- your name," said Juan Garcia, key organizer for the march and head of the Immigrants in Action Committee at St. Teresa's Church in Olneyville.

"The fact that you are here, you are making history," said Garcia at the State House rally.

A legal permanent resident who came illegally from Guatemala years ago, Garcia spoke for the undocumented millions who live in the shadows:

"We are here, asking to start the path to citizenship, not in the darkness, but to come out into the light -- as citizens," said Garcia.

As the boisterous rally went on around them, Manuel and Cynthia Osorio held aloft a box of Kellogg's Cornflakes that featured photos of Cesar Chavez, Mexican-American founder of the United Farm Workers Union, and legendary Cuban singer Celia Cruz.

"This is beautiful," said Manuel Osorio, an immigrant from Colombia who washes cars for a living. "This has to be done. We are not criminals. We pay taxes. We work hard." Osorio, who has applied for permanent residency, said he has been studying English and taking courses on starting a small business.

"It's excellent. It's a victory," said Jose Brito, president of the Greater Providence Merchants Association, who marched with a dozen Latino business owners who'd closed their restaurants, insurance agencies, beauty salons and other businesses along Broad and Cranston Streets.

In Central Falls, Dexter Street looked like a ghost town. Latino businesses, which account for the majority of shops on the street, were closed. Restaurants were dark, barber's chairs sat empty, and the street was still.

Some 40 percent of Providence's 24,800 students skipped school yesterday, despite two taped phone messages from Schools Supt. Donnie Evans, urging them to come to class. In Central Falls, 807 students, primarily from the high school and middle school, did not attend.

Magdalena Franco, a secretary at a Massachusetts company, said her boss allowed her to stay out of work yesterday.

Draped in a Mexican flag, Franco said she joined the march because "even though I have papers, it doesn't matter," she said. She wanted to support illegal immigrants "because they struggle every day to get money, to support their families and to send money to their country. It's not fair -- they're not criminals."

State Rep. Grace Diaz, who came to this country from the Dominican Republic, overstayed her visa but eventually became a citizen, joined the march because she hoped that the same country "that opened its arms for me," will open its arms "for those [who live here] in silence."

Outside of the central Latino business districts in Central Falls, Pawtucket and Providence, some businesses that rely upon unskilled immigrant labor reported that it was largely status quo.

At Blount Seafood in Warren, some employees made arrangements in advance not to come to work yesterday, but Blount's human resources director Ronnie King said there had "not been a major impact."

On a calmer day, the strike might have affected some of the fish wholesalers in Galilee, but the wind kept most of the fishing boats at the docks.

"It has not affected us at all," said John McLaughlin, general manager at Pt. Judith Fishermen's Co. on State Street. "This is a very slow time of year for us, and it's been very slow to begin with. It's windy."

The day's events began with a morning rally at Kennedy Plaza that drew several hundred people.

Melissa Lopez, of West Warwick, said she attended the rally in honor of her husband, Fernando, who, she said, had been deported to Guatemala for working illegally on a farm.

"I just came back from [Guatemala]," she said. "We can't raise our children down there. They'd have no education." Lopez said she hoped the demonstrations will pressure Congress "and they'll put a law on the books allowing him to come back."

The rally at Kennedy Plaza was followed by a 1:30 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, at One Cathedral Square, celebrated by the Rev. Gilberto Suarez of the Roman Catholic Assumption Parish. The service included a blessing of workers carrying mops, brooms, and buckets.

Edwin Rodas, a banquet server at the Westin Providence hotel and member of Service Workers International Union Local 217, boycotted work. He wore his white apron and carried a whisk and ladle to the service to be blessed.

"I think it's great, it shows we are united. Legal or illegal, we all deserve the American dream," said Rodas, a Guatemalan immigrant and legal permanent resident.

The Rev. Daniel Trainor, pastor at the largely Hispanic Assumption Parish, served as concelebrant. Afterward, he told a personal story about his mother, who emigrated from Ireland and graduated from high school in Pawtucket.

"She wanted to become a nurse," said Father Trainor. "She applied at a local hospital. They told her, 'You will not hear from us because you are Irish and you are Roman Catholic.' "

Father Trainor said, "I feel sorry that the sons and daughters of immigrants have forgotten their past -- the pain and perserverence" that they go through. Those sons and daughters of immigrants "use these people," he said, but do not appreciate them.

With reports from Tatiana Pina, Paul Grimaldi, Linda Borg, Mark Arsenault, Richard Salit, Michael P. McKinney and Kia Hall Hayes.

kziner@projo.com / (401) 277-7375