BOYCOTT BUILDING UP STEAM.

Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer

Hundreds of thousands of pro-immigrant demonstrators are expected to flood miles of Los Angeles' streets on Monday - some boycotting school and work - in two separate marches calling for expanded rights for illegal immigrants.

``It's going to be massive,'' said Jesse Diaz, organizer for the March 25th Coalition. ``It's building at the 11th hour.''

In Los Angeles, daylong traffic jams, from downtown to the Westside, are expected as demonstrators rally at noon along Broadway to City Hall and at 3 p.m. from MacArthur Park down Wilshire Boulevard to La Brea Avenue.

Los Angeles Unified School District will deploy its entire police department and open an emergency operations center in case of student walkouts.

Neither officials nor organizers would estimate how big the demonstrations will be, but some predict they could rival the March 25 rally that drew an estimated 500,000 people to downtown.

Last week, several Spanish-language radio disc jockeys - who many say were responsible for the massive turnout for the March 25 rally - announced they would boycott work May 1.

And dozens of small retailers, food distributors and supermarkets announced they would close for the day, drawing parallels to the 1960s civil rights movement.

``This has really given the (immigrant) movement a new boost, a new energy,'' Diaz said. ``A lot of people who were on the fence (about boycotting) are going to be coming out.''

Similar demonstrations are expected in large cities nationwide to protest immigration legislation set for debate in the U.S. Senate, including a controversial measure that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally.

Organizers say mobilizations over the past several months have attracted millions across the country and sent a strong message to lawmakers and voters that illegal immigrants are vital to the work force.

A recent USA Today/Gallup Poll found that nearly two-thirds of respondents said illegal immigrants already living in the U.S. should be allowed to stay if they meet certain requirements over time.

But the same poll also found majority support for further criminalizing illegal immigration.

While organizers say the demonstrations are a show of unity among immigrants, there are concerns that they could have negative and unintended consequences.

``Sure, there is a danger of backlash,'' said Tamar Jacoby, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and editor of ``Reinventing the Melting Pot.''

``The tone of the demonstration will be very important.

``I think there are a lot of hard-working families and that is the majority (of immigrants participating) and to the extent that it's oriented toward them, that is going to be good.

``It's different if it's angry people with Marxist rhetoric waving foreign flags.''

The work boycott, she said, could prove more troublesome.

``If their message is, `We want to have the right to work,' why are they not going to be working? (The boycott) has the potential of getting in the way of the message. My fear is that it will muddy the message,'' she said.

But others say the boycott, like earlier rallies, will spotlight the clout of immigrants and resonate much like the bus boycotts in Montgomery, Ala., did in the 1960s.

In many cities, organizers are using the demonstrations to register voters.

``Some people thought the bus boycott in Alabama was a mistake. Well, when you look back, it looks like a pretty good idea. But people will always say, it's too soon,'' said David Meyer, author of the ``Politics of Protest, Social Movements in America.''

But while organizers have been split on the call for a boycott, they say they are united in a message of legalization for 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

``Whatever the boycott ends up being, it is the first time this (mass mobilization) has been done and I think it sends a message to the Senate, the Congress, and the president that workers are willing to do more, they are willing to risk more,'' said Maria Elena Durazo, who heads the Los Angeles chapter of the AFL-CIO and is a member of the We Are America Coalition.

The coalition - backed by Cardinal Roger Mahony and several unions and religious organizations - supports after-work marches, but not a full-out boycott.

The March 25th Coalition - spearheaded by Hermandad Mexicana and the Mexican American Political Association - advocates a boycott and will lead the downtown march.

The group says the call for a boycott could handicap the economy and show the strength and bravery of the immigrant work force - most of whom will give up a day's pay and others who will risk losing their job.

``We understand that this could backfire on us. But that is a risk you have to take,'' said Oscar Velasco, morning host for Spanish-language radio station KLVE-FM (107.5), who is boycotting in support of immigration reform.

``You either go down fighting or you stay home and wait for the senators to do something. So you might as well go out on the streets with a message of peace,'' he said.

KLVE-FM, owned by Univision, will replace its regular programing with news reports about marches planned across Southern California, from Oxnard to Riverside, and around the country. Other Univision stations have similar plans.

``We just want something positive to come out of it,'' Velasco said. ``Our people deserve a chance to become legalized in this country. They deserve a voice.

``We came looking for the American dream, a better life. We deserve a chance to do it a legal way.''

Nobody is clear how extensive the boycott will be, but some say the backlash has already begun.

Internet strings have called for patronizing businesses that stay open. The proposed boycott has proved provocative fodder for English-language radio talk-show hosts.

``This is going to have significant political consequences,'' said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C. ``My sense is that this is all backfiring - the Mexican flag, the anti-American flags, this Spanish-language parody of the national anthem ...''

David Diaz, professor of Chicano and Urban Studies at California State University, Northridge, said the demonstrations are a political awakening for the entire country.

``There is a psychology about this at work,'' he said. ``The immigrant community is asking for dignity and respect ... They had been serfs, throw-away labor ... If there were no consequences to a boycott, you would see the turnout three times as much.''

In a heavily immigrant pocket of Panorama City, small-business owners - nearly all immigrants - have been readying for a boycott, some with trepidation.

Maria Veles, a Salvadoran immigrant who owns a children's clothing store, said she doesn't want to close Monday, but feels she has little choice.

``If there are no customers, what's the point of opening?'' she asked rhetorically. ``No customers. No profits.''

Staff writer Angie Valencia-Martinez contributed to this report.

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THE RULES

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MAY DAY MARCHES

Source: We Are America Coalition

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