GROUND ZERO FOR REFORM 500,000 VOICES PUT L.A. AT CENTER OF IMMIGRATION DEBATE.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

When more than 500,000 Angelenos rallied for immigrants' rights last weekend, they catapulted Los Angeles to the center of the national debate over border security and exposed the sheer size and influence of the immigrant population in the nation's second-largest city.

Until Gran Marcha, the issue of illegal immigration conjured for many the vision of the day laborer waiting on the corner for work or the Latina nanny paid every week in cash. But the massive waves of demonstrators streaming through downtown, the support they received from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Cardinal Roger Mahony, forced Angelenos - and residents of cities around the country - to recognize the clout of the undocumented work force.

``This is not a fleeting, temporary group,'' said Maria Elena Durazo, the interim executive secretary of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

``The general public has got to understand there are roots in these immigrants. I think that might be a new revelation in general to the public.''

While the massive turnout March 25 rallied many to the cause of immigrant rights, many other Angelenos found the event disturbing - reflecting the deep national divide over what to do about the nearly 12 million people in the United States illegally.

``I've seen the San Fernando Valley - where I grew up and no longer live - deteriorate,'' said attorney Tyrone Toczauer, 47, who grew up speaking Hungarian at home and now lives in the Ventura County community of Oak Park.

``It's not because of the hard-working immigrants. It's because of the other people ... You've got those who can't control their children because they're too busy making a living.''

California, which has been at the forefront of many national issues over the years, looks poised to take the lead on immigration reform.

Political observers say the outpouring from Los Angeles helped soften the Senate's stance as it debated house-passed legislation that would criminalize illegal immigrants and those who help them and authorize construction of a 700-mile wall along the U.S-Mexico border. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved some security measures but also opened the door to a guest-worker program and the eventual legalization of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants.

Currently, one in four Californians is an immigrant and more than half are from Latin America, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. An estimated 40 percent of Los Angeles' 3.7 million residents in 2000 were immigrants; 370,000 of those are believed to be undocumented, according to an Economic Roundtable report.

It's a sea change from a generation ago when most of the counties in California were predominantly white, according to PPIC.

Nationwide, most of the illegal immigrants came from Mexico and Central America, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. An estimated 5 percent of the national work force, and 90,000 in Los Angeles, are undocumented.

Much of the debate centers on the value of the work done by immigrants at the low end of the economic scale versus the cost of providing public services for them.

David R. Diaz, professor of Chicano/a History and Urban Studies at California State University, Northridge, argues that the budget of the average Angeleno household would jump 25 to 40 percent if the goods and services were provided by legal workers earning standard pay.

He says those Angelenos who resist the presence of undocumented workers have a choice: ``Either they're going to be hypocrites or ... they can stop going to markets where produce was picked by immigrants. They can stop going to restaurants. In Southern California, we kind of realize we're interlaced with those economic situations.''

In many ways, both sides of the immigration debate feel the social contract they agreed to has been violated.

Norma Butts of Tarzana recalled that her Italian immigrant parents embraced their adopted country and insisted that she speak only English as she was growing up.

``My feeling is, immigration is fine. I certainly have parents who came from another country, all of us did. When it comes to illegal immigration, I think there has to be some kind of limit.

``It's straining our system here. If we continue where everything's going - with easy access and not holding people accountable - our country will go down. They will not find the American dream when they get here.''

Pumping gas into his truck last week on Ventura Boulevard, an undocumented worker named Javier, who asked that his last name not be used, said he started working on a farm in the Mexican state of Michoacan when he was 10, and crossed into the U.S. as an adult in search of a better life.

``We're coming for work - look, my shoes are dirty,'' said Javier, who has lived in the U.S. for 15 years.

``Legalization is best... Illegal, the life is very hard. We're looking all over. We're scared,'' he said. ``I'm not doing nothing bad. I got my insurance. I got my truck. I paid for this truck.''

With its massive immigrant population, Los Angeles is being watched closely for how the heightened immigration debate plays out.

``I think what it demonstrates is the fabric of immigration, immigrant workers, are forever a part of what we call L.A. But the march made it more undeniable how large a slice of L.A.'s economic and social fabric (is) made up of immigrant labor,'' said Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.

``Will it drive Los Angeles into a more divisive place? In a way it will, but I think it's needed. I think discussion, dialogue, needs to take place. What constitutes the L.A. of the future, not just L.A., but all of America. We just happen to be in the lead.''

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com