MARCHING FOR RIGHTS BOYCOTT SUPPORTED IN LANCASTER.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER - People marched and demonstrated, children stayed out of school, and some markets and restaurants closed Monday in the Antelope Valley in support of immigrant rights.

In the ``Day Without An Immigrant'' boycott, more than 100 people marched down Lancaster Boulevard, and many of them waved American flags. ``We are not criminals; we are workers,'' declared some of the placards they carried. ``We are all equal, and we want freedom'' and ``Keep Families United'' were messages on others.

About 30 people gathered along Palmdale Boulevard between Sierra Highway and Ninth Street East, and dozens more were in Poncitlan Square across from Palmdale City Hall in support of the boycott, organized to show immigrants' contributions to America and their economic clout.

``I'm a U.S. citizen. I came from Mexico City with legal papers, but that doesn't make me a better person than one who came without them,'' said Julieta Amorsolo, 56, who owns a tax preparation service. Her two adult daughters helped her organize the Lancaster march.

``It's not only for the Latinos. It's for anybody who is an immigrant. We are here to help the economy of this country. Everybody thinks we are here to take away and we don't contribute to economy, but we pay taxes. We pay our part to society,'' Amorsolo said.

Not everyone approved of Monday's tactic. K.C. Clark, who works at a Lancaster escrow company, said immigrants need to enter the United States legally, just as her great- grandparents did when they came through Ellis Island at the turn of the last century ``I don't think that it's right, because they are in our country wanting us to support them. Well, you need to do it the right way; you need to do it legally,'' Clark said.

``I'm not against people trying to better themselves. What I'm against is demonstrations, kids being out of school, trying to shut down businesses,'' she said.

State Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, denounced the state Legislature for shutting down Monday to support the boycott. The state Senate last week also adopted a resolution formally supporting the boycott, which Runner had said would hurt the economy and encourage student truancy.

``This is blatant support for a boycott that is a guise by organizers to support amnesty for all illegal immigrants, give illegal immigrants' driver's licenses, and provide them all of the benefits and services California taxpayers enjoy,'' Runner said in a printed statement.

The boycott capped a wave of national protests over a bill passed by the U.S. House that would make it a crime to lend a hand to illegal immigrants, make it a felony to illegally enter the United States, and increase penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

The Senate is considering legislation to strengthen the nation's borders, expand temporary worker programs and give many of the 11 million or more illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship - the central demand of protesters.

The 40-minute march in Lancaster started at the northeast corner of Sierra Highway and Lancaster Boulevard and proceeded down the boulevard, 10th Street West and Avenue J to Jane Reynolds Park.

Parents brought their children, including some in strollers, and motorists honked.

The marchers chanted, ``Si se puede, yes we can,'' and ``El pueblo unidos hamas sera vencido'' or ``A town united cannot be divided.''

Blanca Isaguirre, 38, of Palmdale, brought her four children, ages 8 to 14, to the march. The teen wanted to join in, and the others are on an off-track break from year-round education.

``My kids were born here, but we have relatives who have no green card. We are here to support everybody,'' Isaquirre said.

Isaguirre said she came to the U.S. illegally but has since become a citizen. ``They pay taxes. They go by the law. Why shouldn't they have a right to live here?'' Isaguirre said.

Jose Santana, 19, of Mojave, a student at Antelope Valley College and a groundskeeper in the Newhall School District, skipped classes and was not going to work Monday.

``It's an opportunity for us to get our citizenship,'' Santana said. ``I have a lot of family who are illegal. They came to this country to get better opportunities.''

Vallarta Supermarkets - one in Lancaster and two in Palmdale - closed for the day. A notice ``To our customers'' on one store's doors said, ``In support of peace and unity we will (be) closed Monday May 1st.''

Retaurants that closed in Palmdale included the International House of Pancakes, Mi Ranchito and Primo Burgers. El Sol, a local Latino newspaper, also closed its offices.

Some Antelope Valley school districts reported more absences than normal Monday. Los Angeles County education officials reported that about 41,500 students failed to show up for class countywide.

Keppel Union School District reported that 34 percent of its students did not attend school. In the Wilsona School District, significant numbers of students were absent.

``There were considerably more students out today. It was definitely higher than normal,'' said Diane Lupton, secretary to the Wilsona superintendent.

Challenger Middle School, which has 670 students, recorded 202 absences. Normally, there are 40 to 80 students absent.

At Wilsona Elementary, there were 176 absences, and at Vista San Gabriel, there were 194, Lupton said.

Eastside Union School District officials said there was a little more absence than usual,and Lancaster School District officials also reported a few more absences than expected.In the Antelope Valley Union High School District, absences were not out of the ordinary.

``A couple of schools said they were down maybe a little bit - nothing real notable,'' Assistant Superintendent Tim Azevedo said about the high schools. ``It's been quiet.''

The Antelope Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce didn't take a position on whether businesses should stay open or close Monday. The diversity of its members made getting a consensus impossible, officials said last week.

The chamber office itself was open Monday.

``We've been hearing some businesses are shutting down. Some other businesses are allowing their employees to basically voluntarily participate,'' the chamber chief executive officer, Julian Medrano, said.

Medrano said there are 2 million Latino-owned businesses in the country that contribute from $300 billion to $700 billion to the national economy.

Whatever the results of Monday's boycott, local businesses were already seeing an effect of the immigration controversy.

Rumors spread last week that federal immigration agents were rounding up illegal immigrants at housing construction sites, and many workers stayed home and kept their families home.

It was difficult to determine the truthfulness of the rumors, similar to ones in Oregon, Utah, Nevada and elsewhere in California that followed real nationwide raids on a pallet manufacturer and sweeps for fugitive criminals.

The Antelope Valley Building Industry Association chapter executive officer, Gretchen Gutierrez, said she was told that arrests had been made at several Lancaster and Palmdale construction sites, though she was having trouble compiling numbers.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Organized by a legal immigrant, dozens start their march in Lancaster on Monday in support of giving illegal immigrants a chance to gain legal status.

(2 -- color) This Vallarta market was closed on Monday.

(3 -- color) Boycott supporters wait at Boeing Plaza on Lancaster Boulevard and Sierra Highway on Monday before marching for immigrant rights.

(4 -- color) Boycott supporters march Monday in Lancaster, where some kids skipped school and some stores closed.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer