Five men waved American flags and carried signs in front of Fort Bragg Town Hall in a Saturday protest of illegal immigrants and illegal immigration.
The group of four veterans from Fort Bragg and one tourist from Susanville was greeted with far more support than opposition, as motorists beeped and waved. Shouts that came from cars were often unintelligible but seemed mostly to be in support.
Two bearded men in a pickup full of tools and chainsaws stopped at the light and shouted “Yeah! Immigrants go home.”
An apparently Caucasian woman stopped at the Laurel Street traffic light extended her middle finger and shouted harsh criticism. One demonstrator hollered back that the woman”s car was in the crosswalk, although nobody was crossing the street.
A young couple had been admiring the American flags that festooned each of the five men. When the passerby heard the banter with the woman in the car, the man put both his thumbs down, “Is that what you guys are about? Boo! Boo on you, boo!” he said, jumping up and down, approaching and then walking away with his girlfriend, who only nodded assent.
The “America for Americans” event, which was arranged before organizer Vernon Atkinson knew about Monday”s national economic boycott to demonstrate the economic power of immigrants, was designed as a protest of illegal immigrants but not as a counter-protest.
Proposals to build a wall along the Mexican border and to make felons of undocumented workers and those who help them have led to massive protests by immigrants and their supporters. The Congressional proposals, now shelved, touched off nationwide demonstrations, the largest in recent years, led by Spanish-language radio disk jockeys. Locally, the protests have been led by Latinos who immigrated legally. Other immigrant groups have been involved in other parts of the country.
Atkinson was disappointed but undaunted by the small turnout for the protest of amnesty and illegal immigration.
“More people said they were going to be out here. But like I said [in a prior interview], if there is only one out here, it is going to be,” Atkinson said. He said he has been called a racist since he announced his plans for an “America for Americans” event.
Mark Wristen of Susanville saw the story about the event in the Advocate-News and came out to oppose amnesty and undocumented people, but not legal immigrants.
“I have two granddaughters, I want to see them make it, I don”t want to see an illegal alien take away their scholarships or anything else … I don”t want to go the hospital and see the emergency room full of people we are paying for,” Wristen said.
All the men blamed big corporations and big economic interests for creating the situation and called on the government to stand for people who follow the laws, not the big money.
“I am here to support these people and the United States,” said Wristen.
“NAFTA was opening the doors, this is the result of it and they knew it all along. The corporations in America need to make that money, they need to make that almighty dollar.”
Atkinson blamed President Lyndon Johnson for opening the doors. “As far as I”m concerned, it”s the big businesses, they want them here for the cheap labor.”
Bud Johnson, a World War II veteran, blamed the “big shops and the drive for cheap labor” for creating an illegal immigration crisis.
“I went into the service to help save this country. I didn”t think that we were going to be invaded without a shot,” Johnson said.
Bud Farley said he was demonstrating to uphold the sanctity of lawful behavior.
“Everybody says we are all immigrants and that is true. But we all have to follow the law. Once those immigration laws are passed, they have to be followed. Our military is fighting around the world to defend our laws, and we must adhere to our law here at home. Amnesty, no, it”s just opening the door.”
Farley said he has no interest in opposing the rights of others to protest, including the May 1 economic boycott.
“One thing about veterans, we don”t have to agree with people, but we will defend their right to do what they feel they need to do. If they want to boycott, they”re only hurting themselves and their employers.”
