More than 500 people say the Pledge of Allegiance at a rally against a new immigration law at the Capitol on Thursday.Jaclyn Houghton/CNHI News Service
More than 500 people observe a moment of silence at a rally at the Capitol to protest a new immigration law that took effect on Thursday.Jaclyn Houghton/CNHI News Service
A man wears a sign protesting a new immigration law at the Oklahoma Capitol on Thursday.Jaclyn Houghton/CNHI News Service
Editor's notes:Video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SfL9iU1Q5s
Oklahomans rally against new immigration law
“The state defines itself by those who came here to settle illegally. We call them Boomers and Sooners.”
By Jaclyn Houghton
CNHI News Service
OKLAHOMA CITY — Gloria Raygoza did not believe in racism until a new Oklahoma law took effect on Thursday. “My parents told me about racism and I never believed it was true,” said Raygoza, 24, of Oklahoma City. “And now I see it.” She grew up in San Antonio and married an immigrant from Mexico. She said her children hear about immigration at school and worry if they see police officers the police may take their father or grandmother. Raygoza joined more than 500 others in protest of a new law that creates penalties for employers to hire illegal immigrants and makes it a federal offense to knowingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants, among other things. The group gathered at the Capitol steps Thursday afternoon chanting “justicia, justicia,” which is Spanish for justice. The law, House Bill 1804, was contested two times before a federal judge in Tulsa, with the judge not issuing a preliminary injunction to stop the implementation of the law until after a lawsuit is resolved. Rev. Don Wolf of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Duncan said passing a law that may deter immigration in the state goes against the state’s history. “The state defines itself by those who came here to settle illegally,” he said. “We call them Boomers and Sooners.” He said he needed to speak out on behalf of the people too afraid to attend the rally. Mauro Yanez, one of the rally’s organizers, said people are afraid because the law is aggressive when it comes to “harboring or transporting illegal aliens.” He said even though the law took effect Thursday, he and others will keep fighting to change the law using the judicial system. While hundreds rallied, one man drove by the Capitol with a truck containing a sign reading: “Obey our laws.” Several other people came to protest the rally but law enforcement agents told them to leave. Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, said Wednesday he plans to take more action on the immigration issue. He authored House Bill 1804, being protested Thursday. Terrill said he hopes to come back next legislative session, which begins in February, to give monetary incentives for law enforcement agents to become cross trained as immigration officers. He also wants to make English the official language in the state and wants seized and forfeited assets from illegal immigrants to go to local law enforcement agencies. The new law already requires public employers to verify the residency status of new employees; requires local and state law enforcement agencies or county jails to verify legal status; requires anyone seeking state identification to prove residency or citizenship; and terminates government subsidies like health care and welfare for illegal immigrants except in certain emergency and humanitarian public services. For Martha Aguilar, the new law is personal. The 18-year-old Oklahoma native was born to Mexican immigrants who came to the United States illegally. She is fearful for the security of her family. “You can’t go somewhere because you don’t feel safe because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said, “a cop stopping you and just taking you back.” She has a baby and said her son’s father left the state out of fear from the new law. He is from Mexico. Javer Fuentes, 29, of Oklahoma City, also has felt fear from the Hispanic community. He works construction and said many of his workers are from Mexico and do not want to come to work. It took Fuentes about eight years to get residency status in the United States. He migrated from Mexico to Chicago and moved to Oklahoma about five years ago. He said he wanted a better life that was slower paced and free of problems. He said he felt that at first. “Before it was good, but now I think it’s different,” he said.
Jaclyn Houghton is CNHI News Service Oklahoma reporter.
