Hispanic protests in LV lack L.A. punch

Wednesday, March 29, 2006 | 7:12 a.m.

Attorney Peter Ashman was at the federal immigration office on Pecos Road Tuesday morning when he heard shouting outside.

An official told him that a group of high school students was marching down the street, protesting House-approved legislation that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally.

At first he thought about the thousands of students leaving class during the last several days in Los Angeles - and how the Senate had crafted a less-draconian proposal on immigration the day before.

But later, he thought about what was noticeably absent - adults.

In Los Angeles, unions, community groups and others rallied Saturday with an estimated half-million people. Other cities had seen tens of thousands do the same throughout the week.

In Las Vegas, Ashman noted, things have been relatively quiet, apart from Tuesday's walkouts.

"I think the general consensus has been that Las Vegas is not an activist community," Ashman said.

But the issue isn't so cut and dried. Although Hispanics are about 25 percent of the valley's population, the absence of marching masses in the valley is an indication of the newness of the Hispanic community and its activist organizations.

"There's a lack of maturity among (community) groups; they still don't have the know-how," said Malena Burnett, who sees immigrants daily at an organization called Amigo Services on Charleston Boulevard.

Burnett marched in Los Angeles on Saturday with about 20 other valley residents and said there's a dearth of strong activist organizations locally.

Other factors limiting Hispanic or immigrant activism include Las Vegas being a 24-hour community - with many immigrant families divided by daytime and nighttime work shifts.

Plus, Burnett said, immigrants are "afraid to lose their jobs, and they're also afraid of an immigration raid" on public events.

The Los Angeles march grew to the size it did, in part, because of invitations to join in the cause from L.A.-area Spanish-language radio stations, according to news accounts.

Chris Roman, general manager of Entravision Communication Corp., a company with four Spanish-language television and radio stations locally, said the relative newness of the market in Las Vegas results in many programs being brought in from outside the valley - including Los Angeles.

This means the dialogue between listeners and radio hosts isn't as strong as it might be in markets with homegrown programming. Nonetheless, he noted, public service announcements about the Los Angeles march ran on local radio stations last week. And Roman's television news programs have been giving the issue extensive coverage - including Tuesday's Las Vegas student walkouts.

One of the key organizers in marches for comprehensive immigration reform - or against restrictive measures - has been labor.

Pilar Weiss, political director for the Culinary Union, about half of whose membership is Hispanic, said that UNITE, the national union her organization belongs to, was "very active" in the Los Angeles march.

The difference between cities where marches have been taking place and the Las Vegas area, she said, is one of "long-term alliances."

In Las Vegas there's no "historical network of (activist) groups ... (and) we can't say, 'Let's call 27 groups who have worked together over the last decade' " to organize events such as marches.

At the same time, Weiss said, "I don't think we're an apathetic community."

Ashman noted that there are other ways to make a point than marches and protests.

He sits on the steering committee of a group called the Nevada Immigration Coalition, which is composed of union, civil liberty, chamber of commerce and other groups. Formed three months ago, it has focused on spreading information about the various bills before Congress and directed political activities such as lobbying Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

Ashman said the recent marches could undercut what's being called comprehensive, or less punitive, immigration reform.

"Putting 500,000 people in Los Angeles with Mexican flags chanting 'si se puede' (yes we can) could be counterproductive ... and (could) play into the hands of those who are fear-mongering about immigrants," he said, referring to the California marches.

Burnett noted another difference between the Las Vegas Valley and other urban areas when it comes to political activism on immigration - the lack of leaders.

"We need another Cesar Chavez," she said, referring to the organizer of farm workers .