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Inland Valley Daily BulletinTalk show fuels fiery immigration
issue Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - ONTARIO - On
English-language radio, a talk show has urged listeners to flood the phone
lines of an Ontario-based immigrant advocacy group that helped organize
last weekend's protest against U.S. Border Patrol sweeps in the Inland
Empire.
Meanwhile, on Spanish-language radio, excited callers have shared their
fears and reportedly warned listeners of potential border patrol sightings
in areas where officials say they have not reached.
The war of ideologies has taken to the airwaves in the wake of about
400 arrests since May - including more than 150 people from Ontario and
Corona earlier this month - in recent border patrol sweeps targeting
undocumented immigrants.
"There is the potential for the Latino media to play a real role to
galvanize Latino immigrants with U.S. citizens to control this form of
interior enforcement and U.S. immigration laws," said Louis DeSipio,
professor of political science at UC Irvine. "Similarly, English-language
talk radio has been very effective in California in galvanizing
anti-immigrant forces ... It reaches an audience of apolitical people that
can be made political around certain hot-button issues. Immigration in
California is one of those hot-button issues."
As of midday Wednesday, officials from Hermandad Mexicana Nacional
Ontario said it had received an estimated 500 telephone calls, many of
them angry, due to announcements made by the "John and Ken Show" on the
air and on its Web site "to protest the protest."
The organization, which helps eligible undocumented immigrants become
American citizens, was one of about 15 groups that helped organize
Sunday's protest against the sweeps, which organizers said drew more than
1,500 people.
While some callers were polite, many made derogatory, or in some cases
threatening comments, including "The day of the dead is here," said Abel
Medina, the organization's office director, who planned to file a police
report Wednesday.
"We always have participated in the advocacy for immigrant rights for
those with or without documents," Medina said. "We feel that our community
is being targeted and we're not going to sit around and do nothing for the
unprotected."
Talk show host John Kobylt urged listeners to call both border patrol
officials and organizers of the protest to express their feelings about
the sweeps.
"When you look at polls, it's usually 60 or 70 percent of the state
that wants illegal immigration stopped," Kobylt said. "But they are busy
and don't have time to protest all day in the hot sun. We said this is the
way to do it, so the government knows they want the laws enforced, because
they do."
An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union said the angry
calls are an unfortunate backlash for exercising their civil rights.
Kobylt said that with a million people listening, "you will always get a
few kooks."
Border patrol officials say they have received numerous calls
supporting them for doing their job.
"Our phones and e-mails have been completely off the hook with calls
and letters supporting what we are doing," said Raul Martinez, a San Diego
Sector Border Patrol agent.
ON THE WEB: Brenda Gazzar can be reached by e-mail brenda.gazzar@dailybulletin.com
or by phone at (909) 483-9355.
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