Immigrant activists express disappointment, resolve

Phone calls flooded advocacy groups across the state yesterday as distraught illegal immigrants tried to come to terms with the implications of yesterday's failure in the Senate of a bill that would have legalized some 12 million unlawful immigrants.

Some immigrant groups vowed to redouble efforts to lobby for immigration reform with protests and rallies. But with most observers saying that the prospects for another vote on the measure are effectively doomed this year, many who live in the netherworld of illegal status had to confront a cold reality that after having their hopes raised, they were plunged again into uncertainty.

"It forces people who are undocumented further underground," said Helena Marques, head of the Immigrants' Assistance Center in New Bedford. "It's just a really sad situation."

Maria Elena Letona, executive director of Centro Presente, a Cambridge organization that serves about 3,000 primarily Latino immigrants each year, said that several immigrants who are here illegally phoned her organization after the bill's failure yesterday to say they were nervous about their status.

"They're thinking, 'I am worried and frightened that I may lose my job any moment, that immigration officials will raid my home, that another year is going by when I won't see my family,' " Letona said. "It's business as usual in the most inhuman kind of way."

The group is planning several community forums throughout the region to allow residents an opportunity to weigh in on the debate and proposed next steps, Letona said.

In Everett, Antonio Amaya, executive director of La Comunidad, said undocumented immigrants had called his office worried that raids would now intensify.

"It's like the struggle we have been having in the past five years has been destroyed," he said. "We are definitely not happy about that."

Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, a group of organizations from around the state that supports immigrants' rights, said that the coalition was encouraging its members to educate friends and neighbors about the cause.

"People are disappointed, people are angry," he said. "But we are also realizing that this is a political fight for the soul of our country. There's no sense of giving up."

The Senate's decision to end the immigration debate comes at a tense time for immigrants in Massachusetts. In March, federal agents raided a New Bedford factory, leading to the arrest of 361 workers.

At Greater Boston Legal Services, an advocacy group that many of the New Bedford immigrants used for free legal representation after the raids, executive director Robert Sable said he was disappointed with the Senate vote.

"I thought it would be much better to have one step forward and at least make a huge step for the millions of people who are undocumented," he said. "It can't go on as it is."

Meanwhile, opponents of the bill applauded. Steve Kropper, cochairman of Massachusetts Citizens for Immigration Reform, said the bill's plan to allow for the legalization of 12 million unlawful immigrants would have eroded wages for poor workers in Massachusetts.

"If you live in Boston and you clean hotel rooms or you're a nurse in a hospital or a worker in food preparation, the death of this bill means you have a better chance to own a house, drive a car, or afford health insurance," he said.

Kropper said he was concerned that a version of the bill more sympathetic to illegal immigrants could emerge if a Democrat is elected to the White House in 2008. Until then, he said, the debate would rage on.

"I don't think this is anything conclusive," he said of yesterday's outcome in the Senate.

Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernandez@ globe.com.