Cities, businesses feel effects of boycotts

WASHINGTON -- Nationwide boycotts yesterday disrupted commerce, stalled traffic, and flooded streets from New York to Los Angeles as immigrants and their supporters sought to influence Washington policy makers with a dramatic show of their political muscle and importance to the economy.

Immigrants formed human chains and forced small stores to close for the day in Manhattan and New York's other boroughs and some areas of New Jersey. Some 300,000 protesters streamed through the streets of Chicago, and immigrants in scores of smaller cities withheld their manpower from restaurants, construction sites, and landscaping businesses, in an economic show of force.

In Los Angeles, an estimated 500,000 marching through downtown ground traffic and business to a virtual halt around midday, in the day's biggest demonstration. Demonstrators waved American and Mexican flags and displayed signs: ''We are not criminals," and ''Legalize, don't criminalize."

The boycott had an effect in ways large and small. Many McDonald's restaurants and other fast-food franchises closed early because they were short of workers. Goya Foods, the nation's leading Hispanic-owned food company, suspended all deliveries across the country in a show of support for the boycotts, while meat packers and poultry producers like Tyson's Foods and Perdue Farms -- which depend heavily on immigrant labor -- were forced to close some plants.

Mass marches snarled downtown traffic in cities across the country, and transit systems were forced to operate on reduced schedules and reroute vehicles. Several schools closed early or canceled extracurricular activities because of student participation in the rallies -- and in some cases because bus drivers joined the boycott, leading to shortages.

''This will symbolize the interdependence of all of us -- not just immigrants, but all of society," said Chung-Wa Hong, director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

The ''Day Without Immigrants," timed for international labor day, was a planned follow-up to last month's enormous rallies, where hundreds of thousands of immigrants marched peacefully in cities and towns across the nation to demand comprehensive immigration reform. They want Congress to create ways for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants now living in the United States to stay legally and achieve citizenship.

But the idea of shutting down businesses, disrupting classrooms, and stopping traffic proved controversial; some feared that flexing their political and economic muscles could provoke a backlash. Many religious and political leaders who support them urged immigrants to go to work and school, and find less confrontational ways to make their voices heard.

Supporters of a hard-line approach to halt illegal immigration predicted the mass demonstrations would backfire. Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, likened the protests to ''intimidation and extortion.

''I'm highly offended when illegal people come into this country, take jobs illegally, and then protest and wave foreign flags," Lott, a former Senate majority leader, told Fox News. ''It actually is having the reverse effect on me. Instead of helping their case I think that they are hurting themselves and hurting their case."

Reacting to the demonstrators' chants in Spanish and a recent Spanish-language pop recording of the national anthem, Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, yesterday introduced a nonbinding resolution declaring that the anthem should be sung only in English. ''It is a mistake precisely because our nation is a nation of immigrants," Alexander said. ''English is a part of who we are as Americans. It is part of what unites us."

Meanwhile, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a key player in the immigration debate, said in a statement he agreed that the boycotts were ill-advised. But he noted that yesterday's events were largely peaceful, and said he was inspired by the heartfelt nature of the demonstrations.

''The protests have been peaceful family events demonstrating the commitment that immigrants have to our country, and reminding us that we are a nation of immigrants," said Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts.

In Washington, site of one of the biggest rallies April 10, the boycotts were scattered and did not significantly affect businesses. Nearly all of the activist groups who planned last month's march on the National Mall did not support yesterday's boycotts, and a few smaller protests were held instead at other sites in the region.

The fact that the boycott disrupted commerce and everyday life could anger many Americans whose support could be vital in the current debate, said Lawrence Harrison, an immigration specialist at Tufts University's Fletcher School. ''It may have an impact that is opposite to what is intended," Harrison said. ''When you realize there are millions and millions and millions of people who have in effect jumped the line, it leaves a visual image that can be shocking."

Counter-protests were mostly muted, though a project by some 200 volunteers to build a quarter-mile-long barbed-wire fence along the border outside San Diego provided one visible outlet for opponents of illegal immigration. In Arizona, Republican state lawmakers proposed a $100 million crackdown on illegal immigration that would include using the state's National Guard troops and radar to patrol the border.

The Senate is deadlocked over how to remake the nation's immigration laws; conservatives insist that undocumented immigrants should be forced to leave the country before becoming eligible for citizenship while others favor creating paths to legal status. In December, the House passed an immigration bill that would tighten penalties for illegal immigration and concentrate exclusively on securing the border.

Like the previous demonstrations, the protests took on a celebratory feel. ''If I lose my job, it's worth it," said Jose Cruz, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who protested with several thousand others in rural Homestead, Fla., instead of working his construction job. ''It's worth losing several jobs to get my papers."

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.