Rallies, marches protest policy plan

One demonstrator said illegal immigrants were looking for special privileges.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Immigrants and their supporters took off work Monday to march, demonstrate and even serenade at federal offices around Ohio, flashing their economic strength and pushing for immigration reform as part of a national day of protest.
Several hundred people walked in Cincinnati past the office of Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, and then held a rally on the steps of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center as part of the nationwide protest billed as "A Day Without Immigrants."
There also were rallies in Cleveland, Columbus, Tiffin and in Dayton where 550 demonstrators marched around the Federal Building downtown and then to a rally at a nearby church. A half-dozen neo-Nazis, surrounded by police officers, hurled insults at the protesters as they walked by.
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Estaban Solano of Cincinnati said he took off work at a call center to attend the Cincinnati march.
"We care about this country and do everything for this country, as if it were our country," said Solano, 29, a U.S. citizen and native of Costa Rica. "They say we take jobs from Americans, but what Americans do you know who want to go to Florida to pick oranges?"
Frederico Ventura of Guatemala, who runs a Guatemalan grocery store in Cincinnati, said he shut his business for the day.
"We need to stand together," Ventura said. "We need to say, 'President Bush, you need to welcome Latinos.'"
Marchers carried flags of several Latin American nations and signs that read, "We're workers, not criminals" and "We are not terrorists."
A lone woman, who would not give her name, held a sign that read, "Go Home."
One speaker in Cleveland, where more than 200 people rallied, George Corona, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Mexico City, said the commitment of Latino immigrants to America is reflected in their willingness to serve in the U.S. military.
"We fought in Vietnam, World War II and Korea," said Corona, 68, an Army veteran with four brothers who also served in the U.S. military.
Another view
Phil Krnjeu, 28, of Willowick, the U.S.-born son of a Filipino mother and Polish-Croatian father, said illegal immigrants seeking legalized status were looking for special privileges while others, like some of his relatives in the Philippines, have waited since 1983 for visas to come to America legally. Some of his relatives have died waiting, he said.
In Tiffin, about 200 sign-carrying demonstrators marched to Rep. Paul Gillmor's office from a nearby park. The march was organized by the Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee, which gave its 20 office workers the day off to take part.
Marchers playing a guitar and an accordion serenaded workers at Gillmor's office, hoping to woo the congressman to their cause.
About 40 people gathered on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, many holding signs that said "No human being is illegal!"
Up to 20 percent of the 120 workers at Techmetals Inc., a Dayton metal-finishing company, are immigrants, but none took the day off to take part in the demonstrations, according to CEO Dan Brockman.
"They wouldn't want to hurt the company," Brockman said. "They worked hard to get here legally. Their biggest complaint is how hard it is to get here legally."
In December, the U.S. House approved legislation that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally. It would impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, require churches to check the legal status of the people they help, and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.