Students walk out

COSTA MESA ? Following a massive weekend protest in Los Angeles, students from the city’s two high schools on Monday marched against federal and local efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

On Monday morning, about 200 people rallied on the lawn at Costa Mesa City Hall.

Shouting, blowing horns and carrying a few Mexican and United States flags, Estancia High School students elicited honks from passing cars during their rally around 11 a.m. They were joined after 2:30 p.m. by students from Costa Mesa High School, where administrators had tried to prevent mass walk-outs during the school day.

“We believe that what they’re doing here is unfair,” said Diana Valdez, 17, an Estancia student wearing a shirt that read “Stop Minutemen,” a reference to the anti-illegal immigration group that has patrolled the U.S.-Mexican border.

“We’re all students here, we’re all workers, we pay our taxes?. Just because we don’t have some papers, it’s not right for them to discriminate against us,” said Valdez, who helped organize the protest.

Many of the students said they heard about the protests from websites like MySpace.com and news reports on television. Several Costa Mesa High students said they joined the protests after Estancia students came near the campus and encouraged them to join in.

“We were in class and we heard them shouting, yelling and honking outside,” said student Erika Aleret. “We wanted to support them, so we walked out of class and joined them.”

Many of the Costa Mesa High students said they felt they were justified in walking off campus.

“People ditch class all the time for no reason,” Cynthia Delgado said. “This is for a good cause.”

More protests were planned for today by students at TeWinkle Middle School and Orange Coast College, and a major demonstration is still expected Saturday at City Hall. That protest was called in February by a coalition of labor and immigrant-rights groups specifically to object to Costa Mesa’s plans to enforce immigration laws.

Federal officials have been talking about immigration reform since 2005. In December, the House passed a bill that would call for a border fence, make it a crime to knowingly aid illegal immigrants, and increase punishments for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Proposals in the Senate have so far been less punitive, with some incorporating the guest worker program favored by President Bush and offering a route to legal residence for people already here illegally. The Senate was expected to begin a floor debate on immigration today, following committee discussion Monday.

Closer to home, the Costa Mesa City Council in December voted 3 to 2 to train police to check the immigration status of people arrested for felonies, sparking regular demonstrations at City Hall and long lines of speakers at every council meeting since. The city’s proposal has not been finalized.

A number of students at Monday’s protest echoed a common argument in defense of illegal immigrants: they come here simply to work and better themselves.

“We don’t even ask for help from the government because we’re so scared of the immigration laws?. We’re here to work and that’s it,” said 15-year-old Alexa Robles, who was carrying a hefty biology textbook.

She said some of her friends don’t have citizenship papers and would be subject to punishment under proposed federal rules.

Students were accompanied by a police detail as they walked between City Hall and Costa Mesa High School. After dismissal some Costa Mesa High students came over to City Hall to continue the rally.

Costa Mesa police said the protests were peaceful and without incident.

Yohnny Tamalatzi, 18, a high school graduate who now works in Huntington Beach, said he participated in the rally to express his beliefs, even though he doesn’t expect officials to listen. As he walked, he carried a Jack Russell Chihuahua on his arm.

Not everyone was aware of Costa Mesa’s immigration enforcement plan, but Tamalatzi said he thinks it’s racist and hypocritical.

He was born in the U.S., but his parents crossed the border illegally more than 18 years ago, he said. He supports amnesty for people who have been here for a long time and don’t have criminal records.

The bottom line, though, is his parents would be affected by tougher immigration laws.

“I’m not going to turn my parents in,” he said.

Valdez said students held the protest Monday to keep up the momentum of student walkouts Friday in Los Angeles and a Saturday protest there that drew a reported 500,000 people ? though Valdez said she attended and thinks more than 1 million people came.

In response to the protests, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor ? who spearheaded the city’s immigration enforcement proposal ? said he hopes students realize the city will be focusing on “major offenders” to make the community safer.

“If they were protesting securing our borders, that sounds like a double standard to me, because even Mexico has a strong southern border,” Mansoor said.dpt.28-protest-2-kt-CPhotoInfoPQ1PCBFO20060328iwtbtxkn(LA)Erick Cisneros, left, Estella Rodriguez, Andre Manzo and Leticia Carrera applaud and chant during a protest Monday. dpt.28-protest-1-kt-CPhotoInfoPQ1PCBFJ20060328iwtbtjknPHOTOS BY KENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Araceli Ramos of Buena Park addresses a crowd of high school students, parents and activists outside Costa Mesa City Hall during a rally against federal immigration reform proposals. Some Estancia High School students left school early on Monday.