By Alan Elsner
 
 
A one-day nationwide strike and business boycott got underway on Monday to demand legal rights for millions of illegal immigrants, with many U.S. businesses shutting down voluntarily to avoid disruption.

Early reports suggested many of the estimated 11.5-12 million illegal immigrants in the country were obeying a call to stay away from work and boycott businesses, despite a mixed message from immigrant-rights organizations, some of which opposed the action.

In New York City's Union Square, the normally bustling open-air market operated at a fraction of its typical activity. On Broadway, the usually chaotic sidewalk shops of cheap import goods were mostly shuttered.

"Everyone's an immigrant here. The only real American is the Indian," said Puerto Rican-born Rene Ochart, a doorman at the posh Hotel Pierre in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

A bill passed by the House of Representatives in December that would make all illegal immigrants into felons provoked a mass protest movement, bringing people who previously worked and lived in the shadows of U.S. society into the streets.

Across the country, several major meat-packing plants were closed but operators had tried to prepare for the shutdown by stepping up production over the weekend.

Fast food company McDonald's Corp. said some of its restaurants were operating with limited crews, for shorter hours or drive-thru service only. The company said it strongly supported immigration reform to "protect employees, employers and ensure the security of our nation's borders."

Police in Los Angeles were bracing for two massive marches, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to heed a call from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony and others to make their voices heard.

Police in Chicago were also expecting up to half a million people to march, while smaller rallies were planned in most major cities across the nation.

Recent polls suggest a majority of Americans would support legislation being debated in the Senate that would allow many illegal immigrants to join a legal guest worker program and later apply for citizenship. An NBC/Wall Street Journal survey last week found 68 percent would support this with 28 percent in opposition.

However, the same poll found that only 17 percent of Americans thought the day-long boycott and strike would help the immigrants' cause, while 57 percent said it would harm it.

STRATEGY SPLIT

The walkout caused a dispute over strategy within the ranks of immigrant-rights advocates for precisely that reason, with some fearing the action would trigger a backlash.

Yet proponents say the move was needed to prod President Bush and a divided Congress to end an election-year squabble and enact legislation.

Illegal immigrants, who flood across the Mexican border at a rate of half a million a year, play a crucial role in the U.S. economy, working mostly at low-paid jobs in agriculture, construction, restaurants, as janitors, meat packers, maids and gardeners and many other occupations.

"We are all losers if we continue to play this sinister game of condemning a segment of the population to live and work in the conditions of modern-day slaves," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, director of the Latino Movement USA.

A recent study by the American Farm Bureau Federation said a crackdown on illegal immigrant labor could cause production losses in U.S. agriculture of $5 billion to $9 billion in the first one to three years and up to $12 billion over four or more years.

Teachers' unions in major cities have said children should not be punished for walking out of class.

In New York, leaders of the May 1 Coalition organizing the boycott said a growing number of businesses had pledged to close and allow their workers to attend a rally in Manhattan's Union Square.

Passing immigration reform has been difficult because the Republican Party is badly split on the issue between those who support giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and hard-liners who want to focus on beefing up border security and punishing companies who employ illegal immigrants.

The House passed a get-tough bill last December that would reclassify illegal immigrants as felons, punish those who help them and build a fence along much of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Bush opposes the boycott and so do many members of Congress, including Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), a Massachusetts Democrat helping lead a bipartisan drive to reform overall immigration laws.

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