82Marine89
01-12-2008, 02:15 PM
Members of a northeast Phoenix group of business leaders and residents say their neighborhood is suffering from intimidation tactics from those protesting an area day-labor center.
"They are bringing terror to the neighborhood," Keenan Strand, president of the Northeast Phoenix Neighborhood Action Alliance, said Thursday during a news conference to highlight the group's frustration.
Strand, who represents about 100 alliance members, said the Palomino neighborhood has been overwhelmed since members of the Minutemen and other groups opposed to illegal immigration have been protesting outside the Macehualli Work Center, on 25th Street, south of Bell Road.
Area business owners, like Strand who owns a McDonald's just yards from the day-labor center, said their business is down about 15 percent.
But the problem is more than economics, Strand said.
"The protesters, several visibly armed with guns, have been verbally engaging anyone walking by that seems to look illegal or don't seem supportive of them," Strand said. "These are residents, students, business people, neighborhood and spiritual leaders."
He said the alliance has been trying to work with the protesters but wanted to speak out publicly to eliminate confusion on where the alliance stands.
"We are not in favor of any illegal activity. None. We don't want to be ground zero for the national immigration issue, we have done nothing to deserve this," he said.
But in their efforts to help the situation, Strand said his members are "being shouted down as traitors and unpatriotic criminals."
Strand and about two- dozen alliance supporters gathered at Palomino Park for the conference, a few blocks from the Macehualli center.
Meanwhile, several protesters at the center stood along the sidewalk or huddled against their cars, videotaping or taking notes as day laborers came and went.
Click for full text... (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0111protest0111.html)
"They are bringing terror to the neighborhood," Keenan Strand, president of the Northeast Phoenix Neighborhood Action Alliance, said Thursday during a news conference to highlight the group's frustration.
Strand, who represents about 100 alliance members, said the Palomino neighborhood has been overwhelmed since members of the Minutemen and other groups opposed to illegal immigration have been protesting outside the Macehualli Work Center, on 25th Street, south of Bell Road.
Area business owners, like Strand who owns a McDonald's just yards from the day-labor center, said their business is down about 15 percent.
But the problem is more than economics, Strand said.
"The protesters, several visibly armed with guns, have been verbally engaging anyone walking by that seems to look illegal or don't seem supportive of them," Strand said. "These are residents, students, business people, neighborhood and spiritual leaders."
He said the alliance has been trying to work with the protesters but wanted to speak out publicly to eliminate confusion on where the alliance stands.
"We are not in favor of any illegal activity. None. We don't want to be ground zero for the national immigration issue, we have done nothing to deserve this," he said.
But in their efforts to help the situation, Strand said his members are "being shouted down as traitors and unpatriotic criminals."
Strand and about two- dozen alliance supporters gathered at Palomino Park for the conference, a few blocks from the Macehualli center.
Meanwhile, several protesters at the center stood along the sidewalk or huddled against their cars, videotaping or taking notes as day laborers came and went.
Click for full text... (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0111protest0111.html)