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Hispanic fest canceled; sponsors feared a raid
Colonial Beach cancels its Cinco de Mayo festival this Saturday as worries rise over recent arrests of undocumented immigrants
BY FRANK DELANO
Date published: 5/3/2007
BY FRANK DELANO
Fears of possible deportations of illegal immigrants have caused the cancellation of a Cinco de Mayo festival planned in Colonial Beach Saturday.
"We were going to have a parade, Latin American dance groups, a choral group, one or more bands, prizes and vendors of Latin American food and other things," said Dr. Peter Fahrney, president of the Colonial Beach Foundation, the sponsor of the event.
"It would have been the third festival. This year we were calling it the Hispanic American Heritage Day," he said.
But an inquiry about the event from a U.S. immigration official sent shockwaves through the Hispanic community already nervous about recent raids that have captured illegal immigrants for deportation, said Fahrney.
Latino advocate Maria Roe of Colonial Beach said she received the phone call two weeks ago from Gloria Williams-Brevard, a community relations officer of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. CIS is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Williams-Brevard, who works at the Arlington office of CIS, said this week that she had seen an announcement about the festival on the Internet.
Williams-Brevard said her office plays no role in identifying or arresting illegal immigrants. She said her job is to establish contacts and build relationships in communities.
She said she called to find out where Colonial Beach was with an idea of perhaps setting up a table at the festival with pamphlets about immigration regulations.
But Roe said she did not like Williams-Brevard's tone on the phone.
"I asked her why she was interested in this festival. She became very authoritarian and wanted to make sure I knew who she was. She really made me nervous," said Roe.
"She asked for the physical address of the festival so she could look it up on a map. Do you mean the Department of Homeland Security can't find Colonial Beach?" Roe said.
"I had to inform the festival committee about that call," Roe said. "If someone had been taken away, I would have been the cause."
All of the sponsors agreed to cancel the festival after learning about the government's interest in it, she said.
Several other organizations were helping the Colonial Beach Foundation plan the festival.
Date published: 5/3/2007
Most recent reader comments:
Silence is consent!
(posted by
wildfire
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
I wish they would have had the event and sent every last one of them back where they came from. How dare they enter this country illegally, wave foreign flags, steal our jobs, flood our emergency rooms and expect us to learn Spanish. They literally make me sick. If you're sick of this invasion, which is exactly what it is, SPEAK UP! Silence is consent!
No one has a problem with them being here. It's the way they entered the U.S. The legal way also weeds out the criminals. Let them all in and then deport the criminals? That's basically the problem we are having now. It's costing us Millions. If they went through the correct process, we wouldn't have to pay to deport them. Ask the jobless Americans if they would like to have those jobs. I'm sure they'd take them.
No one is stealing anything
(posted by
Arlyss
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
How many of us want to work in a sawmill, or processing seafood, or picking crops? I don't see many white or African Americans among the migrant laborers we have here on the eastern shore. I think we're wasting gov't resources chasing down illegals, instead of letting them come here to do work no one else wants to do. Let them all in, then deport the criminals. Save lots of time and money.
What would I do?
(posted by
Katie
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
What would I do if i couldn't feed my children and provide for them? I WOULDN'T HAVE FIFTEEN OF THEM!
Our local, state and federal reps need to look at this example (Article) before us. 41 comments, 99% demanding something be done about illegals. I think this says it all. FLS should do a true story on how we feel without being scared of not being politically correct.
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