Second thoughts on migrant boycott

Houston Chronicle:

A nationwide boycott and general strike planned for May 1 to push for immigrant rights is falling out of favor with many advocacy groups because they fear a public opinion backlash.

"We would be throwing the atomic bomb ... the last weapon in our arsenal," Jaime Contreras, chairman of the National Capital Immigration Coalition, said Thursday at a briefing for the news media.

Contreras, who helped organize a march in Washington as part of the pro-immigration rallies around the country April 10, said a boycott was premature because immigration legislation is pending in Congress. There would be "a lot of repercussions if we don't do it right and at the right time," he said.

For instance, he said, a strike and a boycott on purchases by immigrants could lead to losses for some of the business that are backing legalization for illegal immigrants. Also, demonstrators could lose their jobs if they skip work.

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Or, perhaps ICE might find it easier to find them prompting more raids like this one. When people who are here illegally bring attention to themselves they make it harder for immigration authorities to ignore them. The boycott is intended to bring attention to these people. It also puts employers in the awkward position of having to admit they are illegally hiring ilegals, or alternatively firing them. A fired illegal has no right to sue for discrimination in employment. Just as waving the Mexican flag backfired on these groups, the boycott very likely will too.

However, this report suggest many may be about to promote vote fraud.

Leaders of the demonstrations that drew hundreds of thousands of immigrants into the streets last week announced Wednesday that they were planning voter registration and citizenship drives across the country in an effort to transform the immigrant community into a powerful, organized political force.

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Since people who are here illegally cannot vote, what is the deal with a voter registration drive? Perhaps that is another reason why so many Democrats oppose photo ID's for voting.