Harvesting Anger : Oxnard Laborers Leave Fields to March Against Prop. 187

Saying that the children of illegal immigrants should not be deprived of an education or medical care, about 200 Oxnard farm workers walked out of the celery fields Monday and marched from Plaza Park through La Colonia to protest Proposition 187.

Laborers from BUD of California, a Dole subsidiary, left their seasonal $100-a-day jobs picking and packing celery about 7:30 a.m. Monday to proclaim that immigrants--including illegal immigrants--contribute to the economy, and their families deserve public services.

Proposition 187, passed by voters in November, seeks to withhold education, public services and most medical care from illegal immigrants. The ballot measure is on hold after a series of lawsuits questioning its constitutionality were filed.

“We’re living in a rich country that is wealthy because of our cheap labor,” said Jose Rojas, who described himself as an undocumented worker.

“We have already been exploited enough,” said Rojas, who said his two young children are about to enter school. “We feel our children should be treated fairly.”

Chanting “Education for the children!” and “We all pay taxes!” the demonstrators--some with toddlers in tow--were escorted by police as they walked from Plaza Park through La Colonia before disbanding peacefully. No arrests were made, police said.

Many of the protesters asked that their names not be used because they are undocumented. Dole officials did not return repeated phone calls asking for comment Monday afternoon.

The marchers, bitter over the passage of Proposition 187, said Latinos are being unfairly targeted as the source of California’s woes and that they must band together to oppose the measure’s provisions.

“We’re seeing a lot of discrimination against Hispanics, not just those who are undocumented,” Rojas said. “If you are not a white, you are being treated different.”

As the farm workers passed Cesar E. Chavez School and the Colonia Village housing projects, residents walked out of their homes and cheered, and about a dozen elderly men and youngsters on bicycles joined the procession.

“It’s about time someone starts doing something,” said Ida Rivera, who watched the protest from her mother’s La Colonia apartment. “Illegal or not illegal, everybody has a right to have a chance.”

Rivera said Mexican immigrants have long done the work that others would not do, yet many of them are suddenly deemed expendable.

“If it wasn’t for them, who would be working the fields?” Rivera said. “You don’t see any white people out there.”

Francisco Morales, 40, said he has worked the fields since 1972 and has yet to see immigrants earn any respect for their labor.

“We work like dogs, and they still say we don’t belong here,” Morales said. “I’ve never burdened the government. I’ve never collected welfare.”

Many of the marchers said the idea to walk out of work to protest 187 came from KOXR, or Radio Lobo, a Spanish-language radio station in Oxnard.

The radio proposals apparently came after Los Amigos of Orange County, a Latino advocacy group, attempted to initiate a Dec. 12 sickout to show the economic strength of their community.

The Orange County event apparently fizzled due to lack of organization.

Last week, Radio Lobo held a weeklong call-in show on whether Ventura County’s Latinos should show their clout by not going to their jobs or buying anything Dec. 12.

Thousands called in, with most saying the county should take part in the “187 Flu Brownout,” said Radio Lobo owner and general manager Albert Vera.

Vera said his station received calls from hundreds of people Monday saying they did not go to work or knew of someone who had not gone to work because of the sickout.

But local union officials and authorities said they had not heard of any sickouts or walkouts in Ventura County other than that by the BUD farm workers.