Hollywood stars, including Edward James Olmos and Salma Hayek, have joined ranks with a boycott planned for May 1 to protest the proposed tightening of US immigration laws. Activists have called for immigrants and their supporters to abstain from work, studies or purchases Monday, following on massive demonstrations they staged around the United States in the past month.
May 1 is not a holiday in the United States, where Labor Day is celebrated in September.
"The protest will be very important, because it will teach a lesson to politicians and the rest of the United States," Olmos, who is of Mexican descent, said of the action.
Oscar-winning Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla and Colombian actor John Leguizamo also lent their names to the cause.
Hayek, who is Mexican, said she knows herself what it means to "open a path" in the United States, as she told the Mexican press.
Before departing on a European promotional tour, Hayek was considering how she could support the May 1 boycott, a source close to the actress said.
"We have to demand respect and dignity, because we are all workers and because we are already part of the DNA of this country," Santaolalla, Oscar winner for the score to "Brokeback Mountain," told AFP.
Leguizamo, who played in "Moulin Rouge" (2001) and "Carlito's Way" (1993) among other films said that the was "proud of the protests" in which millions of Latinos took to the streets in recent weeks to protest some of the tougher immigration measures being debated in Washington.
"It is insulting that the law would call an immigrant a criminal," he said. "It's horrible."
In Washington chances improved that lawmakers would strike a compromise between those who would criminalize unapproved entry into the United States and build a wall along the Mexican border, and those who would admit guest workers or offer a path to citizenship to some illegal immigrants already working here.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security rounded up more than 1,100 undocumented workers last week, and plan to round up more.
Participation in the May 1 "Day without Immigrants" is uncertain, however, as some immigrant advocacy groups have warned that a boycott and strike could trigger mass firings and a backlash.
"Americans respect those who struggle, those who don't cow down," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, director of Latino Movement USA in Los Angeles, who supports the boycott.
"We can't (only) continue marching to make ourselves heard," he said.
On the other hand, the National Council of La Raza, the largest pro-Latino group, does not oppose the May 1 action, but suggested that instead of taking the day off, marches take place after school or work.
And Eva Longoria, of "Desperate Housewives," has also spoken out for the cause, but is careful to see both sides of the benefits of immigration, as well as the need to secure the US border.
