Border Security Advocates Bring Down L.A.'s Separatist-Friendly Billboards
by Chad Groening
May 5, 2005
(AgapePress) - An activist group working to curb illegal immigration has successfully convinced a Spanish language television station in Los Angeles to change its billboards. The roadway advertisements offended many local Californians and other citizens by implying that the City of the Angels is part of Mexico.William Gheen is president of North Carolina-based Americans for Legal Immigration (ALI-PAC). Recently, he received an e-mail from a supporter in Los Angeles who had seen a billboard on the 605 Freeway and photographed it. The reform activist says the man who took the picture had at first thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Gheen finds the billboards fairly incredible himself. "At the top," he says, "they have a new address for California. [The sign says], 'Los Angeles, CA,' but there's a red X over the CA, and next to it is written the word 'Mexico.' And this is an advertising campaign for TV 62 in Los Angeles." And some 75 such billboards have been erected around the L.A. area.
However, the head of ALI-PAC says after a week and a day of protest, the television station agreed to change the ads. "A lot of people still don't know that there's a separatist movement in the illegal alien community that feels that Los Angeles belongs to Mexico," he explains. "There are activists that say, 'It's our land and we're taking it back.' So those [citizens] that are more in the know were outraged and took action, and a lot more people started to find out about what's really going on in this country."
As a result of ALI-PAC's organized action, the group was able to get the sponsors of the billboard signs to agree to fix the problem. "We do not know what the change will be," Gheen says, "but we're confident that the word 'Mexico' and the offensive materials will be taken out of it."
The immigration reform advocate was pleased with the success of the grassroots effort, and their ability to get TV-62 to respond to their demands. He notes, "It took us eight days to pressure them into [changing the billboards], and we did it without any coverage from ABC, NBC, or CBS. We did it with a lot of talk radio hosts and people on the net and all around the nation working together."
Gheen says his group is proud of this small victory, but it is "just the beginning of our fight to have our borders secured and our existing immigration laws enforced." The 75 offending billboards are expected to be changed by Friday.
Chad Groeing, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
