Opponents plan protest for Paul Ryan visit to Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is heading for Fresno.

Ryan will be holding a fundraising dinner at the Fresno Convention Center on Saturday.

Local supporters of the Romney-Ryan ticket will pay $1000 a plate for the food and $25 thousand to attend a private reception.

But protesters are also getting ready for the visit. Democrats and progressives say they plan to welcome Congressman Ryan to Fresno with a peaceful demonstration.

Representatives of some of the groups planning to demonstrate against Paul Ryan's visit to Fresno outlined a few of the issues they have with the Republican ticket.

"We have serious concerns about the devastating affect the Ryan budget would have on the American economy and more importantly the American family," Judy Hess of Progressive Democrats of America said.

The demonstrators say they see the team of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as a threat to Social Security, Medicare and the environment.

"The Romney-Ryan ticket will mean more subsidies for oil companies to continue the same devastating practices we've had in the past," Gary Lasky of the Sierra Club said.

They also expressed concerns over immigration issues, like what happens to those President Obama is currently allowing to apply to stay in the country.

"There's the open question whether the children and the students now applying for these permits would be deported if Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney were elected," immigration attorney Jessica Smith Bobadilla said.

While those who will protest may believe Romney and Ryan are out of touch, one of the event's co-sponsors, Republican Congressman Devin Nunes of Tulare says the Ryan-Romney ticket will be good for the residents of the Central Valley.

"They represent more rural and agricultural ideas than San Francisco and Hollywood, which is what president Obama and Biden represent," Rep. Nunes said.

The small group at this news conference says they expect at least a couple of hundred other to join them during Ryan's visit Saturday night.

The Paul Ryan fundraiser gets underway at the downtown Fresno convention center on Saturday evening at 5:30. It's part of a statewide tour by Ryan, who's raising money in dozens of cities up and down the state.

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paul ryan, mitt romney, fresno, fresno county, fresno downtown, politics, gene haagenson

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