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 News from Around the Americas | May 2007 
200,000 Rally in Immigration Marches
 Mira Oberman - Agence France Presse
More than 200,000 activists rallied across the United States this week, demanding an overhaul of immigration laws and greater rights for an estimated 12 million illegal workers.
Overwhelmingly peaceful May Day protests were held in more than 20 cities - including Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Miami and New York - by a broad coalition of immigrant rights' campaigners.
The rallies took place on the one-year anniversary of massive nationwide protests which saw more than one million mostly Hispanic workers stage an unprecedented "economic boycott" by skipping work for a day.
Divisions among activist groups about the best way to campaign for reform as well as fear among illegal workers following a series of immigration crackdowns led to a lower turnout, activists say.
But in Chicago, many protesters said they were motivated by a high-profile raid by heavily-armed FBI agents in the heart of one of the largest Mexican neighborhoods in the Midwest.
Police put the size of the demonstration at around 150,000, while organizers claimed one million protesters marched through the heart of the city waving U.S. flags, wearing white T-shirts and chanting "si, se puede" (yes we can.)
A steady stream of protesters poured into the city's downtown Grant Park, where they were greeted by the city's powerful Democratic mayor Richard Daley, who castigated federal politicians for failing to pass substantive immigration reform.
"Will you please stop dividing our families," Daley told the cheering crowd. "Our nation is one of compassion and understanding and we have to understand this country was built by immigrants past, present and future."
In Los Angeles, where around 500,000 protesters brought the city's business district to a halt last year, police said between 8,000 and 10,000 people had gathered for a march to city hall.
At a second march in Los Angeles, riot police clashed with some protesters, firing rubber bullets and tear gas, police said. A spokesman said police responded when objects were thrown at and struck about 15 officers. At least one person was arrested, a police spokesman said.
Waving U.S. and Mexican flags, marchers called for reform to offer a route to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Many carried placards reading "Legalization Now!" and chanted "stop the deportations."
Flavia Jimenez, an analyst at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest non-profit Latino rights organization in the U.S., said workers were wary of possible repercussions if they protested.
"There is more fear this time and that is preventing our community from mobilizing like last year," Jimenez told AFP.
Although smaller than 12 months ago, the Los Angeles protests forced the closure of 17 downtown streets and altered some 60 bus routes. The murder trial of legendary music producer Phil Spector was also been adjourned for the day.
President George W. Bush last month called for an overhaul of immigration laws by the end of the year. Analysts believe reform will stall if the issue drags into 2008, as focus turns to the race for the White House.
Bush's proposals include the creation of a temporary guest worker program and clearing the way for some undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens, coupled with a series of tougher security measures.
In Detroit, about 10,000 people, also waving Mexican and U.S. flags, marched carrying banners reading "Legislation Now, No Guest Worker Bill" and "Amnesty for All."
"We're here for my late father who was an illegal," said Rosalie Delagarza Johnstone, a Detroit-born Mexican-American who attended the rally with her 18-year-old son, David, who skipped school to participate.
"He was deported, then fought his way back here to make a better life for me and my brothers and sisters. He joined the army and could have died, would have died, to help us."
On the east coast, groups rallying under the New York Immigration Coalition and National May 1st Movement for Worker and Immigrant Rights marched to demand more rights for all undocumented immigrants.
Downtown Manhattan's Union Square became a sea of color, with the Stars and Stripes mingling with flags from Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador and Ecuador.
In Florida, hundreds of people rallied and waved U.S., Honduran and Mexican flags at Miami's Government Center before marching downtown. Posters reading "I live here too," decorated a stage. "Who makes these buildings?" shouted organizer Carlos Pereira as he gestured to Miami's jagged skyline. "We, the immigrants."
The foreign-born population of the United States is now more than 33 million, nearly 12 percent of the total. |
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