Immigrant rights activists join protests nationwide
CHICAGO - May 1, 2008 Turnout has fallen sharply since the first nationwide rallies in
2006, when more than 1 million people - at least 400,000 in Chicago
alone - clogged streets and brought traffic to a standstill.
Activists hoping to re-ignite the immigration debate in time for
the presidential elections say this year's efforts are focused less
on protests and more on voter registration and setting an agenda
for the next president.
Nevertheless, they planned to take to the streets from Miami to
Dallas to Los Angeles for May Day protests.
"We come to let Washington know we're still here. We're still
fighting," said Jorge Guzman, 34, as crowds swelled in Chicago's
Union Park before a march to a federal plaza downtown.
Guzman, a legal immigrant from Mexico, was among a group of
about 100 marchers from the Chicago suburb of Waukegan, where
tension mounted after city officials applied for a federal program
that would train local police to help enforce immigration laws.
He carried a giant hand-painted banner depicting a man being
handcuffed by immigration agents and a little girl crying and
saying, "Where is my family?"
In Washington, D.C., immigrant rights groups and social justice
organizations were demanding that Prince William County, in
northern Virginia, rescind its anti-illegal immigration measure.
They also want raids and deportations to end, and are calling for
worker centers to be established in Washington, Maryland and
Virginia.
Activists also plan to deliver a letter to the Republican and
Democratic national committees, asking the presidential candidates
to enact immigration reform.
In Tucson, a march organized by a coalition of immigrant
advocate organizations and labor union locals was expected to
address border and immigration issues, ethnic and racial justice
and education, health care and jobs.
In Milwaukee, factory worker Miguel Tesillos, 29, was among
hundreds who lined sidewalks waiting for the march to begin.
"Our people, we pay taxes, we pay the same as a citizen," said
Tesillos, who has a Green Card. "Maybe the new president can see
this point, and do something for us," he said.