http://www.napavalleyregister.com/artic ... 216929.txt

Large crowd marching through Napa
to protest immigration reform concepts

Monday, April 10, 2006 1:05 PM PDT
DAN ROSS
Register City Editor

Some 1,200 people are marching through downtown Napa at this hour, expressing their concerns about potential federal immigration reform.

The marchers gathered shortly before noon at Fuller Park, then extended their march along downtown streets as Napa’s part of the National Day of Action events taking place across the country.

American and Mexican flags flew in a light drizzle as marchers walked a few laps around the park. Others gathered under umbrellas while many chanted “Si se puede,” (Yes we can) and other slogans.



Various marches in the past 10 days in Napa were primarily middle and high school students voicing their concerns about House and Senate attempts to come up with some sort of immigration reform package.

Today’s march is not only as much as ten times larger than the previous ones, but the vast majority of marchers are adults.

The protest march, with a Napa Police escort through city streets, is scheduled to come back to Fuller Park in the next hour. A variety of speakers are slated to talk with the gathered crowd about the issues facing the local Latino community based on what might take place as immigration reform attempts take place with federal elected officials.

Pick up a copy of the Tuesday, April 11 Napa Valley Register for a full report on today’s events.

At least 20 other rallies were held throughout California.

In Oakland, more than 2,000 immigrants waving American flags marched downtown.

“We are united. We are not going anywhere,” protesters chanted as they marched nearly nine miles to the federal building.

Activists say the Senate’s decision last week not to push through a bill that would have given many illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship is neither a cause for celebration nor a lost opportunity — it’s a chance to regroup.

Between 800 and 1,000 people gathered outside the state Capitol, while 200 to 300 held a rally at a downtown Sacramento park.

Many groups had been preparing to rally since December, when the House passed a bill to build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, make it a crime to help undocumented immigrants and make it a felony to be in the country illegally. It is now a civil violation.

Local and regional protests, supported by popular Spanish-language disc jockeys, quickly merged into national plans after hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in dozens of cities last month, culminating March 25 with a 500,000-strong rally in Los Angeles.

Organizers say the national strategy that has evolved from the protests will let them keep pressuring lawmakers, though legislation offering eventual citizenship to illegal immigrants staggered Friday when Senate Republicans and Democrats couldn’t agree to a final vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.