Thread: Chicago: only 2000 join march, {organizers expected 15,000}

So far the articles I've read say attendance is way down at the marches. I saw a video at a park where the Chicago march started and it was stated that there were only several hundred people. Yesterday they were confidently estimating that there would be 15,000 people.

I watched a video of a Chicago self-labeled undocumented immigrant who said she thought she deserved citizenship because she's been here so long, worked so hard and paid her taxes. Okay....




Immigrant rights march ends in Loop
May 1, 2009 2:57 PM | 41 Comments | UPDATED STORY


Participants in the May Day immigration rights rally march through the West Loop. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Today's march for immigrants' rights ended with a rally in Federal Plaza in the Loop this afternoon with a much smaller crowd than in years past.

The march ended shortly after 2 p.m. and Chicago police reported no problems. Authorities estimated the crowd to be between 1,400 and 1,500 people, about 1/10 of the size in 2007.

This morning, many had earlier gathered in Union Park on the Near West Side where they banged drums, blew trumpets, chanted and carried signs calling for the legalization of immigrants as the march began.

Hundreds of thousands of European workers feeling the pinch of the economic crisis rallied at May Day protests Friday from Moscow to Berlin to Istanbul.

At 1:15 pm, the marchers began their way into federal plaza, fighting to make up with noise and enthusiasm what they lacked in size.

Sounding at times like a rag-tag cavalry in the soft drizzle with trumpets blaring and drums pounding, they stopped Loop traffic for nearly 30 minutes, their ranks stretching back several blocks.

Where previous marches had the feel of a grassroots movement with mothers pushing strollers and thousands of workers taking the day off work, this year's demonstration was boiled down mostly to the core of the immigration reform movement.

Labor unions, in particular, made up most of the crowd, with churches and student groups also joining in the chants.

Those students called for passage of the so-called DREAM Act that would grant conditional legal status to students.

"This is our year," said Tamara Montes de Oca, 17, convinced legislation introduced in the Senate earlier this year would pass after failing in previous congressional sessions.

De Oca plans to attend the University of Illinois in Champaign next year, though she is unsure how she'll make the $28,000 annual tuition without legal status. She was attending her first march with a group of fellow students from the Josephinum Academy in Wicker Park, all cheering when a speaker chanted "Education is a right!".

Debbie Marian de Lada, 17, the class valedictorian at Josephinum after arriving as a child from the Philippines, said she had been denied acceptance to several universities "because they consider me an international student."

"I've worked very hard," said de Lada, who finally did get accepted to Loyola University. "I can only depend on loans."

Organizers worried over the last few days that the pall of the swine flu virus would keep the number of marchers down.

In addition, some or the urgency has lessened as the Obama administration has eased up on deportations and congressional leaders have expressed willingness to pursue immigration reform.

Elsewhere in the world, clashes between police and angry protesters disrupted some events, including in a few European countries where the effects of the economic crises have been felt the strongest.

From the park, marchers are going east on Washington Street to Des Plaines Avenue, south on Des Plaines to Jackson Boulevard, east on Jackson to Dearborn Street, north on Dearborn to Adams Street and on to Federal Plaza.

Their Spanish shouts of "Obama feels the people are present" drowned out the folk guitar singer at Potbelly's and one woman's cell phone conversation as she screamed into her Bluetooth receiver "I can't ... hear you!"

Unlike many in the crowd who had participated in previous marches, Alfonso Perez, 53, was out for the first time.

The recently laid off mechanic said he felt compelled to join this year because he finally grew tired of "all the injustices handed to immigrant workers."

"I worked there for 35 years," he fumed about his former Chicago employer. "I gave them my sweat and just because I don't know English very well, they let me go."

There will be rolling street closures.

More than two dozen CTA bus routes are expected to be altered or face delays this afternoon.

For a complete list of those bus routes, click here.

--Antonio Olivo

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009 ... rants.html

"I worked there for 35 years," he fumed about his former Chicago employer. "I gave them my sweat and just because I don't know English very well, they let me go."

He has been here 35 years a still does not speak English!! THEY GAVE HIM 35 YEARS TO LEARN!!!

kimnorth And he cheated another American out of a good job.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Illegals going home or afraid to show their faces. GOOOD!!!

I hope the rest of the marches around the country were equally dismal.

Debbie Marian de Lada, 17, the class valedictorian at Josephinum after arriving as a child from the Philippines, said she had been denied acceptance to several universities "because they consider me an international student."

"I've worked very hard," said de Lada, who finally did get accepted to Loyola University. "I can only depend on loans."




Can only depend upon loans, huh?

The typical story of the illegal alien. Come to the United States and depend on everything to paid FOR you.


The recently laid off mechanic said he felt compelled to join this year because he finally grew tired of "all the injustices handed to immigrant workers."

"I worked there for 35 years," he fumed about his former Chicago employer. "I gave them my sweat and just because I don't know English very well, they let me go."


Uh-huh. The layoff couldn't have had anything to do with economy, right?

And please, do not get me started on the injustices suffered by American workers who have found themselves displaced by illegal aliens and unable to find jobs because they don't know how to speak SPANISH.

And on a side note to that: Shame on ya if you've been here 35 years and your English "isn't so good". You've had the opportunity to learn and you've refused. WHY? Because your loyalty to, and pride in, your country of origin tells you to refuse to assimilate? Because your racist special interests have you bullsh*tted into believing that everything in the United States is to be done your way or no way at all?

If YOU didn't learn the language, it's YOUR failure, not OURS.


It really irks me no end that these people.....fueled by a sense of entitlement and by the rantings of their racist "advocates"......cannot even accept layoffs due to the bad economy, businesses closing, etc. but instead feel compelled to turn it into an issue of race.

Get a grip and welcome to reality folks. Being a latino illegal alien does NOT guarantee you job security!!!!

Wonder if they all stayed home with the Flu.

They wouldn't dare use that excuse now would they.

Dixie

"I worked there for 35 years," he fumed about his former Chicago employer. "I gave them my sweat and just because I don't know English very well, they let me go."

35 years and you still cant speak English? You should have mastered it by now. IF YOU ARE ILLEGAL- GET OUT!

Hehe....the Glad trash bag commercial comes to mind...."wimpy, wimpy, wimpy."

And just to show how stupid they are they wheel out the Statue of Liberty.

If they had come in the front door with a permanent resident visa like past immigrants did at Ellis Island, they would not have any reason to march.
Also the name of the statue is "Liberty Enlightening the World". It has nothing to do with immigration other than legal immigrants went past it on the way to Ellis Island. To be accurate these marchers should have also had Ellis Island in front of the Statue of Liberty, fully staffed with immigration agents.

Originally Posted by azwreath

Debbie Marian de Lada, 17, the class valedictorian at Josephinum after arriving as a child from the Philippines, said she had been denied acceptance to several universities "because they consider me an international student."

"I've worked very hard," said de Lada, who finally did get accepted to Loyola University. "I can only depend on loans."

And this illegal is cheating an American Citizen Student out of a higher class ranking to get into college and scholarships.