http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hisp02.html

Protesters show support for immigration law reform

July 2, 2005
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporter

Thousands of people clogged Southwest Side streets Friday morning to march in support of the proposed Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, which would give undocumented workers more rights.

The mostly Hispanic crowd at the peaceful Back of the Yards demonstration also spoke out against current laws that they say tear apart families by deporting immigrants.

"It's just deport them and then ban them from the country. There's no flexibility in the law," Centro Sin Fronteras president Emma Lozano said.

"The immigrants came out to show their faces, to show that they are real people with families and not terrorists. They are people with the same dreams as other people living in this country," she said.

Lozano said a bipartisan effort led by Senators John McCain (R-Ariz,) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) was a step in the right direction.

If adopted, the act would allow foreign workers to legally enter the country on a temporary basis to fill jobs spurned by Americans. The proposal also provides a way for undocumented workers already here to gain legal status.