Thread: Hollywood: Immigrant rights' rally draws fewer people than e

Immigrant rights' rally draws fewer people than expected
By Sue Doyle, Staff Writer
LA Daily News
Article Last Updated:06/24/2007 11:50:23 PM PDT

HOLLYWOOD - Turnout at an immigrant rights' rally was far lower than expected today, with many speculating potential marchers chose to stay home to watch the game between the Mexican and U.S. national soccer teams.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup rivalry between Mexico and the U.S. kicked off in Chicago at noon Pacific time, just as the rally began in front of the Kodak Theater.

Organizers had predicted crowds of up to 15,000, but barely 1,000 had shown up by noon.

Joe Delaplaine of answerla.org, one of the rally's organizers, said he was happy that people came out at all given the chaos that followed the May Day rally in MacArthur Park.

"It's people standing up for themselves," Delaplaine said. "It's civil rights."

Today's rally will be the first big test for the Los Angeles Police Department following last month's May Day melee, when a heavy-handed police response to demonstrators forced Chief William Bratton to review crowd control policies and reassign two top officers involved in the disturbance at MacArthur Park.

Bratton attended today's rally, assuming a high-profile position and assuring marchers that the LAPD would respect their rights to free assembly. "We anticipate (this event) will return us to what has been the reality, which is where we police these things all the time without incident," Bratton said. "And what happened at MacArthur Park was really the exception or the abberation."

The rally began at about noon at Hollywood Boulevard and Ivar Avenue, but marchers began assembling in the area at 10 a.m.

Martha Perez, 22, of Thousand Oaks, held a Mexican flag and said she came to the U.S. seven years ago. She said she was working toward citizenship.

"We came here without papers and to get better jobs and benefits," Perez said, noting that it would be difficult to return to her homeland. "We can't change our lives.

"We love this country and for that we work hard."

Chelo Torres, 21, a floor installer from Downery, came to the U.S. when he was 13 with his family. He is not a U.S. citizen and favors amnesty for all illegal immigrants.

"It's bad in Mexico. There are jobs in Mexico but they pay too little," Torres said. "Everyone wants to come here to make money."

Yesterday, police managed to defuse a tense situation between pro- and anti-immigrant groups at Leimert Park. More than 500 protestors on both sides were kept apart by a line of police on Crenshaw Boulevard. Five people were arrested.

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_6219606?source=most_emailed

They all stayed home to watch the soccer game....USA Vs Mexico...We kicked their fanny's

Which proves once again, they don't give a whit about either being legalized or becoming citizens.

"We came here without papers and to get better jobs and benefits," Perez said, noting that it would be difficult to return to her homeland. "We can't change our lives.

And there you have it. I've never read one of them telling the truth about the 'benefits' issue....too bad we're the ones who pay for those benefits while they come take our jobs.