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Hundreds rally in Portland for immigration rights
Posted by The Oregonian newsroom September 3, 2006 14:45
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Several hundred people are gathered in the downtown Portland Park Blocks this afternoon for what organizers call a "Solidarity March for Immigrant Rights."

They say they want to "tell Congress that it's time to fix our broken immigration system."

After speeches, they plan to march down Southwest Columbia, then north to Burnside.

Many groups are involved, and there doesn't seem to be unanimity on a what immigration reform means.

Legislation to tighten border security and change the nation's immigration laws has been stalled in Congress for months because lawmakers can't agree on competing House and Senate bills.

The main sticking point -- whether to offer a path to legal residency to most of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States -- has galvanized groups on both sides.

Immigrants and their supporters are planning marches this week in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., to push for legalization.

Organizers say they are expecting hundreds of thousands of people from 17 states to converge on the National Mall in Washington on Thursday with at least 50 buses coming from the New York City area.

Most of the immigrant groups support a Senate-passed bill that includes a large temporary worker program and would give many current illegal immigrants a chance at permanent residency and citizenship.