Thread: Hundreds Support Immigration Reform At Charlotte Rally

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Hundreds Support Immigration Reform At Rally

POSTED: 11:12 pm EDT September 3, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Hundreds of latinos gathered at Marshall Park Sunday night to show support for comprehensive immigration reform.

People at the rally said they want the U.S. House and Senate to agree on legislation that would give illegal immigrants a chance to become legal U.S. citizens. The Senate favors a path toward citizenship, but representative of the House haven't seen eye-to-eye with the Senate.

Mario Lopez, originally from Honduras, took his wife and two daughters to the rally. "It's very important to be here," Lopez said, "this is a great country with great opportunities."

This article claims a thousand.


http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/n ... 435829.htm

Rally celebrates U.S., immigrants
STEVE LYTTLE
slyttle@charlotteobserver.com
Abraham Gonzalez said it was no mistake that he and about 1,000 other people chose Labor Day eve to gather for an immigration rights rally at Marshall Park in Charlotte's uptown.

"This is Labor Day weekend, and we are laborers who support this country," Gonzalez said Sunday as he and his wife and three daughters listened to a series of speakers and broke into occasional chants of support for their cause.

"That is what we are trying to say," he added.

Speaker after speaker delivered the same message -- any immigration legislation adopted by Congress should allow illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., provided they aren't breaking the law and are paying taxes.

Marina Claras, a volunteer who manned a table where rally-goers signed petitions urging Congress to adopt immigration legislation that won't result in wholesale deportations, pointed to a sheet full of names and said, "I think the people here tonight see this as the main reason they are here."

The rally was organized by Communities for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a Charlotte-area group that attracted about 10,000 people to a similar event in early May when Congress was debating such legislation.

"We had a bigger crowd that day, but this is a big crowd, too, especially since it is a holiday weekend," she said.

The rally, which lasted well into the evening hours, had a decidedly pro-U.S. tone. Many children waved small U.S. flags, and the crowd occasionally broke into "USA, USA" cheers.

Police reported no problems.

A series of elected officials -- all of them Democrats -- urged those in the crowd who have U.S. citizenship to vote this fall.

Many in the crowd carried signs with messages such as, "My Parents Are Not Criminals" and "Let's Have Dialogue."

"We love this country," said Mario Lopez, who said he came to the United States 16 years ago from Mexico and is raising a family here. "We have made the U.S. our home. We are proud to be living here."

Gonzalez, who says he has been in the United States for 18 years, said he believes most of those at Sunday's rally don't want immigration legislation to protect people who are not obeying the law.

"We are like any other people -- most of us are good, but a few are not," he said. "We don't want the criminals to stay -- the people who break the law, who drive when they're drunk. But those of us who are working hard, paying our taxes, and helping this country -- we should be able to stay."

Another common theme at Sunday's rally: Don't discriminate against immigrants.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan national research group, conducted a survey in early July in which 54 percent of Latinos responding said they have seen an increase in discrimination because of the debate in Congress.

"There is no reason for people to be afraid of us," Gonzalez said. "We are your neighbors. We are the same as you.

"We might have been born in another country, and we have family members living in

Hundreds! Down from 5,000 in May! Hurrah!

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Hundreds! Down from 5,000 in May! Hurrah!

W

and people think we arn't winning