Rally for reform
Immigrants, supporters call for changes to rights they receive

By Madhu Krishnamurthy
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Sunday, September 18, 2005

For Rafael Perez-Guzman of Palatine, walking more than a mile on crutches Saturday at a Round Lake area rally for immigration reform was worth it.

After all, he endured greater pain on his journey from Mexico to the United States 12 years ago, crossing the border over a mountainous region on crutches with his family in tow.

Perez-Guzman says he risked his life to find work and a better life for his family in America.

He molds artificial limbs for an area clinic and hopes to make one for himself to replace the leg he lost working as a lumberjack in Mexico. He pays taxes and is putting his five children through school.

He says he feels handicapped by not having the same benefits as legal residents.

Hundreds of immigrants march in Round Lake Park Saturday in support of immigration reform legislation, before a forum on the issue at Round Lake High School.

Suburban immigrants march in a rally sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Saturday in support of proposed national legislation that would fast-track undocumented workers toward legalization.

Immigrants rights advocates say hard-working immigrants shouldn’t be denied the right to vote or access to health care and hospitals just because they came here illegally.

Nearly 400 undocumented and legal immigrants and their supporters from Lake County, the Northwest suburbs and Chicago marched in support of a proposed national legislation for broad immigration reform.

“This is just the beginning of immigrants organizing in the suburbs,� said Lawrence Benito, regional organizer for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “Workers are being abused because of fear that they may be deported. People want to follow the law, but our immigration system is broken and is forcing people to make hard decisions.�

The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act â€â€