Thread: Immigration reform march set; this one for kids

Immigration reform march set
SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUPPORT SUNDAY RALLY SO STUDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE
By Javier Erik Olvera
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/21/2007 01:39:21 AM PDT

Thousands of children from across the region are expected to take part in an immigration reform march next week intended to draw attention to the people most affected.

Activist Dolores Huerta - co-founder of the United Farm Workers - is behind the April 29 march, one of a half dozen to be held in West Coast communities.

She and local activists gathered in San Jose on Friday to announce the demonstration they hope will underscore the need for immigration reform.

Huerta estimates there are up to 4 million children of illegal immigrants who were born in the United States, but whose parents could be forced back to their native countries.

This, she said, would rip apart families, possibly making children leave a better future to be reunited with their parents.

"These are not criminals - these are people," said Huerta, adding that illegal immigrants are trying to do the same thing generations before them attempted to do when they came to this country.

School districts, including Evergreen, Eastside Unified and San Jose Unified, are also supporting the rally, organized to take place on a Sunday so school-age kids could participate.

Some of the school districts are busing in children and their parents to participate in the assembly, which begins at the federal government building at First and San Carlos streets.

It's unclear exactly who will pick up the tab for the busing, but Evergreen School Board President Sylvia Alvarez said the district is backing it so children can stay in class while other similar marches are held on May 1.

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve a proclamation supporting the march as a way for children to show their civic participation while not walking out of school, Vice Mayor David Cortese said.

Huerta said nothing proved the need for the marches more than immigration raids last fall in Colorado, where illegal immigrants were taken into custody at a packinghouse.

She said children were unaware of their deported parents' whereabouts for hours, with some left on their own for days.

"We need to put the faces of children on the injustices that are being committed," Huerta said. "This is a very, very important movement."

Contact Javier Erik Olvera at jolvera@mercurynews.com or (40 920-5704

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_5720824

There they go using their children again!

Shameful. I left a message under the article.

It's unclear exactly who will pick up the tab for the busing, but Evergreen School Board President Sylvia Alvarez said the district is backing it so children can stay in class while other similar marches are held on May 1.

If the district is backing it you can bet they'll be using the taxpayers money to fund their little sob-story march. We'd all play hell getting any tax money to expose our side of the issue to the general public.

As a mom myself, I can't help but wonder, what type of lowlife you have to be to use your children to advance your cause