Thread: LAPD: Immigration Rally Orderly and Much Smaller So Far

Originally Posted by NoBueno

"It’s about pride" she said in Spanish. "It’s not the Mexican flag we fight for anymore. It’s the American flag."

Yeah...we know all about your misguided pride. So you've abandoned the fight for your beloved mexican flag.

Since when?

Since la raza told you to do so, since Americans take offense to having your mexican rag shoved in our face, while you march down our streets, demanding rights and privileges for which you have no right!

The transparency is laughable!

I can spell RECONQUISTA...............................

Police: 50,000 turn out for LA's immigration march

By The Associated Press
Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 2:37 p.m.

LOS ANGELES — Police officials estimate about 50,000 demonstrators marched through downtown Los Angeles to demand immigration reform and to protest Arizona's tough new law against illegal immmigrants.

Officer Rosario Herrera says the crowd peaked early Saturday afternoon and was estimated to have dwindled to about 30,000 by 2 p.m.

Herrera says there have been no no arrests and no reports of injuries at the rally.

A ground force of officers on foot, bicycles and motorcycles were making patrols.

Police had prepared for an anticipated 100,000 people.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... ion-march/

Thousands march in US May Day immigration protests

AFP, May 2, 2010, 05.45am IST

LOS ANGELES: Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Los Angeles on Saturday in a peaceful May Day rally against a tough new immigration law in Arizona that has triggered a nationwide outcry.

An estimated 60,000 marchers turned downtown Los Angeles into a sea of red, white and blue, waving Stars and Stripes flags and demanding the repeal of the Arizona legislation and calling for federal immigration reform.

A Los Angeles fire department official put the crowd at 60,000 while police declined to give an official estimate.

Coachella Valley residents join 50,000 in Los Angeles for immigration protest

An estimated 50,000 people were in Los Angeles today to protest Arizona's new immigration law. About 1,000 were from the Coachella Valley.

Police had prepared for an anticipated 100,000 people, and a ground force of officers on foot, bicycles and motorcycles were making patrols.

Two people were arrested, one for vandalism and one for public drunkenness, Los Angeles Police Officer Cleon Joseph said.

Earlier today, before the updated version:
By C.J. Lin, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/01/2010 01:33:28 PM PDT
Updated: 05/01/2010 04:26:34 PM PDT

While the Los Angeles Police Department did not issue an official count, some officers in the crowd estimated the figure was closer to 30000

Both updated the head count.

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_14994354

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14994354

REGION: Huge crowds turn out for LA's immigration march

LOS ANGELES -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators galvanized by opposition to Arizona's tough law marched through the streets of downtown Los Angeles to demand an overhaul of immigration laws, some holding signs calling for a boycott of the Grand Canyon State.

Singer Gloria Estefan kicked off the march by climbing on a flatbed truck to say that illegal immigrants should not be considered criminals. She said the United States was a nation of immigrants.

"We're honest people, we're good people," the Cuban-born singer said. "We've given a lot to this country. This country has given a lot to us."

Cardinal Roger Mahony stood on the truck and joined the crowd in chanting, "Si, se puede," or "Yes, we can," in Spanish. Streets and sidewalks were packed with tens of thousands of people as horns blared.

The march ended nearly five hours later after a steady stream of politicians and labor leaders stepped on stage on a perfect spring afternoon to denounce the Arizona law and insist that President Barack Obama tackle immigration reform.

"We say no to Arizona, no to racism, no to hate," said Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles city councilwoman and Democratic candidate for California lieutenant governor.

Police officials estimated about 50,000 demonstrators took to the streets at the rally's peak in the early afternoon.

Police had prepared for an anticipated 100,000 people, and a ground force of officers on foot, bicycles and motorcycles were making patrols.

Two people were arrested, one for vandalism and one for public drunkenness, Los Angeles Police Officer Cleon Joseph said.

"Overall everything was extremely peaceful," Joseph said. "Very well done by everybody."

Organizers handed out T-shirts that read, "Legalize Arizona" and "Boycott Arizona." Marchers waved American flags, along with many from other countries, including Mexico, the Philippines, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Hot dog and ice cream vendors wheeled carts along with the crowd.

David Cho, an illegal immigrant from Korea and a student at University of California, Los Angeles, drew loud cheers when he said he dreamed of joining the Air Force and becoming a U.S. senator.

"I feel like I'm living inside an invisible prison cell," he said.

Many came to protest Arizona's new law requiring local and state law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally.

"If they see someone with black hair and Latino face, they're going to stop you without any reason and ask for your papers," said Eleazar Cruz, 37, a Los Angeles bartender from Mexico who paid a smuggler $300 to cross the border illegally in San Diego in 1985 and later became a legal resident. "It's crazy."

Cruz participated in a massive May 1 pro-immigration march in 2006 -- upset at the time by a proposed federal crackdown on illegal immigration -- but was too busy to attend the annual marches since then. The Arizona law brought him back.

"We're angry," he said.

Oswaldo Osorio, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who paid his smuggler $150 to cross the border in San Diego 18 years ago, turned out with his wife, also in the U.S. illegally, and their two U.S.-born daughters. All four waved American flags.

Osorio, 38, said his family wanted to make a statement for giving immigrants legal status and protesting Arizona's law.

Benjamin Hernandez, 44, attended his first political rally since coming to the United States illegally 10 years ago. He lived in Arizona for two years after paying a smuggler $1,200 to walk across the desert, then moved to Ventura to join his father, where he works construction jobs.

Hernandez said his nephews in Arizona are upset by the law but won't leave the state.

"I won't go visit them," he said. "They can come visit me. After working so hard, why would I want to lose everything?"

There were few dissenting voices. Demonstrators ignored a man who stood silently on a sidewalk as they walked past him with a sign that read, "Balance the Budget. Deport Illegal Aliens."

In San Francisco, a crowd believed to be in the thousands marched through the Mission District to a rally at the city's Civic Center.

Police were out in force, lining the route as the noisy crowd chanted and carried signs reading "Full Rights For All Immigrants" and "Arizona's Racist Law, We Say No!"

Juan Carlos Esteban, 37, a member of the United Service Workers West union, said he felt the need to protest the Arizona legislation.

"That's a step backward for the whole nation," he said of the law. "It's a human rights issue."

Noe Madrigal, 32, came out with 15 friends. He said only two of them were in the country legally.

"That new law in Arizona is very unfair," Madrigal said. "That's racism."

------

Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala contributed to this report from San Francisco.

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

Don't forget that the Los Angeles crowd (which was smaller than expected) was reportedly the largest in the nation, and the elected politicians from this area already support amnesty.

Originally Posted by Populist

Don't forget that the Los Angeles crowd (which was smaller than expected) was reportedly the largest in the nation, and the elected politicians from this area already support amnesty.

That's exactly right Populist,

Everyone needs to remember that in addition to playing the race card, one of the tactics most utilized by those people is to try and make themselves look bigger.....and thus, more influential and powerful in this country.....than they really are.

It's a meaningless.....and hopeless...... ploy driven by desperation. It means nothing.