Thread: May Day amnesty marches expecting, drawing smaller crowds

Mercury News
Immigration reform drawing May Day marches, rallies

By Matt O'Brien

Posted: 05/01/2013 06:11:48 AM PDT
Updated: 05/01/2013 06:11:57 AM PDT

Seven years after their "Great American Boycott" put the immigrant rights movement on the map, advocates are expecting smaller Bay Area crowds this year for immigration reform marches marking the first day of May.

Immigrants and their allies and family members plan to march Wednesday through San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Mountain View and other cities around the state and country.

"We want an immigration reform," said Angel Santuario, an organizer for Peninsula Interfaith Action, but he said many activists are wary that some of the proposals being developed by members of Congress are "going the wrong way."

Santuario was among thousands of Latino protesters who avoided working or shopping and marched through the streets of Mountain View on May 1, 2006, a day when historic immigration rallies happened in big and small cities across the nation. On Wednesday, he hopes for an equal or even bigger crowd now that immigration is on the agenda again in Congress.

Other activists, however, said turnout is unlikely to top the marches of 2006 and 2007. After years of political defeat, some seasoned advocates have shifted their focus from marches to direct lobbying of lawmakers.

And while this year is politically different, with leading Republicans on board with a path to citizenship for many of the nation's 11 million people living in the country illegally, local advocates said it can be hard to rally immigrants to skip work for a cause that sounds similar to others that have failed before.Some who marched seven years ago are not here anymore. Nearly 2.5 million people have been deported from the United States since 2006, according to federal statistics.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-...arches-rallies

nj.com
Supporters rally in Newark to push for immigration reform
By Victoria St. Martin/The Star-Ledger
on May 01, 2013 at 3:27 PM, updated May 01, 2013 at 4:28 PM

NEWARK — "When is Papi coming home?"
Shandy Espinoza's 5 year-old asks every day.

Espinoza said her husband Juan Pablo Pelaez had been on his way to work when he was detained April 8. And he could be deported to Ecuador but she can't bring herself to tell her son, Juan Carlos, that.

The quiet Dover woman said she found herself opening up to a small crowd at a rally for immigration reform in Newark this morning because she felt like she needed to talk about what's really going on with her family.

"Maybe there's other families with the same problem," said Espinoza. "I cry, I don't sleep, I don't know the future."

Several area groups rallied around Broad Street with signs that read "We are all Americans" and "No Deportation" and officials said Espinoza's family is the perfect example as to why immigration reform needs to happen sooner rather than later. Supporters are calling for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to end detention and deportation and for Congress to repeal mandatory detention.

"We would like everyone to consider the best way to truly be a country where we can welcome immigrants and showcase our best values of family unity, due process and human dignity," said Elissa Steglich, managing attorney with the American Friends Service Committee, who works on the group's immigrant rights program.

Espinoza's husband, who according to his wife has no criminal record, had previously been detained in 2008. Through an interpreter, Espinoza said Pelaez signed a voluntary departure without knowing what he was signing.

Now Espinoza said she has no idea how long it will be before she and her son will see her husband.
"I learn how to live on a day to day basis," she said.

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/20...newark_to.html

Chicago Tribune
May Day marchers call for end to deportations
Antonio Olivo and Kim GeigerTribune reporters

3:56 p.m. CDT, May 1, 2013


Chanting "Obama, listen, we're all in the struggle," hundreds of demonstrators joined a May Day immigration march this afternoon from Union Park to a rally at Federal Plaza in the Loop.

About 1,000 people, most of them Latino, gathered at Union Park before the march began. Standing on the bleachers of a baseball field, organizers shared stories of people facing deportation and working low wage jobs.

“We are workers. We are parents. We won't stop fighting until these deportations end,” said Rosie Carrasco, an activist on Chicago's Southwest Side.

Araceli Cisneros, 27, said she's anxious to see a path to U.S. citizenship open up to her after 10 years in the country. Since coming to the United States she has given birth to a son, now 9, who she supports with jobs as a waitress on the Southwest Side and a beauty salon stylist in Pilsen.

“We have to have a response,” she said. “We've had so many years asking for one.”

The march drew activists representing a host of causes.

Among the signs carried by marchers as they made their way down Washington Boulevard: “Stop the deportation of families,” “Americans have the right to know -- free Bradley Manning,” “End forced immigration -- create jobs in the Philippines,” and “Muslims are welcome here.” Manning is the Army soldier accused of leaking documents to WikiLeaks.

But immigration reform was the main focus, and many marchers waved American and Mexican flags.

“Obama, escucha, estamos en la lucha,” the crowd chanted. The saying translates roughly to “Obama, listen, we're all in the struggle.”

“I think it's a beautiful idea that the people work together to get a message to the system,” said Gerardo Miranda, 43, of Pilsen.

Miranda said people mistakenly think May Day demonstrations are about immigrants asking for amnesty. “It's not just immigrants,” he said, as he gestured toward a crowd of workers groups and gay rights advocates. “We're all here because we want a better life.”

The demonstration wasn't received well by some.

“I think it's hilarious,” said Fred Mangian, 46, a building engineer from Wicker Park who watched the march proceed dow Washington and was especially upset by the presence of Mexican flags.

“They broke the law, they're here illegally and they want a free pass,” he said of the marchers.

Earlier in the day, a small crowd was gathered at the park to prepare signs and practice the traditional chant, "Si se puede,” or “It can be done,” for a Spanish radio crew.

Ana Aguilera, 32, arrived early with her friend Angel Paloalto, 26.

Both expressed optimism that this would be the year for immigration reforms and, particularly, a legalization program that would benefit them and about 11 million others in the country illegally.

“Obama promised,” Aguilera said, adding that she longed to walk through the streets without fear of being deported and separated from her two U.S. born children.

“To be without fear on the street,” said Paloalto, a restaurant delivery driver.

Organizers expected the march to be better attended than in past years because immigration reform is on the table in Congress. Legislation that would offer a 13-year path to citizenship for more than 11 million people in the country illegally has been introduced by a bipartisan group of senators.

Among those taking part in today’s march are labor unions, the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Pentecostal churches and community organizations in both the city and the suburbs, said Jorge Mujica, one of the lead organizers.

“The possibility of having immigration reform is pushing people to do something,” Mujica said. “They are coming out from the suburbs again, which is really something we haven't seen in the last couple of years. DuPage is organizing, Aurora is organizing, and they are coming up all the way to Chicago.”

Just a few thousand people have participated in the march in recent years, compared with several hundred thousand marchers who took to the streets in 2006 and 2007.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,3708474.story

Immigration debate gives life to annual rallies
Posted: May 01, 2013 12:17 AM PDT
Updated: May 01, 2013 1:37 PM PDT
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON and ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Demonstrators demanded an overhaul of immigration laws Wednesdayin an annual, nationwide ritual that carried a special sense of urgency as Congress considers sweeping legislation that would bring many of the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally out of the shadows.

Thousands joined May Day rallies in cities from Tampa, Fla., to Bozeman, Mont., with participants braving the cold and snow to deliver their message in some places.

In Salem, Ore., Gov. John Kitzhaber was cheered by about 2,000 people on the Capitol steps as he signed a bill to allow people living in Oregon without proof of legal status to obtain drivers licenses.

More than 1,000 people assembled on the Montpelier, Vt., Statehouse lawn. In New York, paper rats on sticks bobbed along Sixth Avenue as about 200 protesters set off from Bryant Park, chanting: "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!"

The rats were intended to symbolize abused migrant workers.
Manyrallies featured speakers with a personal stake in the debate. In Concord, N.H., Kristela Hernandez, 21, said she feared separating from her U.S.-born children if her work visa expires.

"I came here for better opportunities for me and now mychildren," Hernandez told about 100 people outside the Statehouse. "I'm here to work and to get an education."

Naykary Silva, a 26-year-old Mexican woman in the country illegally, joined about 200 people who marched in Denver's spring snow, hoping for legislation that would ensure medical care for her 3-year-old autistic son.

"If you want to do something, you do it no matter what," Silva said. "There's still more work to do."

The crowds did not approach the massive demonstrations of 2006 and 2007, during the last serious attempt to introduce major changes to the U.S. immigration system.

Despite the large turnouts six years ago, many advocates of looser immigration laws felt they were outmaneuvered by opponents who flooded congressional offices with phone calls and faxes at the behest of conservative talk-radio hosts.

Now, immigrant advocacy groups are focusing heavily on calling and writing members of Congress, using social media and other technology to target specific lawmakers. Reform Immigration for America, a network of groups, claims more than 1.2 million subscribers, including recipients of text messages and Facebook
followers.

Gabriel Villalobos, a Spanish-language talk radio host in Phoenix, said many of his callers believe it is the wrong time for marches, fearful that that any unrest could sour public opinion on immigration reform. Those callers advocate instead for a low-key approach of calling members of Congress.

"The mood is much calmer," said Villalobos, who thinks the marches are still an important show of politicalforce.

May Day rallies began in the United States in 2000 during a labor dispute with a restaurant in Los Angeles that drew several hundred demonstrators, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, which organized what was expected to be Wednesday's largest
rally. Crowds grew each year until the House of Representatives passed a tough bill against illegal immigration, sparking a wave of enormous, angry protests from coast to coast in 2006.

The rallies, which coincide with Labor Dayin manycountries outside the U.S., often have big showings from labor leaders and elected officials.

Demonstrators marched in countries around the world, with fury in Europe over austerity measures and rage in Asia over relentlessly low pay, the rising cost of living and hideous working conditions that have left hundreds dead in recent months alone.

The New York crowd was a varied bunch of labor groups, immigrant activists and demonstrators unaffiliated with any specific cause. Among them was 26-year-old Becky Wartell, who was carrying a tall puppet of the Statue of Liberty.

"Every May Day, more groups that have historically considered themselves separate from one another come together," she said.
___
Spagat reported from San Diego.

Los Angeles Times
Labor, immigrant activists to unite in Phoenix May Day rallies

By Cindy CarcamoMay 1, 2013, 12:50 p.m.


PHOENIX — Two groups that rarely see eye to eye — immigrants rights activists and labor organizers — are expected to join forces here Wednesday, marching a mile and a half from the state Capitol to join a picket at the Hyatt Regency hotel where they will demand that an immigration system overhaul include fair rights for workers.

At a time where comprehensive immigration reform is the closest it has been in years to becoming reality, May Day rallies are being held in Arizona's capital, in Los Angeles and across the country.

In Phoenix, organized labor is scheduled to picket at 4:30 p.m. in front of the Hyatt Regency downtown. Immigrant rights activists will rally in front of the Capitol about an hour before they begin their 6 p.m. march to the hotel.

The turnout for the march is expected to be tiny compared with the May Day marches of 2006, when huge crowds gathered in various cities, including 100,000 protesters in Arizona's capital.

Still, this year's May Day rally in Phoenix is a sign of a better-organized immigrant rights movement than in years past, said Daria Ovide, spokeswoman for Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy, a worker advocacy group.

Since 2006, the movement has evolved, led by organizers who, instead of launching mass marches, are targeting legislators and forging relationships between organizations that have long struggled to find consensus on immigration reform.

A recent alliance is the new agreement between the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce to support comprehensive immigration reform that includes legalization for 11 million people who are in the country illegally and a guest worker program to deal with the future inflow of foreign workers.

Phoenix’s May Day march uniting labor and immigrant advocates reflects a matured national movement, Ovide said.

Mireya Mariscal, a banquet server at the Hyatt, marched in 2006 for immigrant rights and is now focused on demanding fairness for workers like herself at the hotel.

“We have been attacked as immigrants and we have been attacked as workers,” Mariscal said. The single mother of four children is now a legal permanent resident.

“I’m fighting for these people out there … the undocumented,” she said. “I was once out there, undocumented.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/n...,2847855.story

Glimpse from the past which brought me here to find you fine group of people who just want our immigration laws enforced.
http://www.alipac.us/f12/500-000-pro...igrants-17929/