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Thousands protest immigration crackdown

By The Associated Press
March 25, 2006
More than 50,000 people gathered downtown Saturday as part of a national protest against a crackdown in immigration laws, including federal legislation aimed at criminalizing illegal immigrants and building more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Protesters also came out to urge the state Senate to reject a resolution supporting a ballot issue that would deny many government services to illegal immigrants in Colorado.

The large crowd surprised police officers, who were expecting only a few thousand people at Civic Center Park next to the Capitol and Denver city and county buildings, said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson.

But the crowd, mostly made up of families and older people, was respectful and the four-hour rally ended without incident, he said.

Speakers during the rally ridiculed the Republican party telling participants that "they're not on our side and they're pitting Americans against us."

"This is the standing point of a new beginning," said protester Eli Chairez-Clendenin, 36, of Denver, who immigrated to Colorado in 1974. "We're not going to be intimidated or afraid to speak our mind. We're going to be who we are."

The Senate on Monday will begin debating on legislation would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Lisa Duran, of Denver-based Rights for All People, called the federal proposal inhumane because it would make 1.6 million children felons and would kill more people who are trying to cross the border.

Illegal immigrants want legislation that would protect illegal immigrants, unify their families, and would address future flows of immigrants, Duran said.

For Arvada resident Elsa Rodriguez, a trained pilot who came to Colorado in 1999 from Mexico to look for work, she said she just wants to be considered equal.

"We're like the ancestors who started this country, they came from other countries without documents, too," said Rodriguez, 30. "They call us lazy and dirty, but we just want to come to work. If you see, we have families, too."