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Students bear the flag at immigration rally
By Susan Palmer
The Register-Guard
Published: Tuesday, April 11, 2006

They wore white T-shirts to symbolize peace, waved U.S. and Mexican flags, and turned out by the hundreds in a daylong rally at the Federal Building in Eugene, one of dozens around the nation as Latinos lobbied against immigration reform measures they see as punitive.

Local students kicked off Monday's demonstration, converging at Seventh Avenue and Pearl Street in the morning. They waved signs that read,``America is made of immigrants,'' ``Here 2 stay'' and,``Say no to HR 4437'' - a reference to a House bill passed with no provisions for guest workers or amnesty for longtime illegal migrants.

Ernesto Herrera, a 15-year-old Springfield High School student, said he came to protest House Bill 4437. The bill would make being in the United States illegally a felony, increase the fines imposed on those who hire undocumented workers and build almost 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"It's not right what they're doing," said Herrera, an immigrant from El Salvador. People who are working hard should- n't be lumped in with criminals, he said.

"We're here for a better future," he said.

Officials at several local high schools said Latino students gave them a heads-up last week that they might not attend school Monday. Willamette and Springfield appeared to have the largest groups of absentees.

"What I know is just over 50 students coordinated to do this," Willamette Assistant Principal Dean Nussbaum said. Most left together from Willamette first thing Monday, he added, gathering "peacefully" to travel by car or bus.

Springfield High officials estimated that about 50 of their students attended the rally.

North Eugene Principal Peter Tromba said he thought between two and three dozen from North might have participated. Churchill estimated 20.

Neither South Eugene nor Sheldon reported any more absences than usual.

All the schools said the absences will be considered unexcused unless students have parental permission. With unexcused absences, it's generally up to individual teachers whether to deduct points or allow students to make up work, officials said.

"That's part of the cost of civil disobedience," Tromba said.

The number of students at the rally ebbed and grew through the day, with as many as 200 showing up at about noon. By 5 p.m., with clouds beginning to spit rain, adults began arriving, some with young children in tow, and the crowd swelled to more than 300.

Lane Community College student Itziri Moreno, a U.S. citizen, attended to show her support for immigrants. She worried that the House bill could tear families apart, separating illegal migrant parents from their U.S. citizen children.

That was Amber Parker's fear, too. She brought her son, 4-year-old Leo Hernandez, to the rally. While Parker is an American, Leo's father isn't. Although the couple is divorced, Parker doesn't want her son to lose contact with his dad.

While she agrees that something needs to be done to slow the flow of illegal immigrants into the country, people who are already here need a way to stay, she said.

At about 5:30, rain sheeted down, drenching the crowd as they huddled together under umbrellas to hear local activist Guadalupe Quinn speak.

Quinn urged them to ask elected officials to support a bill being debated in the Senate that would allow those with a long work history to remain in the United States. She said she does not support another guest worker program because the country already has such programs in place. But she does want a path toward citizenship for longtime workers.

The sheer number of people turning out for such rallies across the country marks a real change, she said.

"This is a turning point, and it's at the forefront in the political arena," she said.

And there's more to come, she said. Activists are encouraging Latino workers to walk off the job on May 1 and not go shopping to demonstrate their financial impact on the nation.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 11 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States, with between 100,000 and 150,000 in Oregon.

"They've wakened a big giant," Mario Lobo Hernandez said. A permanent resident who moved to Oregon from Honduras, Hernandez found the crowd and message impressive.

"I've been here 29 years and I've never seen something like this," he said.

The Eugene rally was organized by Voz: Workers' Rights Education, and a farm and forest workers' labor union.

- Reporter Anne Williams