Thread: Illegals Rally in Downtown San Diego draws 50,000

But ours draws around 100 at its peak. See my thread in General Discussion for more info on our Save America Rally.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...9bigmarch.html


Thousands march downtown for immigration rights



UNION-TRIBUNE

April 9, 2006

An estimated 50,000 people marched through the heart of downtown San Diego Sunday afternoon demanding immigration reform, in one of the largest demonstrations in the city's history.
Chanting “Today we march, tomorrow we vote” and “Si se puede!” the stream of walkers made its way from a corner of Balboa Park to the County Administration Center on Pacific Highway.


The March for Dignity, Respect and Hope had been planned for two weeks by a broad coalition of Latino community groups, religious leaders and students.

The marchers included entire families, some with baby strollers, and workers, business owners and students. Some had ridden buses to the staging area, while others had car-pooled, some from as far away as El Centro.

Many of the demonstrators wore white as a symbol of peaceful protest and carried signs that read “We are Americans!” and “We march today, we vote tomorrow.” A large number of Mexican and American flags were part of the protest, which included an effort to encourage participants to wave American flags.

“The more American flags, the better this is going to be,” said Ben Monterroso, an organizer with Service Employees International Union Local 1877.

One marcher, dressed as Uncle Sam, carried a sign that said “If you love this country, mi casa su casa.”

Migrant advocates have expressed concerns that throngs of people waving Mexican flags might spark a backlash. Organizers of Sunday's event scrambled to find as many American flags as they could to distribute to marchers.

Samuel Barriga, 50, of San Marcos was given an American flag and a sign that read “Immigrant values are family values.” Barriga said he was participating in the demonstration because he feared his cousins, friends and neighbors could be deported if efforts to crack down on illegal immigration succeed.

“They want to treat us like criminals,” Barriga said. “We're not criminals. We're hard workers.”

People by the hundreds joined the marchers as they walked south on Sixth Avenue, turned west on Broadway, then north on Pacific Highway.

Police, who gave the crowd estimate of 50,000, closed many streets, including most of Sixth Avenue. Community volunteers served as security guards.

The walkers encountered no counter-protesters, though about 60 people gathered on the harbor front earlier Sunbday afternoon, waved American flags and carried signs calling for more stringent immigration laws.

The demonstration occurred on the eve of dozens of protests planned across the country on Monday.

A lot of groups and organizations behind these protests get government funding or funding from various Foundations so it's a lot easier for them to get a bunch of people out. Also, I read somewhere that communist/socialist groups are also behind some of the protests and they can get out professional "protestors" also.

Also, I think Americans in general tend to expect their politicians to take care of matters-afterall, that's why they were voted in, right? Therefore, I think a lot of Americans have been busy calling and emailing their representatives instead of marching or protesting.

Plus, there's always the "race" factor. Hispanics can march and that's fine while white Americans march or protest and they're racists or xenophobes. And unfortunately "political correctness" still has the power to terrorize whites.

>>>>>>which included an effort to encourage participants to wave American flags.

This was my favorite part. Heaven forbid these marchers actually want to wave the American flag on their own. No, they must be "encouraged" to wave it.

We are actually being invaded by Mexico and our politicians, rather than stopping it, actively encourage it. We really are going to end up as the only people in the history of the world who simply gave their country away to another country.

http://nctimes.com/articles/2006/04/...4806112345.txt

Many from North County join in pro-immigration demonstrations

By: PAUL EAKINS - Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO ---- About 50,000 people marched through downtown San Diego on Sunday afternoon to demand what they consider fair immigration legislation and to oppose a Congressional bill that would crack down on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.

Carrying mostly American flags and signs that read "We are a nation of immigrants" and "We are America," the demonstrators ---- many of whom wore white as a symbol of peace --- started gathering around noon in Balboa Park.

The crowd included at least 500 people from Escondido, many of whom rode rented buses to the event, as well as countless other North County residents. An Oceanside city councilwoman was among the speakers to address the throngs.

At Balboa Park, demonstrators sang, chanted, listened to speakers and prayed before beginning their march just after 2 p.m. to the San Diego City and County Administration Building.

The crowds walked south from Laurel Street down 6th Avenue, then headed west on Broadway and back north on Pacific Highway, blocking the streets as they went. A representative of the San Diego Police Department said about 70 police officers were at the demonstration to re-route traffic and escort the marchers.

As they walked, the demonstrators chanted phrases such as, "Today we march, tomorrow we vote," in both English and Spanish, as well as a traditional Mexican-American civil rights shout, "Si se puede," which means "Yes, we can." While some carried flags from Mexico and other countries, most had American flags.

The line of marchers stretched about 15 blocks, and even as those at the front neared the administration building, other people continued to arrive in cars and buses to join in. People from throughout San Diego County and elsewhere joined in the march.

Francisco Lopez, of Vista, said Sunday's event marked a historic moment.

"The immigrant isn't afraid anymore," Lopez, a Mexican immigrant who has lived in San Diego County for 12 years, said in Spanish. "The immigrant has woken up. He has a voice now."

About 325 people rode in six rented school buses from Escondido to San Diego, while others drove there, said Daniel Perez, a community activist who helped organize the transportation.

Smaller groups from Vista and San Marcos also traveled together to attend the rally.

At Balboa Park, a tearful 11-year-old Escondido girl was among the speakers to address the crowd.

Carina Carrillo, a student at Farr Avenue Elementary, read a letter that she had written in class and mailed to Congress addressing the role immigrants play in the United States and her concerns about how stricter immigration laws would affect her immigrant family.

"My dream is to be a teacher, but if they approve the (immigration) law, I won't be able to be a teacher," Carina said.

She continued: "You can (give) thanks to all Hispanic immigrants that go to the fields from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. under the hot sun, working very hard to get fruits and vegetables for all of us to eat."

The rally came on the heels of student walk-outs and demonstrations in the last week of March throughout San Diego County and California, some of which resulted in confrontations with police and arrests. Sunday's demonstrations were mostly peaceful and police said no arrests were made.

However, police removed two counter-demonstrators from the protest area, including one man who was shouting "No amnesty!" into a bullhorn while standing in a crowd of pro-immigration demonstrators.

The officers dragged the man to a parking garage because he resisted their efforts to move him, and later took him to a designated area for a group of about 50 counter-demonstrators who were waving American flags and shouting "U.S.A.!"

Once the majority of the marchers arrived at the administration building by about 3:30 p.m., several speakers addressed the crowd, including religious leaders such as the Rev. Robert C. Ard of the Christ Church of San Diego and the Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego.

Some of the speakers shared their own stories of immigration. The Rev. Canon Mary Moreno Richardson, of St. Paul's Cathedral in San Diego, said that her father immigrated to the United States to give his family a better life.

"He did everything he could to better himself and his family, working two jobs and taking classes at night," she said.

Oceanside City Councilwoman Esther Sanchez also spoke to the crowd, saying that her Mexican immigrant mother's story "is the same story of this country."

In an interview after speaking to the demonstrators, Sanchez said illegal immigrants need a path to citizenship and that Sunday's demonstration will make a difference.

"This is a voice that will be heard in (Washington) D.C.," Sanchez said.

Among the protesters were many families, often with small children. Maribel and Antonio Melchor, of Escondido, took their three young children with them to the demonstration so they could voice their feelings as a family and to send a message to the rest of the country.

"It's important that they realize that (immigrants) are here," Maribel Melchor said in Spanish. "We're not criminals, we're hard-workers."

Similar rallies were held elsewhere in the United States. In Dallas, more than 350,000 people banged drums, waved U.S. flags and marched against federal legislation targeting illegal immigrants. There were no reports of violence. Thousands of protesters also turned out Sunday in New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Alabama, Utah, Oregon and Idaho.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.
bryan wrote on April 09, 2006 9:49 PM:"Borders, language, culture. Secure the border first then and only then can we begin to deal with 10-20 million illegal aliens."

http://www.10news.com/news/8573813/detail.html

25,000 march for Reform
Anti-Immigration Activists Tell Marchers To 'Go Home'

POSTED: 8:22 am PDT April 9, 2006
UPDATED: 9:02 pm PDT April 9, 2006

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SAN DIEGO -- In a show of support for fair immigration legislation, thousands of people marched in San Diego Sunday, while a smaller group of anti- immigration activists booed them.

By late afternoon, police estimated about 25,000 people, many wearing white and waving Mexican and American flags, participated in the pro-immigration event, and more appeared to be arriving from throughout the city

The event started with a rally and speeches at Balboa Park on Laurel Street and Sixth Avenue. The demonstrators then clogged Sixth Avenue as they marched through downtown toward the County Administration Center at 1600 Pacific Highway.

Westbound traffic was diverted at Broadway and Seventh Avenue, as the thousands of people marched south on Sixth and west on Broadway.


Traffic on Pacific Coast Highway was stopped by the mass of people walking into the county parking lot, police said.

Along the way however, a group waving U.S. flags shouted at the marchers to "go home.''

Arguments broke out but police quickly quelled the hostilities and the counter-protestors left the area. "We have to stand up as Americans and take our country back,'' Gabriel Pollack, with the Minuteman Project, told Channel 10 News.

The atmosphere was generally festive, with drums playing and the crowd chanting, cheering and whistling.

"White is peace,'' Mauricio Montiel said about the predominant color of clothing the crowd wore. "It is a march of harmony and peace,''

The march was also to "put forth our rights because we are all human beings,'' said Montiel, a handyman from San Diego.

Yolanda Parker, whose mother was an immigrant, said her father told her as a child not to tell anyone she was Mexican.

Parker said she didn't think that was right and Sunday she came out in support of the marchers.

"We're all so quiet,'' Parker said. "We live under the radar. I'm so proud today. I think we need some kind of a voice.''

Organizers said the event was meant to protest changes in immigration laws being considered in the U.S. Senate and to urge amnesty for immigrants in the country illegally.

"Just and fair immigration legislation in the United States must consider the lives of people who have lived here for years,'' one of the event's organizers, Gus Chavez, said before the march. "We must remember that immigrants are society's conscience.''

Organizers have also called for "El Gran Boycott,'' "The Great Boycott,'' on May 1, to show the buying power of Mexican immigrants, urging all Latinos to stay home from work or school and refrain from buying anything that day.

"I'm going to tell my boss in plenty of time,'' said Jorge Figueroa, a machine operator from El Cajon.

Earlier this month, students, union organizers and immigrant activists in San Diego, Los Angeles and other areas staged walkouts and rallies to protest pending federal immigration legislation.

On Friday, the Senate failed to get enough votes for a compromise bill that would have permitted undocumented immigrants working in the United States for more than five years to apply for citizenship.

President George W. Bush and many others are opposed to allowing amnesty for undocumented immigrants, saying it would be unfair to immigrants who are trying to become citizens legally.