Thousands rally in LA for immigrant rights

http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S ... 0&nav=5D7l

Thousands rally in LA for immigrant rights


LOS ANGELES Thousands of people have marched through downtown Los Angeles supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants living in the United States.

The event was organized by the March 25th Coalition, which put on a massive protest earlier this year.

Banging on drums and waving American flags, protesters called for amnesty and a moratorium on deportations.

Police put the crowd at 15-hundred people, while some attendees estimated the event attracted between five thousand to six thousand people. There were no reports of any arrests.

Today's march was a prelude to a gathering planned for Monday. State and local officials are expected to gather at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. At a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Mahony is expected to make immigration a major part of his address.

I hope they march right on out of here!

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?secti ... id=4364191

Protesters Seek Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants

LOS ANGELES, September 2, 2006 - Hundreds of people marched through downtown Los Angeles Saturday to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and a moratorium on deportations.

The event, dubbed "La Gran Marcha Laboral - For the Immigrant Worker/For General Amnesty," also showed support for Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant living in Chicago with her 7-year-old son, who is an American citizen.
Arellano has sought sanctuary at her local church to avoid deportation, and she and her son have become symbols for the pro-amnesty movement.

Javier Rodriguez, one of the march organizers, said Arellano represents the "face of thousands of women" in the United States illegally, and her son "represents the face of millions of American children" living in fear that their parents will be deported.

LAPD media relations estimated the march drew about 1,500 people.

Unlike many recent pro-illegal immigration marches, there were no visible counter-protesters. But in Orange County, about 40 people protested illegal immigration in Lake Forest, and a man was arrested for allegedly spitting at them.

Saturday's protest in downtown Los Angeles began at Olympic and Broadway and ended in a rally outside City Hall. The march was both festive and purposeful, with banging drums and American flags, interspersed with a few Mexican flags, and loud calls for amnesty for all.

Rosa Ayala, 62, of Los Angeles, marched with a blown-up picture of her "green card," her real head poking through the middle of the card where her photo should be.

"I'm marching for my brothers, my immigrant brethren who also want a green card," she said. "I'm supporting this demonstration to protest against the racism that exists in this country, when this country is made up of immigrants. And so we can get our Social Security cards and we can pay our taxes legally."

Ayala was quick to add that most illegal immigrants pay taxes but are unable to claim Social Security benefits.

Luis Alvarez, 30, of Los Angeles, marched with his 9-year-old daughter, who was waving an American flag. He said he illegally came to America from Mexico when he was 16 and has been working in construction ever since.

"I have given the best 15 years of my life to this country," he said.

"Even still, I don't have the opportunity to get a driver's license," he said, adding he was also marching in support of medical benefits for people like himself who deserve them but are "often denied them" because of their illegal status.

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Margarita Avila and a group of her female friends wore Mexican garb with bandannas covering their faces like Zapatista rebels, she said.

Women played a prominent role in the march, giving most of the speeches outside City Hall.

"It just means that women have a voice," Avila said. "We have a lot of support and unity between women."

Although most participants were Latino, some Korean Americans protested a prospective trade agreement between the United States and South Korea.

America's foreign policy was the driving force behind illegal immigration, said marcher Sunyoung Yang.

"Today is a direct effect of U.S. foreign policy," said Yang, 24, of Los Angeles. "This is an important issue. It's a global issue directly linked with what U.S. corporations and the U.S. government does to the rest of the world."

The March 25th Coalition, which organized a massive protest earlier this year through downtown streets that drew an estimated half-million people also sponsored today's smaller march.

Organizers hoped another rally planned for Monday in downtown Los Angeles and Wilmington would draw more people.

State and local officials are expected to attend a Labor Day breakfast at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, in advance of a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Roger Mahony, who is expected to talk about immigration.

Many of the participants are then expected to head to Wilmington for the National Alliance for Immigrant Rights Labor Day march and rally.

During a speech Friday to a business networking group meeting in Studio City, Mahony criticized Congress for failing to act on immigration reform.

"I don't see much on the horizon that is going to result in meaningful legislation by the end of September," he said.