Thread: We're proud of our life

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THOUSANDS MARCH FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

'We're proud of our lives'
Slow pace of reform adds to frustration for defiant marchers
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By Antonio Olivo and Sara Olkon
Tribune staff reporters

May 1, 2007, 10:50 PM CDT

The chants and drum beats Tuesday were familiar, and so was the sight of an estimated 150,000 demonstrators marching shoulder to shoulder through Chicago's Loop, a sweaty, tightly packed throng waving American flags and hoisting signs as downtown traffic stood still.

But, after a year of stalemate over immigration reform, the tone of this year's first major demonstration took a harder edge, with defiance and frustration driving the largest of several marches held simultaneously across the country.

Last May, when 400,000 turned out in Chicago to show immigrant pride, there was a festival-like atmosphere.

This time, the mood was set by speakers and signs insisting that illegal immigrants are here to stay, and challenging the federal government to deal with them. Many speakers blasted the raids at workplaces across the nation in recent months.

"We have done nothing against the law, except that we came without papers," said Celia Martinez, 49, who was among several in the crowd who freely admitted to reporters their illegal status, shouting to be heard over the din. "We're very proud of our lives here."

So after setting the stage for last year's summer of immigration marches, Chicago was again at the center of the national immigration debate.

From the podium, Mayor Richard M. Daley and other elected officials lauded the crowd's tenacity.

Some bystanders, meanwhile, looked on ruefully and wondered what all the marching is accomplishing.

With congressional leaders—and many of the march's organizers—wrangling over competing immigration-reform proposals, activists decided to push for a simple call for legalization of the country's 12 million undocumented immigrants and an end to federal raids.

Besides the coordinated "International Workers Day" marches in Chicago, Los Angeles and at least 10 other cities, immigrant advocates lobbied congressional leaders Tuesday, rallying on Capitol Hill to remind legislators of the role undocumented immigrants play in the national economy.

In Chicago and its suburbs, marchers took buses, trains and cars toward the city's center. By midday feeder marches that began in the Pilsen and Humboldt Park neighborhoods added to the growing crowd in Union Park, where spontaneous speeches, drumming and loud cheers created a cacophony.

As office workers peered out windows above, demonstrators marched through the Loop to the main rally in Grant Park. There Daley urged the crowd that filled Lower Hutchinson Field to look no farther than the nearby downtown skyline for proof of immigrants' impact.

"This skyline was built by immigrants in the past, present and future, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Daley said, as the crowd cheered and pumped American flags into the air. "It's not a Democrat message, it's not a Republican message. It's the people's message that we want common-sense reforms."

As with past demonstrations in the city, most of those who delivered that message Tuesday were Mexican, with some European, Arab and African organizers taking the podium to explain the plights of their communities. A group of gay and lesbian activists were also on hand, joining the flag and ice-cream vendors, socialists and corporate sponsors drawn to the immigration rallies.

But Alie Kabba, a Sierra Leone immigrant who heads United African Organization, which represents the city's 10,000 African immigrants, worried about the lack of diversity.

"We have been working to change the face and color of the immigrant-rights movement," said Kabba, standing out in the crowd at Union Park in his tie-dyed dashiki. "It's important for the rest of the nation to know that the undocumented don't just cross the border from the south."

With signs and speeches in Spanish, it was clear who gave Tuesday's march its momentum. Though fear of a backlash caused by recent deportations kept many people away from marches in Chicago and elsewhere, a last-minute surge by the city's Mexican community led police to divert the march from Daley Plaza, and ultimately filled much of Grant Park.

Several marchers cited anger over a federal bust of an alleged fake-ID ring in Little Village last week—where agents toting rifles stopped shoppers and workers at random before arresting 12 suspects—as a reason for coming out.

"People must realize that there's nothing to be afraid of or that type of disrespect will continue," said Samuel Salgado, 46, a legal immigrant who lives in Elgin.

Spanish-language radio disc jockeys, broadcasting live from Union Square, also urged listeners to "come out and make a statement."

"I think we accomplished what we set out for," said Jorge Mujica, one of the march's principal organizers. "We sent a very strong message to Congress. The immigration movement is still here and it hasn't died."

Yet, while police reported only two arrests connected to the event, both for graffiti, some bystanders were not enthused to see another march unfolding.

On an otherwise quiet, sunny afternoon downtown, where office workers lunched outside, the march clogged portions of the Loop for hours, with police closing down intersections as marchers made their way from Union Park to Grant Park.

The demonstrators' approach was heralded by TV news helicopters hovering overhead, followed by a faint, growing echo of "Si se puede," or "Yes, we can." Traffic ground to a halt for blocks in every direction.

"Why are they stopping traffic?" said Joseph Johnson, visibly frustrated after sitting in his van at Ashland Avenue and Roosevelt Road for more than 10 minutes.

Tea Figuric, 32, a legal immigrant from Bosnia who was downtown on her day off, smoked a cigarette and explained her resentment against illegal immigrants as she watched marchers on Jackson Boulevard.

Since she arrived eight years ago, Figuric said, she has had constant problems renewing her work visa because of what she described as harsh laws meant to crack down on illegal immigration.

"It makes me bitter," she said.

Kevin Houseworth, 43, was among others who were impressed by the crowd's passion.

As marchers walked by shouting "U.S.A.," banging drums or blowing whistles, "My first reaction was: `Go back to Mexico,' " Houseworth said.

"But seeing their resolve and their unity kind of reminds me that every community has had its struggles," said Houseworth, of Addison. "Chinese-Americans, African-Americans, Italian-American, we've all been through it. This could be the beginning of something bigger and, if I were the powers that be, I'd take notice. The city is becoming more Mexican whether we like it or not."

aolivo@tribune.com

solkon@tribune.com
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

take your sorry asses back to mexico because we dont WANT or NEED you here!

Originally Posted by angf117

take your sorry asses back to mexico because we dont WANT or NEED you here!

WELCOME ANG!

Quick reminder, please read the posting rules on the top of each forum page. No violence, etc.

I know, we ALL know, how upset you are --- we are too.
Dig in and help us fight this war! We can use good AMERICANS to help in our efforts.

Great to have you

Go back to Mexico and be proud there. We have had a gut full of your proud here.

"This city is becoming more Mexican whether we like it or not" the woman from Addison says. Hmm....so what do we just give in then? Am I a racist because I get nervous when I think about this country becoming so Mexicanized? Is there something wrong with me that I don't WANT to live with a Mexican majority? Isn't it human nature to be "most" comfortable with what you are familiar? If they continue coming here at the rate they have they will be the majority in a lot of towns across the US. That is how it's looking right now. They have no cause to say we are "racist" and we are picking on them when there are others here illegally too.....Yes there are some but not nearly as many as their numbers. Who are marching the streets? I don't see Polish or Italian or German faces in those crowds! I bet if they could and if they thought that no cameras were going to be on them more of them would have the signs "brown power."

katydid278 wrote:

I bet if they could and if they thought that no cameras were going to be on them more of them would have the signs "brown power."

You bet they would katydid. Just focus on last years 650,000 man march in Los Angeles. Mexican flags were prominant everywhere, as were signs reading "f--k America this is now Mexico". They burned our flag and urinated on it in the street in plain view of the cameras. They hung our flag upside down and hung the Mexican flag over it. This was the true face of the illegal aliens. However, this year, they got smart and came out with mostly American flags thinking we were a bunch of idiots and would forget all about their hatred in 2006.

I have lived in the epicenter here in Los Angeles for over 40 years and I can assure you, these people don't want to be Americans. They want to be Mexicans living in America and sucking us dry.