Thanks to our media for promoting the protests.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 60887.html

Local immigrant-rights and labor group activists and organizations are planning a march and rally in Houston on April 10, when mass protests are expected in cities across the country.

That date, a Monday, "will be around the time that both the House and the Senate bills will be in Congress. And around that time, members of Congress will be in recess and back home. It's a way for community members to really voice their opinion," said Maricela Donahue, field organizer with Community for Change, a Washington-based organization that coordinates grass-roots movements.

The organization is hosting the site www.April10.org, which went live Thursday and is intended to be a central point for the national organization.

Longtime Houston activist Maria Jimenez said the event will culminate what are "now very spontaneous movements."

"I would say that if the kids could bring out a thousand students, then there's no reason for us not to bring out 20, 30 or 40,000 people," said Angela Mejia, an organizer with the Houston chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and one of the leaders of the local protest.

During the past week, high school students here and nationwide have walked out of schools in protest of the House bill, which would impose criminal penalties on illegal immigrants and employers who hire them.

Massive marches and rallies have taken place in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, among other cities. So far, there have been no reported counter-protests, but more marches, rallies and even sit-ins are expected in the next week.

Organizers expect the mass movement April 10 to be a multiethnic and multinational coalition that includes the support of scores of large, well-established organizations — such as the AFL-CIO, National Association of Latino Elected Officials, League of United Latin American Citizens and People for the American Way — and smaller community groups and students.

"It's very similar to types of activities that you saw and types of collaborations you saw" during the civil rights era, Donahue said.

Organizers, who are now working out the details for April 10, hope other marchers will join from neighborhoods around the city.

Former city councilman and immigration attorney Gordon Quan, who attended an organizational meeting on Wednesday said, "It's not just a Latino issue. It's broad-based." A similar meeting, but in Spanish, was held on Thursday.

"I really want to get a multiethnic community out there — Asian-Americans, African-Americans," Quan said, adding that he's spoken to Pakistani and Indian community members who are closely watching the issue of immigration reform.

The national plan for mass protests on April 10 "has been something that has really come to fruition in the last few weeks," said Donahue, and "was fueled by people's resentment and really the desperation that people are currently under."

Marches also are expected in, among other places, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Miami, according to the April 10 Web site.

"If this does not work," Mejia said, "we're looking at boycotts."