Immigration Advocates Call Against Restrictive Reform
Thousands of immigration advocates marched across the nation in some of the largest demonstrations in recent years.
Thousands of immigration advocates marched across the nation in some of the largest demonstrations in recent years.
Some 500,000 protestors marched in Los Angeles while wearing white T-shirts to symbolize peace and chanting “Mexico!” “USA!” and “Si se puede” – an old Mexican-American civil rights shout that means “Yes, we can!”
In Denver, more than 50,000 people protested in downtown, and in Phoenix an estimated 20,000 gathered for one of the biggest demonstrations in the city’s history.
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The demonstrators were calling on Congress to abandon efforts to curb illegal immigration and build more walls across the border.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would make illegal immigration a felony, penalize those who hire illegal immigrants, require churches to check the legal status of those they help, and erect fences across a third of the U.S.-Mexican border. The Senate is set to pick up the proposals on Tuesday.
Churches and denominations have also joined in the immigration debate with some arguing for tighter border controls and others calling for a full integration of aliens into U.S. society. In an interfaith rally for immigration in Washington earlier this month, 20,000 immigration supporters and religious leaders reminded Congress that all people are considered equal in the eyes of God.
President Bush has sided with business leaders who want to let some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants stay in the country and work for a set period of time. In his weekly radio address, Bush said “America is a nation of immigrants, and we’re also a nation of laws.”
More national demonstrations are planned across the nation and are all set to culminate on April 10 in a “National Day of Action” organized by labor, immigration, civil rights and religious groups.
