Thousands Rally Nationwide in Support of an Immigration Overhaul

New York Times

By Julia Preston

October 5, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/rallies-nationwide-in-support-of-immigration-overhaul.html?_r=0

Thousands of supporters of an immigration overhaul held rallies on Saturday at more than 150 sites in 40 states, trying to pressure Congress, despite the partisan turmoil in Washington, to focus on passing a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants here illegally.

Hoping to display the wide reach of their movement, advocates held larger rallies in immigrant strongholds like Los Angeles, San Diego and Boston, with smaller demonstrations in places where immigrant groups have grown recently, including Atlanta; Rogers, Ark.; and Yakima, Wash. Organizers described the events, and a large rally they have planned for Tuesday on the National Mall in Washington, as their major show of force this year.

On what they called a “National Day of Immigrant Dignity and Respect,” supporters said more than 50,000 people had turned out nationwide. But the demonstrations came when few lawmakers on Capitol Hill were thinking about immigration, with the federal government shut down and the House of Representatives locked in a feud with President Obama and Democrats over health care and debt funding.

Even while advocates have built up their strength — with a broad coalition of business, labor, religious and law enforcement groups calling for a comprehensive bill — they fear that momentum is slipping away for Congress to act this year.

In Birmingham, Ala., several hundred demonstrators convened for a rally in a downtown park, then marched chanting through the center of town. Rally speakers, including Benard Simelton, the president of the N.A.A.C.P. in Alabama, portrayed the immigration effort as part of broader civil rights activism in the state. Many immigrants marched with small children.

“I know there has been a shutdown, but we want Congress to know that the time is now to act,” said Evelyn Servin, an immigrant advocate. “We don’t want any more deportations. The respect we deserve is really needed here in Alabama.”

In California, protests and vigils were held in 21 cities. In San Diego, several thousand people gathered in Balboa Park on the edge of downtown. They marched to the sound of drumbeats and horns shouting “Si, se puede” (“Yes, we can”).

Ana Nuñez, 30, a student, said she had been living in the United States since 1989 without documents but recently received a temporary deportation deferral. She said that she had not seen her ailing grandparents since leaving Mexico and that she hoped for permanent legal status so she could travel to see them.

“I want to physically feel them,” Ms. Nuñez said, holding a yellow sign reading “Citizenship for 11 million #timeisnow.”

While the demonstrations were unfolding, Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed into law eight bills on Saturday expanding protections for immigrants in the state, including for those without legal papers. One bill restricted the ability of local and state police to detain immigrants on the basis of holds issued by federal enforcement officials, if the immigrants had not been arrested on serious charges.

“While Washington waffles on immigration, California is forging ahead,” Mr. Brown said.

Many events were focused on House Republican lawmakers whom advocates hope to persuade to vote for the overhaul. In Illinois, 26 marchers from church groups finished a two-day, 30-mile walk through unseasonal heat at the Taylorville offices of Representative Rodney Davis, a Republican. Many were immigrants here without legal papers, marchers said.

In Springfield, Ohio, several dozen people protested outside the office of the speaker of the House, John A. Boehner.

In Boston, some 1,000 demonstrators marched on Boylston Street, bustling with shoppers. The marchers headed down the street, hoisting signs with messages like “Don’t Deport My Mom.”

Wilmer Carranza, a 16-year-old high school student who said his parents were here without immigration papers, said he was frustrated by the slow pace of immigration action in Washington.

“What if they get deported?” he said, referring to his parents. “What if I’m alone? What am I going to do?”

In Minneapolis, more than 1,000 demonstrators marched from the Roman Catholic basilica near the center of the city, led by dancers in the feathered garb of ancient Aztec Indians of Mexico. Although many said they were undocumented immigrants, they showed little fear of protesting in public.

Nicole Erdmann, 37, a United States citizen, marched with her Mexican-born husband, Hector Reyes, 51, and a daughter in a stroller. She said Mr. Reyes had been unable to obtain a legal visa under current laws. Ms. Erdmann’s ire was focused on Mr. Obama, who she said failed to deliver on his promises to push through an overhaul.

She said she worried Mr. Reyes would lose his job or be detained. “We’re scared,” Ms. Erdmann said.

In New York, advocates rallied, in an upbeat mood, in Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn and then marched over the Brooklyn Bridge. Bill de Blasio, a Democrat who is the front-runner in the mayoral race, spoke as his wife, Chirlane McCray, stood beside him.

He said New York had a “special obligation” to push Congress for a path to citizenship for immigrants without legal status. “We have to set the example here of how to include all of our brothers and sisters even if they’re not documented,” Mr. de Blasio said.

On Wednesday, Democrats in the House of Representatives, at the urging of the minority leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, introduced a bill that closely matched broad bipartisan legislation passed by the Senate in June, including a path to citizenship for most of an estimated 11.7 million immigrants in the country illegally.

The House bill had no Republican sponsors, so its prospects were uncertain at best. But it gave advocates something to rally around, after a bipartisan House group’s efforts to write legislation fell apart last month.

Several House Republican leaders, including Representative Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, have said they hoped to hold votes on smaller immigration bills during the fall.

Mr. Goodlatte’s committee has approved bills that would sharply tighten immigration enforcement and provide more visas for highly skilled workers, but no bill so far that offers a legal pathway to immigrants here illegally.

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