• Millions More in Los Angeles (FCN, 03-28-2006)
• Millóns Más en Los Ángeles (FCN Español, 03-28-2006)

Thousands of people streamed into downtown Los Angeles for what was one of the city’s largest pro-immigrant rallies, Mar. 25. Many of the marchers wore white shirts to symbolize peace and also waved U.S. fl ags while some also carried the fl ags of Mexico and other countries.

"I would dare say that it was a youth rally. The overwhelming presence of people under 30 contributed to the numbers, which went beyond expectations of even the organizers," observed Fernando Velazquez, an independent and international journalist.

What specifically caused youth and entire families, including babies in strollers or swaddled while feeding, to come out on a warm, Saturday morning to Los Angeles City Hall? H.R. 4437, or The Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005.

It passed the House of Representatives December 2005, and would make unlawful presence in the U.S. a felony. The San Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) informs on its website that the extraordinarily harsh and far-reaching bill, among other things, changes several basic rules about how crimes impact immigration status.

"We do not know which, if any, of the provisions affecting crimes will become law. The Senate will convene in mid-January and begin a debate on that bill, as well as other major immigration reform bills, that will last weeks or months," it cites.

Uncompromising self-determination

United Farm Workers members and their supporters rally, Mar. 26, 2006, in downtown Los Angeles, to mark the birthday of the late Cesar Chavez, the union’s founder, and to call for enactment of a federal law that would give temporary legal status to many illegal agricultural workers. Photos: World Wide Photos/font>

Immigrant activists, community leaders, radio and Spanish-language TV personalities helped orchestrate the event, deemed one of the largest protest marches against unjust immigration policies.

"This is a two-prong position. One is the community-at-large, because there were more than just Latinos present, but people from many ethnic groups. The other was from the business community, which created a mass campaign for the march and promoted it for free," Mr. Velazquez noted.

He said that the downtown L.A. business community, which routinely spends a fortune promoting a recurring downtown fair through mass media, successfully drawing over a million people each time, sees that the Bush administration’s anti-immigrant policies are a threat to their economic interests and the immigrant communities that they heavily depend on, so they responded in kind.

"They created a mass campaign for the march and promoted it for free. But what is really fascinating here is that though this is for the Latino community, the other communities who don’t speak Spanish and don’t listen to Spanish media came out in very large numbers," Mr. Velazquez continued. "This is a very strong message of disapproval to the Bush regime and Republicans’ efforts to demonize the immigrant community, just to make up for their shortcomings and their low percentage in popularity in the polls lately."

Nation of Islam Western Regional Minister Tony Muhammad said that people are witnessing a day when the scriptures are being fulfilled and in which God intends to give the land back to the Original People. "The Bible speaks of a day when her (America’s) borders will be overrun, and God’s will not be frustrated," he stated.

He applauded the unity, self-determination and organization of the marchers, and positioned why Blacks must support the efforts of Latinos for justice rather than getting caught up in the enemy’s plot to kick them out of America.

"White folks have turned us against each other and the mind of White supremacy is prevailing in us, because that’s how our slave-master has taught us," Min. Tony stated, adding of some Blacks in support of the bill, "This is a country built by immigrants. You’re dealing with Black people who are ill informed on the policies and plight for justice for Latino people. But we need to get more familiar with their plight."

Winona Spears migrated from Belize to America in 1970. She told The Final Call that the law will socially and economically affect many good people who are here legally and illegally. "Most of the people here are law-abiding citizens who come because they are from very poor countries without a lot jobs. I feel that the ones who commit felonies or horrendous crimes, they should deal with them," she argued, "but for the people who are here and do a good job and about their daily jobs, they should be left alone."

The voice of opposition to anti-immigrant sentiments was also heard throughout several major U.S. cities in recent weeks. The groundswell of protests included a Mar. 26 march by nearly 4,000 farm workers in L.A. for the Cesar Chavez Procession and Mass, themed "Justice for Immigrants." Two days prior, an Immigration News Brief (INB) reports that L.A. school district officials estimated that nearly 3,000 students walked out of at least eight schools to protest the proposed legislation.

Meanwhile, on Mar. 10, approximately 300,000 people demonstrated in Chicago. According to INB, 1,200 demonstrated Mar. 20 outside the state house in Trenton, N.J.; on March 22, 200 marched in Providence, R.I.; on Mar. 23, 10,000 by police accounts, but according to activists and organizers, 30,000 people filled the streets of Wisconsin and Milwaukee for "A Day Without Latinos" rally. In Atlanta, the Mar. 24 civic strike moved approximately 80,000 Latinos not to show up for work, while in Phoenix, 15,000 to 20,000 people marched for respect for immigrants, adding to the national trail of determination.