- Title: USA: Thousands march for immigrant rights in Los Angeles
- Date: 2nd May 2009
- Summary: PEOPLE STANDING ON THE SIDEWALK WATCHING THE MARCH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ORGANIZER JUAN JOSE GUTIERREZ SAYING : "There has never been better conditions than now, we need to send a strong message to our president, we supported him and now we are waiting for him to keep his promise of an immigration reform this year." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER YOLANDA SANCHEZ SAYIN
- Embargoed: 17th May 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA4OMCXZIH46ZM4D3BEF4SS1NJP
- Story Text: The swine flu did not stop thousands of protesters in the streets of Los Angeles who got out fighting for an immigration reform and asking President Obama to keep his promise to legalize the more than 12 thousand illegal immigrants in the country.
Groups of mostly Hispanic protesters waved flags and chanted in pro-immigration May Day rallies across the United States on Friday, but many of the demonstrations drew smaller numbers than in recent years.
More than 90 protests were planned by immigration-rights activists, including 37 in California alone. Some of the events failed to materialize and the overall numbers of protesters seemed low compared to massive turnouts in the past two years.
Immigration activists want President Barack Obama to push ahead with a promised overhaul of laws to provide many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States a path to citizenship.
"There has never been better conditions than now, we need to send a strong message to our president, we supported him and now we are waiting for him to keep his promise of an immigration reform this year," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, a rally organizer in Los Angeles.
Whereas similar May Day rallies in 2006 and 2007 drew hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets of U.S. cities, estimates for Friday's rallies indicated the overall turnout ran in the single-digit thousands.
In 2007, Republicans killed a comprehensive bill to overhaul immigration laws, which would have, among other things, tightened border security and granted a path to citizenship for the undocumented.
Earlier this week, Obama said he would continue to seek a legislative framework for immigration reform this year. With that promise in mind, Isela, a demonstrator in Los Angeles said, "We want legalization, no more raids, Obama help us, keep your promise, keep your promise, no more raids, no more raids."
The outbreak of the swine flu in Mexico and the state of alert in the United States did not stop the demonstrators.
"No matter what, with the swine flu and the virus, over here we still right here fighting for our rights and everything," said Pamela, a demonstrator wearing a mask.
As far as the cultural discrimination against Mexicans due to the contagious epidemic, Marcelino Artiaga, an organizer said, "that's absolutely false, we can't be blamed for an epidemic, that is something that's happening everywhere, is something out of control, but not because of that they are to blame Mexicans because we are not at fault of that. Many times these type of epidemic happens, but is not within our control, we can't control a country is something general, something worldwide."
Six separate marches occurred in Los Angeles throughout the day. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None