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May Day celebrations in downtown Los Angeles filled the streets with workers claiming labor rights and demanding House passage of immigration reform. The spark on the debate was reignited after president Barack Obama informed on Wednesday, he will push for immigration reform this year.
Men, women and children shouted “workers first,” wore T-shirts that read “Legalize LA,” and carried signs of “Ye We Can”. The H1N1 virus fear didn’t stop them from dancing at the rhythm of the drums and salsa music played along the march.
Several thousand workers participated in the LA rallies to protest current lay-offs, demand a stop to work-site and residential raids, end the separation of families through deportations and open the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
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Roy Samaan, immigrant from Arabia said "we all need to be treated as humans and as equals," while Juan Carlos from Tijuana, Mexico added “I am here because I want and I need citizenship.”
At least six different marches made their way through downtown LA, all calling for changes in federal immigration policy, and gathering in front of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services building. The coalition of participating organizations was integrated by the Full Rights for Immigrant Workers, Immigrant Rights/Legalize LA, International Workers Day March to MacArthur Park, March for Immigrants, May First Annual Boycott March, and May First Day of Action in Support of Workers Rights.
“We’re celebrating May 1st sending a message to president Obama with very particular demands for the government to stop raids, deportations and the separation of the workers’ families,” said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American Political Association (MAPA) and organizer of the event.
Lopez added that Obama “talks and says, but we don’t really know when he is planning to do something [about the 1(1).jpg)
immigration reform].”
Also part of these marches were the Multi-ethnic Immigrant Worker Organizing Network (MIWON), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A. (CHIRLA), Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA), and Pilipino Workers Center (PWC). Labor Day marches in LA occurred without incidents.
Los Angeles May Day rallies made headlines in 2007, when approximately 600 LAPD officers fired foam-rubber projectiles to protesters gathered at MacArthur Park, injuring 27 marchers and 7 members of the media. Lawsuits were filed based on allegations that police officers gave the command to disperse in English to a crowd of mostly Spanish speaking demonstrators and followed by use of violence. Local news coverage said protesters were demonstrating peacefully, and left when the order was given. Video footage shows police striking with their batons at protesters as they were running away.
Comments
At least some of those protesters have smartened up enough to realize displaying an American flag is to their benefit, however hypocritical.
This is quite the contrast to the 2007 protests which proved to be a sea of Mexican flags, which led to justified criticism.
Here in California, no surprise illegal aliens and their sympathizers never mention illegals are costing Californian tax payers 13 BILLION dollars a year in social services. Illegals are significantly contributing to California's bankruptcy condition and are causing all California families a lot of financial harm.
Rather annoying to know illegals are receiving all kinds of assistance, housing, clothing, food, medical care and such while financially hurting California families are denied the same.
Sincerely makes me mad millions of our California children are going hungry, doing without medical care, while anchor babies of illegals are well tended to by our tax money.
I have to question why this is America takes better care of the needs of illegals and their families than the needs of American families.
Perhaps financially strapped American families should illegally enter Mexico, take to protesting and demand Mexico give them a good life.
All of this begs a question, "Why are Mexican citizens not protesting all the corruption, graft, crime and lack of a viable economy in Mexico?"
Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation
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