Massive rallies planned for reform

Many students have pledged to stage walkouts.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NEW YORK -- Immigrants and their advocates in New York and 50 other cities are set to flood streets around the nation today in a massive show of support for sweeping immigration reform.
More than 100 organizations, labor groups and religious institutions have planned a massive rally from 3 to 7 p.m. in City Hall Park and north along Broadway.
"Immigrants want freedom," said Jimmy Cheng, a Fukienese community leader in Chinatown, where a contingent of Asian nationals will march from Chatham Square to city hall. "We're all hoping something is going to happen in Washington."
Showing support
Many city high school and college students have pledged to stage walkouts. Some janitors plan to call in sick for the day. Taxi drivers intend to shorten shifts to attend.
Others plan to march from Washington Square Park to city hall, while throngs were expected to pour over the Brooklyn Bridge into lower Manhattan.
"We cannot concentrate in class with all this horrible legislation going on in Congress," said Carlos Perez, 21, an undocumented immigrant who is a business major at Baruch College. "We really cannot take this anymore."
Today's demonstration is part of a coordinated nationwide day of action aimed at demanding Congress allow the estimated 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to earn legalization.
"The immigration debate is changing every minute," said Gouri Sadhwani, executive director of La Fuente's New York Civic Participation Project. "Enough is enough -- immigrants want to be treated like human beings."
Huge impact
Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said all New Yorkers will feel the impact of the rally. "There will be a huge show of pride of being an immigrant and being part of America -- huge," said Hong.
"If you look at this debate two months ago and right now, there is a huge difference because before it was all about enforcement," Hong said. "Immigrants are realizing they now have the ability to change the debate by bringing our voices to the table."
The House passed a get-tough measure last December that would make it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant. The Senate failed last week to pass a softer compromise bill that included a path to citizenship.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., whose Judiciary Committee wrote most of the compromise bill, predicted the Senate would get back to the contentious legislation when the Easter break is over.
"I think tempers will cool over a two-week period," he said Sunday on "Fox News Sunday."
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