Immigrant-rights supporters rally by hundreds of thousands

The 'National Day of Action' is a response to House-passed legislation.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of thousands of immigrant-rights supporters rallied in Washington and dozens of other cities Monday in a nationwide show of unity to assert a claim on the American dream and demand new legal protections.
Waving U.S. flags and chanting "Yes, We Can" in Spanish, predominantly Hispanic protesters marched past the White House to an afternoon rally at the National Mall. Similar demonstrations took place in New York, Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia and other places large and small.
Reminiscent of the civil rights protests and anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s and 1970s, the coast-to-coast rallies displayed what organizers described as an emerging social and political force as immigrants find their voice.
"You're what this debate is about," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., co-sponsor of a leading immigration bill in Congress, told demonstrators on the National Mall just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. "Some in Congress want to turn America away from its true spirit. They believe immigrants are criminals. And they're wrong."
A crowd that stretched five blocks down the mall cheered with gusto and waved American -- and a few Mexican and Central American -- flags in response.
Immigration overhaul
President Bush is pushing Congress to enact the most comprehensive immigration overhaul in two decades amid growing signs that lawmakers may be unable to reach consensus before they adjourn in October. A compromise bill embodying much of what Bush said he wanted collapsed in the Senate last week, forcing senators to shelve the plan until they return from a two-week recess on April 24.
Organizers of the Washington rally estimated turnout at nearly a half-million. Police declined to provide an estimate.
Monday's rallies were the latest in a series of demonstrations that erupted several weeks ago to protest a House-passed bill that would make illegal immigration a felony and -- if strictly interpreted -- could mean jail sentences for anyone offering assistance to illegal immigrants. Sponsors of the House bill say the legislation has been misinterpreted and have promised to agree that illegal immigration would be a misdemeanor.
The demonstrations were billed as a "National Day of Action" to mobilize against the House bill and build support for a measure that would put many of the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants on track toward permanent legal status and eventual U.S. citizenship.
Guierine Donis, wearing a T-shirt and visor that read "Stop HR-4437" to a rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said the House would deprive immigrants of "education and all the rights we deserve."
Other rallies were held over the weekend, one drawing as many as 500,000 in Dallas. Student walkouts and boycotts of businesses in Latino communities were also planned in several cities.
In Philadelphia, 7,000 people filled Love Park in Center City on Monday, waving flags and chanting "God Bless America" over and over again. Participants wore T-shirts proclaiming "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and carried banners with such messages as "The only people that are not immigrants are the native Americans."
Many asked what would happen if today's illegal immigrants went home.
"Who is going to wash your car? Who is going to cut your grass?" asked Kelphala Sessay of Philadelphia, who hails from Sierra Leone. "Who is going to fix your cars or do your domestic work?"
A mixture
Although the demonstrations were predominantly Hispanic -- reflecting the Latin American roots of nearly 80 percent of the illegal immigrant population -- they also embraced a diverse mix of Asians, Africans, Middle Easterners and other nationalities and ethnic groups. Thousands of the demonstrators were believed to be illegal immigrants who at least theoretically were risking the threat of deportation by stepping forward.
Josh Bernstein, director of federal policy for the National Immigration Law Center in Washington, called the demonstrations "historic in scope" and perhaps the first time in recent memory that illegal immigrants have spoken out in their own behalf. "These communities feel embattled," he said. "They've taken a lot of abuse over the past several years."
Demonstrators in the nation's capital began gathering in Latino neighborhoods of Northwest Washington hours in advance, then marched along 16th Street, past the White House before reaching the National Mall late in the afternoon. Many wore white T-shirts symbolizing peaceful protest and hoisted placards reading, "We're Not Criminals" and "Working is Not a Crime."