Home > Our Blog > Immigrant Rally in L.A. Draws 60,000

Blog Post

Immigrant Rally in L.A. Draws 60,000

Posted May 2, 2010 by Patrick Young, Esq.
Categories: Federal Immigration Policy

May 1 was a day of rallies for immigrant rights in cities and towns across the U.S. I have already written about the Hempstead rally and other rallies in New York, but the largest rally of the day was in Los Angeles where estimates put the crowd at 60,000 to 100,000. According to the Los Angeles Times:

[T]he national epicenter for opposition to the Arizona law has become Los Angeles. City officials have called for a boycott of the state, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has likened the law to Nazism, and activists put aside past differences to stage a unified march. Five coalitions representing more than 150 labor, faith and immigrant rights organizations worked closely with Spanish-language media to publicize the call to rally, according to Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

“There was unanimous sentiment nationally and locally that we have to mobilize strong on May 1,” Salas said. “It’s a message to President Obama that we want immigration reform and an end to massive deportations of our community, and a special message to Republicans to stop getting in the way of reform and supporting hateful laws in Arizona.”

Elsewhere in California, there was a large rally in San Francisco.

In downtown Tuscon, 7,000 marchers protested their state’s new law against immigrants. In Arizona’s capital, Phoenix, 5,000 people attended a rally.

In Seattle, thousands of protesters streamed down the streets. Also in Washington State, Yakima saw its largest immigrant demonstration when 2,000 people rallied.

In Las Vegas, 2,000 protested.

In Washington, D.C., thousands rallied outside the White House for immigration reform. Thirty-five people, including Rep. Luis Gutierrez, were arrested in an act of civil disobedience.

In Utah, a spirited rally was interrupted by an anti-immigrant protester:

And it wasn’t just places that you normally think of as immigrant cities that had protests. In Minneapolis, 2,500 people added their voices to the call for immigration reform. In Portland, Maine, 500 people turned out.

Dozens of other rallies took place across the U.S.

Tags : immigration movement, immigration rallies, immigration reform, sb 1070

Permalink Comments