Chicago May Day March low attendance, 50 from Wkgn went

[fedupinwaukegan]

Immigrant rights march ends in Loop
May 1, 2009 2:57 PM | 41 Comments | UPDATED STORY


Participants in the May Day immigration rights rally march through the West Loop. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Today's march for immigrants' rights ended with a rally in Federal Plaza in the Loop this afternoon with a much smaller crowd than in years past.

The march ended shortly after 2 p.m. and Chicago police reported no problems. Authorities estimated the crowd to be between 1,400 and 1,500 people, about 1/10 of the size in 2007.

This morning, many had earlier gathered in Union Park on the Near West Side where they banged drums, blew trumpets, chanted and carried signs calling for the legalization of immigrants as the march began.

Hundreds of thousands of European workers feeling the pinch of the economic crisis rallied at May Day protests Friday from Moscow to Berlin to Istanbul.

At 1:15 pm, the marchers began their way into federal plaza, fighting to make up with noise and enthusiasm what they lacked in size.

Sounding at times like a rag-tag cavalry in the soft drizzle with trumpets blaring and drums pounding, they stopped Loop traffic for nearly 30 minutes, their ranks stretching back several blocks.

Where previous marches had the feel of a grassroots movement with mothers pushing strollers and thousands of workers taking the day off work, this year's demonstration was boiled down mostly to the core of the immigration reform movement.

Labor unions, in particular, made up most of the crowd, with churches and student groups also joining in the chants.

Those students called for passage of the so-called DREAM Act that would grant conditional legal status to students.

"This is our year," said Tamara Montes de Oca, 17, convinced legislation introduced in the Senate earlier this year would pass after failing in previous congressional sessions.

De Oca plans to attend the University of Illinois in Champaign next year, though she is unsure how she'll make the $28,000 annual tuition without legal status. She was attending her first march with a group of fellow students from the Josephinum Academy in Wicker Park, all cheering when a speaker chanted "Education is a right!".

Debbie Marian de Lada, 17, the class valedictorian at Josephinum after arriving as a child from the Philippines, said she had been denied acceptance to several universities "because they consider me an international student."

"I've worked very hard," said de Lada, who finally did get accepted to Loyola University. "I can only depend on loans."

Organizers worried over the last few days that the pall of the swine flu virus would keep the number of marchers down.

In addition, some or the urgency has lessened as the Obama administration has eased up on deportations and congressional leaders have expressed willingness to pursue immigration reform.

Elsewhere in the world, clashes between police and angry protesters disrupted some events, including in a few European countries where the effects of the economic crises have been felt the strongest.

From the park, marchers are going east on Washington Street to Des Plaines Avenue, south on Des Plaines to Jackson Boulevard, east on Jackson to Dearborn Street, north on Dearborn to Adams Street and on to Federal Plaza.

Their Spanish shouts of "Obama feels the people are present" drowned out the folk guitar singer at Potbelly's and one woman's cell phone conversation as she screamed into her Bluetooth receiver "I can't ... hear you!"

Unlike many in the crowd who had participated in previous marches, Alfonso Perez, 53, was out for the first time.

The recently laid off mechanic said he felt compelled to join this year because he finally grew tired of "all the injustices handed to immigrant workers."

"I worked there for 35 years," he fumed about his former Chicago employer. "I gave them my sweat and just because I don't know English very well, they let me go."

There will be rolling street closures.

More than two dozen CTA bus routes are expected to be altered or face delays this afternoon.

For a complete list of those bus routes, click here.

--Antonio Olivo

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