Chicago May Day March low attendance, 50 from Wkgn went

[fedupinwaukegan]

The May Day marches were today. Attendance was way down. Chicago organizers expected 15,000 but there were only 1500 to 2000 marching. This article shares that about 50 from Waukegan went. I remember reading about Armando last year during this event.


Immigrants push for reforms at Chicago rally
Associated Press
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Published: 5/1/2009 2:33 PM


Immigrants and their families began gathering at rallies across the country Friday to push for changes to U.S. immigration policy, but as a swine flu outbreak continued to spread, attendance at some events was smaller than what organizers had hoped.

The area hardest hit by the swine flu is Mexico, also the native home of many rally participants. There were no immediate reports of canceled events, but Juan Pablo Chavez, a Tampa-based community organizer for the Florida Immigration Coalition, said he and others were monitoring the situation and in close contact with state health care officials.

"If they tell us to halt the events, we will cancel immediately. But for now, we are simply asking people who are sick not to come out," Chavez said.

Organizers are seeking to channel the political muscle Hispanics showed last fall in support of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. They hope that energy will jump-start stalled efforts to pass an immigration law that provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.

They had hoped crowds would equal or exceed those of last year, down from the 2006 turnout, when a stringent immigration bill poised to pass in Congress drew massive protests.

Thousands were expected at events in Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other cities — mostly in the late afternoon, when workers finished their shifts. But early reports suggested turnout would be far lower than in previous years.

In Chicago, rally-goers chanted and carried signs demanding citizenship opportunities as they gathered at Union Park. Organizers said they expected about 15,000 at the event, but the crowd appeared to be much smaller.

Waukegan resident Armando Pena said he was disappointed that more people didn't turn out and blamed the low numbers on a combination of the flu and tough economic times.

"The economy is so bad they don't want to lose their jobs," said Pena, who organized a contingent of about 50 people.

A line of about 225 marchers made their way down the main thoroughfare in New Jersey's largest city Friday, stopping to recite chants and gather for a vigil in front of the federal immigration building in Newark. And immigration rallies in Madison and Milwaukee drew thousands of people.

In Miami, activists planned to gather downtown across from the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay for a rally and march. They also want temporary protection for the state's large community of Haitian immigrants, whose native island has been devastated in recent years by hurricanes and floods.

In New York City, participants were set to gather in Union Square to commemorate the International Day of Labor. Immigrant, labor and faith communities also planned rallies at Madison Square Park.

Activists' hopes have been buoyed with Obama in the White House and a Democratic-controlled Congress, in part because they believe the Hispanic vote, about two-thirds of which went to Obama, helped flip key battleground states such as Colorado and New Mexico. Many Hispanics strongly back comprehensive immigration reform, and they believe Obama owes them.

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee took up immigration this week for the first time in the new Congress.

Miami-Dade College student Felipe Matos, a native of Brazil, said he hoped the marches would raise awareness among those not directly affected about the impact of deportations on families.

"A lot of time you hear the numbers 11 million people, but you don't see the faces, you don't hear the stories of the people," he said.

Matos said many of his friends feel emboldened by what they see as their role in the November election.

"Young people decided to go out and vote and get other people to vote," he said. "Now people feel empowered to make a difference and change policy."

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[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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