Spring Break
Hundreds march for immigrant rights in Denver
The Associated Press
Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: News
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The march was part of a nationwide day of demonstrations and rallies seeking a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Immigration activists want to press Congress to act this summer, before the issue is lost amid the 2008 presidential campaign.
Last year, 1 million joined similar events, including 75,000 in Denver by police estimate. This time, police estimated 2,000 people turned up, but organizers said they thought it was at least 10,000.
The crowd grew after they left a park near downtown and marched past the state Capitol on the way to a park tucked alongside Interstate 25, near trendy loft apartment buildings and Coors Field. People gathered to listen to speeches in both English and Spanish calling for reform while others spread out on the grass with their families, buying food, drinks and ice cream from vendors.
A few counter-protesters came. One woman held a sign saying that she spends $24,000 a year on health insurance for her family and that "Illegal means against the law." A young mother wearing a T-shirt with "Chicana" printed on the back told her, "We do work you don't want to do."
Mario Rodriguez, 35, was skeptical when asked to dial Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar, yelling back at the stage that immigration isn't about reason, it's about feelings of discrimination. He dialed but said he got a busy signal.
However Rodriguez, a Mexican native who said he is a legal resident, believes Congress could pass immigration reform this year under pressure from businesses that have lost employees in immigration crackdowns.
Rodriguez, a translator for mortgage companies, said many lenders are losing business because illegal immigrants are scared. He said some illegal immigrants have abandoned heavily mortgaged houses to live in other states with less strict laws.
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