First we marched, then we rallied… and lawmakers listened

On Saturday, immigration reform advocates gathered in cities across the country to call for immigration reform in 2010. With crowds of over 10,000 in Las Vegas and Seattle, with smaller events in Chicago, Philadelphia, Providence, El Paso, New York and Lakewood.

Capitalizing on the momentum from the March For America in Washington, DC last month, the rallies this weekend were a clear reminder to Congress that after recess is over, it’s time to move on immigration reform this year.

Thanks to the escalation of pressure, at the Las Vegas event, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pledged his commitment to getting immigration reform done in 2010:

From the New York Times:

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, told an exuberant crowd at an immigration rally Saturday in Las Vegas that Congress would start work on an immigration overhaul as soon as lawmakers return this week from a recess.

“We’re going to come back, we’re going to have comprehensive immigration reform now,” he said in a speech to more than 6,000 people, mostly immigrants, gathered downtown.

“We need to do this this year,” Mr. Reid said.

Reid’s commitment is a big win for our movement.

seattle pic pramila

In Seattle, close to 8,000 people rallied in Pioneer Square. Pramila Jayapal, Executive Director of the Washington group One America, fired up the crowd.

“This is our moment,” Jayapal told a cheering crowd as the two-hour-long rally came to a close. “Congress will never make anything happen on their own; it is the people who will make immigration reform happen. Movements make things happen.”

In Chicago, Senator Richard Durbin also made a commitment in front of a crowd of over 1,800 ralliers. Senator Durbin, the 2nd most powerful leader in the Senate, said that the challenge now was to gain bi-partisan support for a bill.

“That is our challenge,” Mr. Durbin told the rally in Chicago, “to bring together the Democratic voices as well as good-thinking Republicans to make this a reality of immigration reform. We can do this.”

Check out video from the Chicago event, courtesy of Progress Illinois:

Other events in El Paso, Providence, Philadelphia, Lakewood and New York drew smaller, but significant crowds. And all of the pressure and action is making it’s impact.

Recently the question has been asked “So we marched, now what?“. Now we keep the pressure on and continue to hold lawmakers accountable. Now we keep getting the commitments from folks like Senator Reid and we escalate pressure to be sure that those promises are kept. Like Pramila Jayapal said on Saturday, this is our moment. It is up to us to keep fighting and keep making sure that Congress works towards the comprehensive immigration reform that we’ve been promised.

So we marched, then we rallied and now we keep it up.

(Photos couresty of the Las Vegas Sun and One America)

Categories: Action, Civil Disobedience, comprehensive immigration reform, Illinois, March For America, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington

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Marco

I don’t know why Senator Reid promised reform now and then took it off the table. This is an issue that everyone on both sides of the issue want resolved. There are millions of people here who live in fear and who are being exploited and many more US citizens who are upset because both borders are not secured and they feel that undocumented people are taking advantage of the broken immigration system. So, if both sides want this resolved, why is no one listening? The title of this article is “We Marched and Rallied and Lawmakers Listened,” but that’s not true at all. They started to listen and then Senator Reid got scared that he was going to lose more votes for himself and more seats in Congress for his party if they talked about immigration reform. Members of Congress need to listen. This isn’t going to resolve itself. What’s the point of the rallies and marches if Senator Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and the president are just going to toy with immigrant groups, pander for our votes, and then do nothing? We must demand reform! No more looking for votes with empty promises!
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Mayra Penaloza

First of all the 1996 law is unfair and it is targeting father’s, husband’s, mother’s, wives, families, hard working people. That needs to change. America is a place where immigrants are “welcomed”. Students in California are singing a song about the Statue of Liberty and one of the lines is: Our thoughts are respectful, for we understand, she welcomes all immigrants, who come to this land. This is not true and many of the students learning that song are probably experiencing family members being deported.
Children are the future. They are the future of America. A lot of what they become as adults has to do greatly with their childhood. How are kids going to grow up to be good US citizens when in their childhood are being separated from their parents. In my case, I am a teacher in Ca. My husband was not able to witness our baby being born. The first time my daughter met him was when she was 6 months old. We have only seen him a couple of times this past year. I know this is having a negative impact on her already and as she gets older it is going to be worse. My husband was not able to be with us on her first birthday. I wonder how much longer are we going to live like this. An immigration reform needs to happen this year, 2010. We do need to do more stuff to get the media’s attention!!!! It seems like we, even the ones who are US citizens, are being treated unequally, and unfair.
ramon

It was a huge crowd during the March 21st rally. I learned the information through internet but not much on the television news. The media is sometimes bias but I have an idea which I think CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC even FOX NEWS and the rest of the world will give notice of our dreams, intentions and aspiration is through something that is unique. If you will log onto the youtube, then log onto MICHAEL JACKSON on CEBU PRISONERS in the Philippines, you will see million hits where these prisoners are dancing to the tune of michael jacksons hits and it was even broadcast in all these major TV networks. The jail warden intentions is to make them preoccupied and at the same time give them credits for their discipline. These turn out to be a major hit and was seen by the whole world. I am not saying that we should do the same. Probably making it unique like doing musicals where all the rallyist participate, I know for sure this will make a huge impact in the media and eventually will know our intentions. What can you say. If you approve or like my idea maybe you can disseminate this to all the leaders in this campaign. GOD BLESS TO ALL OF US.
Sherri Barbosa

I am excited to see Congress addressing this issue. This country needs immigration reform, and we need it now.

First we marched, then we rallied… and lawmakers listened

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