Several Hundred Rally At Sen Feinstein's Office In Favor Of Immigration Reform
by Eve Batey | March 24, 2010 4:05 pm	| in News | 4
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4:05 PM: A tipster sent us these pictures from this afternoon's "March and Rally for Immigration Reform."
According to the event's organizers, the protesters will begin at Justin Herman Plaza, then will march up Market Street to Senator Feinstein's office at One Post Street, Near Montgomery BART, where they plan on rallying at 5.
For now, however, our tipster says that no traffic is impacted by the protesters, of which he estimates there are about 100. "The cop-to-demonstrator ratio is like 1-1," he notes.
6 PM (BCN): Hundreds of people have gathered in downtown San Francisco this afternoon for a rally in front of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office,
calling on the senator and other legislators to pass national immigration reform.
Speakers at the rally are calling on legislators to create pathways to citizenship and end raids that they said are breaking apart families.
San Francisco Supervisor David Campos was among the speakers.
"The point of America is that throughout its history, it has gotten the best from throughout the world," the supervisor said. "Why turn your back on that talent?"
The rally comes after a march and rally in Washington, D.C., over the weekend that drew thousands of people in support of immigration reform.
As of 5:45 p.m., Post Street was closed at Market Street due to the demonstrators.
7:38 PM (BCN):Several hundred people gathered in downtown San Francisco today to call on U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other politicians to pass legislation reforming the country's immigration system.
Speakers at the rally, held outside Feinstein's office on Post Street this evening, urged legislators to expand protections for immigrant workers, enforce labor laws, and end racial profiling and raids by law enforcement agencies.
Ali Noorani, the campaign chair for the group Reform Immigration for America, said, "No longer will we be silent while our families are ripped apart. No longer will we look on when workers are being exploited, and when thousands are dying on our borders."
Politicians such as San Francisco Supervisor David Campos and state Sen. Leland Yee spoke at the rally.
Campos related his life story, which included being born in Guatemala and moving to America with his family as a boy.
He said despite being an undocumented youth, he managed to graduate from high school in Los Angeles, as well as from Stanford University and Harvard Law School.
"The point of America is that throughout its history, it has gotten the best from throughout the world," Campos said. "Why turn your back on that talent?"
Yee said today's rally was a start in the right direction because "whether you are documented or undocumented, we are family, we are all a community."
Joshua Romero, a 17-year-old boy from San Francisco, was one of the people in attendance at the rally.
Romero said his father was deported back to Nicaragua 10 years ago, causing not just emotional but financial hardship to the rest of his family.
"He was the one making the money in the house, so we were left with no income for several years," he said.
Romero said he came to the rally "to make it so that something like this doesn't happen to anyone else. I know I can't get my dad back, but if I can help be a part of a solution so no more dads can be taken away, I'll be happy."
Today's rally comes after a march and rally in Washington, D.C., over the weekend that drew thousands of people in support of immigration reform.
Noorani said organizers would be pushing for bipartisan legislation to be introduced in Congress by the end of April and that protesters are going to "take to the streets again" in April and May to continue to pressure legislators to pass an immigration reform bill.
There are an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country. In California, immigrants make up about a quarter of the population, according to event organizers.
Post Street was closed between Kearny and Montgomery streets for the duration of today's event.
Note birthday boy Frank Chu, front and center. I've never managed to get a productive day of work in on my birthday, so I'm feeling a bit guilty right now.