An assortment of American, Mexican and Central American flags flew together as an estimated 500 demonstrators rallied in support of immigration rights and reform in front of the Eugene Federal Building on Monday.
The rally was part of a National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice. Since March, rallies have been staged across the United States in large cities such as Los Angeles and New York and smaller communities as well. An estimated 10,000 demonstrators met in Salem in front of the state Capitol building Sunday.
Many of the demonstrators in Eugene chanted “Yes we can” and “We are not criminals” in Spanish and held handmade posters with various slogans, including “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Without a Mexican, What Would You Do?” and “America is a Land of Immigrants.” Many passing motorists blared their horns in support. One truck driver stopped to pass out boxes of doughnuts to the demonstrators, and a passing Eugene fire truck flashed its lights in support.
The demonstration began at about 8:30 a.m., when a large number of students from Eugene-area high schools and junior high schools left class to attend the demonstration. Hispanic families and residents joined them at the rally.
Despite heavy rain at times, the rally continued past 6 p.m. as community residents and University students either joined the rally or stopped by in support.
Graduate comparative literature student Serenity Joo said she found out about the rally on television and decided to attend.
“It’s about interracial support, and it’s community building for people who come here,” Joo said.
Elizabeth Sampedro, a freshman at Churchill High School, said she helped post information about the rally around her school after hearing about the plan from students at other schools. She said the rally’s purpose was to support fairer laws for immigrants to become U.S. citizens as well as to support family and friends who may be negatively affected if new anti-immigration laws pass.
“We don’t want to fight anyone,” Sampedro said. “What we want is for (the legislators) to hear us so we can come to a proposal.”
Sampedro said she was worried about getting in trouble for walking out of class, but said it was worth it for the cause.
“It all starts with the youth because we are the future,” Sampedro said.
A major topic at the rally was the controversial HR 4437, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in December. The bill, authored chiefly by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., R-Wis., and cosponsored by 35 representatives, would raise the penalty for illegal entrance into the United States from a civil violation to a felony with mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders.
Maximum fines for employers of illegal immigrants would increase to a possible $25,000. The bill also provides authorization for an additional 700-mile fence along the Mexican-United States border.
Opponents claim the bill will break up families through mass deportations and that it is unfair to immigrants waiting for legal status.
Demonstrators chanted and held up signs declaring their opposition to the bill. Some signs criticized Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, for voting to support the bill.
Eugene resident Claudia Robledo, who attended rallies in Eugene and Salem, said her employers supported her decision to take time off from work to attend. She said she has four children who were born in the United States and that she was a legal resident herself, but that her husband was currently undocumented and risked deportation by the bill, despite having applied for legal status.
“It’s so exciting to see young people fighting for our rights,” Robledo said.
Churchill High School senior Daniel Lopez, who walked from Churchill to the rally at about 8 a.m., said he was concerned that many Hispanic students who were born in the United States risk having their immigrant parents deported to their home country.
“We want to live peacefully without knowing or fearing that our parents are going to go away,” Lopez said. “If the parents go home, what’s going to happen to the students?”
Lopez said he and his parents emigrated from Mexico and had been living in the United States since 1998. He said they had come to the United States to work and make a better life, and that people opposed to immigration were denying the American dream to hardworking people.
If the protests do nothing to change legislators’ and immigration opponents’ minds, then demonstrators have planned another way to make their message heard. On May 1, Hispanic demonstrators are planning to hold an economic boycott where they will not go to work, to school, or even shop, Sampedro said. She said part of the purpose was to show that immigrants work and live in the United States and emphasize how they contribute to the economy.
Coordinator Guadalupe Quinn said that more rallies and protests will continue throughout the country, and that she was encouraging people to contact their representatives and senators.
“We will continue to push for a comprehensive immigration reform bill,” Quinn said.
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