Across the U.S., `We Are America'
WASHINGTON — Legal and illegal, carrying signs in English and Spanish, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters took to the streets Monday in the nation's capital and in dozens of cities around the country, spreading a sea of white T-shirts and American flags across city parks and TV screens in an effort to persuade lawmakers to grant foreign-born workers more rights.
Chanting, "Si, se puede" -- "Yes, we can" -- and carrying signs declaring, "We Are America," marchers at the centerpiece rally on the National Mall in Washington said they hoped to send a message to Congress and the rest of the country that they wanted to be a part of the nation where they work.
"We came here to protest. They want to pass a law to treat immigrants like terrorists," said Gilberto Castro, 34, who came to the U.S. illegally in 1998, obtained a work permit and now makes a living selling vitamins. "I would like other people to have the same opportunity, like amnesty, for other people to get their papers."
Organizers said the Washington rally drew 500,000 protesters, though others said the crowd was much smaller.
The demonstrations across the nation were a culmination of a growing immigrant rights movement that began last month in response to House legislation passed in December that would make it a felony to be in the United States without a valid visa or to aid anyone who was.
Some rallies in recent weeks appeared to backfire, with Republican lawmakers and others complaining that marchers carried more Mexican flags than American, suggesting that immigrants did not want to integrate into U.S. society.
By contrast, organizers of Monday's demonstrations appeared to make special efforts to lead recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance and to discourage marchers from carrying flags from other countries, for example -- to send the message that immigrants wanted to be Americans.
In most places, American flags dominated the crowds, although a sprinkling of flags of other countries, including Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, was visible. The marchers wore white T-shirts, they said, as a sign of peace.
"We love this country," said Solomon Tekle, a 40-year-old from Ethiopia who said he had been denied asylum and now works illegally in construction jobs in Baltimore. He wore a T-shirt reading, "Land of the Free."
"We work, work hard. We pay taxes," Tekle said. "We need help, not to kick us out."
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