Depending on whom you talked to, the recent pro-immigrant protests were an awe-inspiring manifestation of political unity, a reminder of America's perilously porous borders or just another source for a Southern California traffic jam.
The demonstrations, which began Friday, have generated national media attention. But Californians have been debating illegal immigration so long -- and so intensely -- that the spectacle seemed to change few opinions. In many cases, the protests seemed only to harden already firm beliefs.
"I don't like it," Thomas Walsh, an 80-year-old Tustin resident who served with the Marines in Japan, Korea and Vietnam, said. Balanced on his cane at a Santa Ana strip mall Tuesday, he added: "I think these illegals walk in and they want to be taken care of no matter what, and I rather resent it."
At Farmers Market at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street in Los Angeles, some diners supported the marchers and wanted to remind border-crackdown advocates who was cleaning their homes and caring for their children.
"These are your neighbors and co-workers," said Ellen Stutzman, a 23-year-old researcher for the Writers Guild. "I hate it when people say they are illegal. They're just undocumented. We've made them to be the enemy, and they're not."
Nearby sat Kenji Yoshioka, a 45-year-old Japanese computer engineer who spent 10 years and $3,000 in legal fees to get a green card to live and work in the United States. He worries that illegal immigrants are harming the efforts of people waiting to enter the country legally.
"You have a law over here that people are supposed to follow," he said. "It's unfair for me that people are being smuggled in.... There are talented people waiting for a proper visa to be approved."
On heavily Latino 4th Street in Santa Ana, Art Luna said he believed that the protests were a reaction to years of criticism of immigrants.
"People are mad at the bashing," said Luna, 60, who is retired and lives in Buena Park. The majority of immigrants "are looking for jobs. These are Christian people. They're not terrorists."
He added, "I think the world is watching how the United States reacts to this."
Luna said he learned about the protests late because he gave up television for Lent, but was awed when he found out how many people were involved. It reminded him of the 1960s-era marches for peace and civil rights.
"I was surprised that many people care about the issue," Luna said.
