It's days like this where I really miss Dallas!

Thousands turn out for Dallas march
ASSOCIATED PRESS


DALLAS (AP) - Tens of thousands of people banged drums, waved U.S. flags and marched shouting "Si Se Puede!", Spanish for "Yes, we can!", in a protest urging federal lawmakers to pass immigration reform that would legalize an estimated 11 million undocumented workers.

Many of those who crammed into the streets of downtown Dallas wore white clothing to symbolize peace. Marchers included families pushing strollers with their children and ice cream vendors who placed American flags on their carts. Labor groups, some employers and religious organizations also supported the rally.

Police estimated the crowd at between 350,000 and 500,000. Hundreds of police were on hand but there were no reports of violence.

Among the marchers was Marina Resendiz, a 25-year-old premed student at the University of Texas at Arlington who illegally came to Dallas from Mexico as a teenager with her family. They left Mexico because her father couldn't find work there and wanted to give her the chance to get an education, Resendiz said as she and her friends carried a sign that read "We love the USA, we work, we study, we contribute to the economy of the nation."

"It's hard to study if you don't have a green card. I graduated third in my class but I couldn't get any scholarships," she said as bells from the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe tolled in the background.

Protesters also asked for immigration reform that won't split up families made up by parents living illegally in the country and their U.S.-born children.

"We don't want to be separated from our families," Resendiz said.

Some protesters wore shirts that said "No HR 4437," referring to the House bill passed in December that would build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, make criminals of people who helped undocumented immigrants and make it a felony, rather than a civil infraction, to be in the country illegally.

Opponents of the House legislation included business owner Michael Longcrier, who carried a sign that read "We work because of hard working immigrants."

"I have friends in this march. I have friends that make my business work," said Longcrier, who said he employs at least one illegal immigrant at his used clothing business.

The protest, one of many planned Sunday and today across the nation, was held even though sweeping reform legislation that would have given many illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship stalled on Capitol Hill last week.

"This is a force, an energy here," Amir Krummell, a U.S. citizen born in Panama, said about the multitude of marchers. "There has to be a deal ... there has to be a happy medium."

Demonstrators walked in a procession that snaked more than four blocks to Dallas City Hall. There, Hispanic leaders urge them to remain involved, vote and tell their lawmakers to work on legislation to legalize millions of undocumented workers.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas was among lawmakers who expressed frustration that they were unable to gain votes for proposals to toughen enforcement or to leave immigration policy unchanged until the border had been made secure.

Organizers also asked demonstrators to show the spending power immigrants have in the economy by not spending money on today and closing their businesses or not working if they could afford it. However, they told students to not skip classes and continue getting an education.

Immigrants and their children, U.S. and foreign born, account for 40 percent of North Texas residents. And about half of the region's foreign born residents are undocumented, according to a study by DFW International Community Alliance.

The Lubbock Avalanche Journal Online