Thousands from across Northwest rally in Seattle for immigration reform

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 SEATTLE - Thousands of people from every corner of Washington State - and as far away as Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, B.C. - packed Occidental Park in Seattle's Pioneer Square on April 10 for a rally to bring public attention to the dire need for national comprehensive immigration reform and to demand that a just and humane immigration reform bill be introduced into Congress this year.

The rally was organized by the Washington Immigration Reform Coalition (WIRC) FOR America, an umbrella group of about 60 organizations, which brought together elected officials, labor, faith, and community leaders, business owners, high tech and agricultural workers, students, and others for a boisterous event with one overriding goal.

"We have one very clear and simple demand today: we want a comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced in Congress by May 1. And we know that movements don't wait for things to happen, movements make things happen," said OneAmerica executive director Pramila Jayapal, one of the rally organizers, to raucous applause. Between 7,000 to 8,000 people attended the rally, including 3,000 people who arrived in throngs on 74 buses from every corner of Washington - including Pasco, Bellingham, Yakima, and Vancouver. They joined thousands more who traveled in caravans of vehicles from small towns or took public transportation from the Seattle area.

Sen. Patty Murray, who appeared by recorded video message, said, "It is time - right now - this year - to make a change. That's why I believe that comprehensive immigration reform should remain at the top of our agenda. And why I believe that we can't just do something - we have to do the right thing."

Seattle's rally was one of the largest and most diverse of several events across the nation on Saturday, a national day of action that aimed to put pressure on Senators just before they returned to Washington, D.C. from the spring Congressional recess. "It is time to say to our government - stop dividing our families," Senator Richard Durbin said at a rally in Chicago. "It is time to say to the voices of hate - stop dividing America," Durbin emphasized, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid joined a rally of thousands in Las Vegas.

In Seattle, several speakers shared personal stories of struggling to persevere despite outdated and unjust immigration laws. Carlos Padilla, a high school senior and vice president of his student government, said that "every day I think about that all of these things that I'm doing here and how immigration could come one day to pick me up." WIRC organizers said that a comprehensive immigration reform bill must include four things:

1) Legalization and a path to citizenship for the undocumented who are here;

2) Family reunification for millions of people who have applied legally and are caught in an outdated bureaucratic system;

3) worker protections for all current and future workers; and

4) due process rights for all immigrants regardless of status.

WIRC members also vowed to keep up the pressure until legislation passes and that on May 1 they will hit the streets again to either protest or celebrate.

Home Page Image Courtesy of Jay Trinidad