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Activist: Immigrants Not Going Away, Still Want Reform
May 1, 2007 6:09 PM
More than 1,500 people marched in Denver today to call for reform of America's immigration policies. The turnout, estimated by the Denver Post, was far smaller than last year, when an estimated 75,000 people marched in Denver. Nationwide it's estimated that more than a million people gathered to call for immigration reform last year.
Among those at the March in Denver today was Joe Barrera, co-chair of the Colorado Springs Black Latino Leadership Coalition. We talked to him at the event a little after one this afternoon.
[LISTEN]
BARRERA: Right now I'm looking out over this crowd, which is growing by the minute. There's babies here, grandmas, all kinds of folks, teenagers, adults, professionals, a lot of Anglo people here supporting the immigrants.
WHITNEY: Reactions to last year's rallies ranged from support to anger. This year, Barrera says he didn't see any counter-protesters or anti-immigrant activists like he did in 2006. But he said the message marchers want to send about immigrants is basically the same.
BARRERA: They're contributing positively to the economy of the United States. What we need is comprehensive immigration reform to bring these people out of the illegal status under which they live and work, and to legalize their status. A lot of them will go back to their country of origin if a system is set up that enables them to be guest workers here, and allows them to go home.
WHITNEY: Barrera and other immigration activists say they're disappointed that after last year's big rallies, Congress has done little more than talk about immigration. In Colorado, the state legislature called a special session last summer specifically to address immigration. The law they came up with, designed to deny publicly-funded benefits to illegal immigrants, has been called the toughest in the country. That action, and a highly publicized immigration raid at Swift Meatpacking company in Greeley last December, has some in the farm industry worried that immigrant labor is now afraid to come to Colorado. Barrella says he doesn't think fear or intimidation has anything to do with the relatively small turnout at this year's rally.
BARERRA: I think our people are not intimidated. I think they're still coming here. The laws that were passed by the Colorado legislature last year, which sought to tighten up the requirements for government benefits. I think just made life a lot harder for U.S. citizens. Immigrants are not getting on welfare, they're not applying for food stamps, they're not trying to get enrolled in the low income energy assistance program, or any of those things. So I don't think that's driving people away. People are coming here for jobs, there's all kinds of jobs that lots of people won't do for that kind of low pay, so that's why they're here.
WHITNEY: Joe Barrera is the co-chair of the Colorado Springs Black-Latino Leadership Coalition. He spoke to us from the immigrant rights rally held in Denver this afternoon.
Posted by Eric Whitney on May 1, 2007 6:09 PM | Permalink
