May Day 2009: Gaining traction for real immigration reform?
May Day, the traditional workers’ holiday, has been celebrated with special fervor in the last few years by immigrant workers, who are using the holiday to publicly demand fair treatment. Since we saw millions take to the streets in 2006, the annual protests have continued to evolve. May Day 2009 had some telling clues about the status of comprehensive immigration reform.
Rallies continue in many places
Here in the West, we saw over 10,000 people in rallies and marches in support of immigrants in Seattle, Salem, Portland, Yakima, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City. Seattle held the region’s largest rally, with an estimated 5,000 people marching in downtown during rush hour. Salem attracted over 3,000 and in Portland, 2,000 people marched through downtown on a sunny afternoon.
More allies from more places show at Oregon’s biggest rally
Oregon’s biggest rally, in Salem, attracted over 3,000 people and lots of new friends and allies. Basic Rights Oregon sent a contingent to the Capitol steps, as did one of Oregon’s most influential unions: SEIU. Central Oregon Jobs with Justice coordinated with the Central Oregon Labor Council and a local church to mount a true coalition effort that brought 200 people to the Capitol from the Bend area. And the new faces weren’t only in the crowd.
New faces on the stage at the Salem rally
The Salem rally included brief speeches by House Speaker Dave Hunt, as well as the Legislative Director for the Oregon Association of Nurseries and a speaker from the Oregon Restaurant Association. All spoke in favor of comprehensive immigration reform. That’s right, two business groups with a substantial presence in Salem addressed a rally of workers to agree with them about immigration reform. If you need to see these with your own eyes, you can watch this four-minute video of the rally posted by CAUSA.
The Salem rally is a great example of how even with changing numbers, there are still signs of positive movement. The results of the day were summarized well by Francisco Lopez, Director of CAUSA, Oregon’s immigrant rights coalition.
“For the first time, we had on the stage community members, people representing the legislators, the faith community, union leaders, the restaurant association, and the growers association. Everyone was talking about comprehensive immigration reform. That’s historic. It’s taking time, but we are moving in the right direction.”
For a gallery of pictures of pro-immigrant May Day rallies across the country, you can check out the photos and articles that the Immigrant Solidarity Network has put together.
* Photos by CAUSA, Erik Sorensen, Communications Director
