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Immigration reformers ready for Saturday rally
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Local immigration reform activists are preparing for thousands of supporters nationwide to head to Las Vegas for Saturday's Rally for America in an attempt to re-energize their cause.
Overshadowed by health care and economic debate, event leaders chose to host the gathering in the home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in hopes of attracting more attention and gaining a stronger voice.
Reid is scheduled to speak at the event with Rep. Shelley Berkley, AFL-CIO International President Richard Trumka and others.
Nevada "is such an important state politically, and our constituents are people here who make up a very high immigrant population," said Michael Flores, Southern Nevada director of Reform Immigration for America. "The location is ideal. Right now we're in a big economic downturn, so what we're trying to do is show that if you pass comprehensive immigration reform this would really help the economy. This is a very appropriate place for that, in a city and state that's hurting so bad."
Saturday's rally will be from noon to 3 p.m. in front of the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse, 333 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Las Vegas Boulevard will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Clark to Bridger avenues for the 10,000 or more people rally organizers expect at the event. They base their estimate on Internet RSVPs.
Las Vegas police spokesman officer Jacinto Rivera said officers will be assigned to monitor the rally, but he wouldn't give out any specific details of what the agency is doing, saying it would violate security protocol.
As congressional leaders move forward with health care and economic reform, immigration activists said they are eager to bring the issue to light after a similar rally took place March 21 in Washington, D.C.. That was the same day President Barack Obama signed into law the historic health care bill, which dominated the immigration rally.
But event officials said that won't happen this time. Word spread quickly about the weekend event. The group used radio and newspaper ads as well as social networking sites, visited with unions, churches and schools and canvassed local neighborhoods, Flores said.
Event officials are hoping for upwards of 14,000 people to show.
"People are really fired up and ready to go," Flores said. "They know the importance of this and are eager to get something going."
Reform activists said change won't come with simply opening up the borders; it comes with from border security, reuniting families, employer accountability, workers' rights and a "citizenship process that works for everyone."
Clergy from diverse faith traditions voiced their support Wednesday for compassionate immigration reform consistent with America's faith tradition.
"If we lock doors, keep people out and don't provide access to citizenship, one of the things we do is stop some of the greatest minds and some of the most influential people in the world from being able to come here and we benefit from it," said Robert Fowler, senior pastor of Victory Baptist Church. "We're hoping by moving forward we can do some things to hasten the process."
Rabbi Felipe Goodman, of Temple Beth Sholom, said the issue needs to be about more than just politics.
"Immigration reform is not about liberal issues and conservatives issues; it is a human rights issue," Goodman said. "It is an issue who, all of us who value the values of this country, should be concerned about. One of the proudest days of my life was when I became an American citizen. To me, being a citizen of this country is staying true to the ideals of freedom and liberty and what that means to people who are underprivileged in society. If we cannot do that, we have really lost our course as a nation."
Contact Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Review-Journal writer Antonio Planas contributed to this report.
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Media articles/reader comments focus on scapegoats and stereotypes instead of larger social-historical forces. It's not the first time. In the 19th century, for example, Nevada newspapers described the "Yellow Peril" in Virginia City.
First, this land was stolen from the Southern Paiutes and Western Shoshone. Indigenous people migrated across this land because there were no national borders. Nevada was the site of genocide, check your Nevada history books.
For those posters who talk about law, Las Vegas has been corrupt from Day 1, and racist from Day 1. Lawmakers and judges have been some of the most corrupt residents of Nevada (see the LA Times article on the Stacked Deck). The question is not about law but JUSTICE.
Law was used to maintain Jim Crow here. People of color have recognized this town as "the Mississippi of the West." People of color in this town have to continue to fight for justice.
The mob in Vegas is not dead, to be relegated to a museum. It's international in scope. Drugs and prostitution are largely ignored in Strip casinos.
If you are going to talk about foreigners, how about discussing who the high rollers are and who they exploit to get their riches? Why don't we talk about how casinos turn a blind eye to international dirty money in this town?
Weapons and money come through US, including Vegas, killing thousands of Mexicans. And the US supports a corrupt Mexican government.
Finally, let's look how US trade policies (on corn, for example) have hurt Mexico and other nations, the US in effect causing a "push" out of home countries.
Could an RJ writer actually write about how the system really operates?
@Jeremy Castro,
How bout if you just kiss my a** loser?
Better yet, head on back to Cuba and hang with yer cousin Fidel.
See you at the rally punk. Hang a sign round your neck with your "real name" on it. I'll be sure and look you up.
We'll see whose wearing the hood.