People for Immigrant Rights, although rooted out of the California Polytechnic University at Pomona, was created as a community-based alternative to the student-centered organizations active on campus.

The group, which numbered approximately 15, was formed primarily through school-related ties between friends, and word was spread through e-mail and MySpace.

After converging in front of Pomona City Hall, the high school and college students made their way to the corner of Garey and Mission for a vigil, holding signs demanding amnesty and chanting "¡Sí se puede!"

An uninvited tag-along, unloved even by his fellow right-wingers in the Minutemen, also showed up. Although he tried to banter with the students while taking creepy pictures of the girls, activists who were a bit more seasoned warned them about the man and his ilk.

At about five, we marched up Garey to Second, letting our voices be heard all the way there and back. We ended with a speak-out, at which many people expressed hope and confidence that the movement would grow.