25,000 March /Rally Renews Call for Immigrant rights: more than 20,000 Took Back Macarthur (tags)
[Editors' note: this article includes several uncited quotations from today's LA Times article "Park rally renews call for rights." In addition, the claim of 20-25,000 people seems to us to be (unfortunately) wishful thinking. We note that the rally at the church was confined by police to one full city block, and the number of people assembled in the Park before the march arrived was a similar number. We ask all contributors to LA Indymedia to please clearly indicate any and all quotes from other sources, and be realistic in your crowd estimates. Thank you.]Immigrants and their advocated returned to the streets for the first time since May Day with Latino elected officials in tow, escorted by the LAPD who piggy backed for “public relations” during the march/rally to erase police brutality. More than 25,000 immigrant rights activists marched Thursday to Macarthur Park to again call for a path to citizenship for the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants. The Filipino contingent led by the Pilipino Workers Center and the AJLPP attended by scores of youth activists was very prominent in the march waving Filipino flags and charting MAKIBAKA, HUWAG MATAKOT! . Waving Mexican, Salvadorian, Honduran, Filipino and American flags and signs reading "No to Deportation," and calling for genuine legalization, about 25,000 marchers gathered about 6 p.m. for a brief rally in front of Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Wilshire Boulevard before heading to the park several blocks away.