The crowd was smaller but the message was the same.
Thousands of immigration advocates rallied on the National Mall, in front of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to tell lawmakers that they want the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. to be able to stay here legally and not be arrested as felons.
Rally organizer Jamie Contreras told a cheering crowd that they were making progress, but they had just begun.
“We are all Americans. We love America and America is our home!” he said.
Demonstrators waved American flags and flags from their home countries, including El Salvador, Ecuador and Mexico. Two men held up a sign that said, “End the Deportations! End the raids!”
But the numbers seemed small compared to the 150,000-people demonstration held in April in response to a the U.S. House-passed bill that would make criminals of illegal immigrants and those who provide them aid.
Since then, the Senate has approved a guest-worker program and a possible path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. The House and Senate have yet to work out the differences.
“Why would we want to criminalize hardworking people who provide a vital service to our community?” said Sonia Burguillo, who participated in the rally. “Besides the Native Americans, we’re all immigrants.”
Father Roberto Cortez of St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church said he was compelled to go to support the demonstrators because the language used by immigration opponents has been “so violent and so anti-Christian.”
Most of the immigrants are hardworking, family-oriented and share the same values of the country, he said.
“[Immigration] is an evangelical question: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me,’ ” Cortez said, quoting a passage from the Bible.
Organizers of the rally say they have registered thousands of new voters who will voice their opinion in the November election.
Orlando Palacios, who moved to the U.S. illegally 22 years ago with his wife and 5-year-old, became a citizen last year and immediately registered to vote.
“I can’t wait to vote in November,” Palacios said.
