Over the past five years, the call for immigration reform in the state of California has been both loud and sustained, reaching its apex at the annual May Day March. From the year 2006, in which hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles demanding the passage of some sort of federal legislation granting citizenship or legal recognition to our nation’s nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, to last year, when roughly 60,000 people joined together to protest Arizona’s controversial Senate Bill 1070.
In a strange turn of events, however, this year’s May Day rally turned out to be sparsely attended, consisting of only a few thousand protestors making the nine-block walk to the intersection of 1st Street and Broadway.
Why did so many people fail to show up at such an important and influential rally?
According to some, the lack of any real progress on immigration reform is starting to have a negative effect.
“[The lack of reform] has started to chip away at the spirit of the community,” said Pedro Reyes, a Santa Maria resident who teaches English to migrant workers. “It’s definitely causing a toll.”
Interestingly, many of those who attended Sunday’s rally were also highly critical of what they claimed was the Obama administration’s failure to enact any type of comprehensive immigration reform and increased focus on deportation/enforcement.
“He promised legalization,” said Robert Baker. “When he could have done it, he didn’t”
However, this sentiment was not necessarily universal.
“I believe in Obama,” said Juan Carlos Castillo, a Mexican immigrant who attended Sunday’s rally. “I believe he deserves four more years.”
Stay tuned for further updates from our Los Angeles County immigration law blog …
Due to the continued complexity of immigration laws with respect to naturalization and the exposure to facing a denial of this petition, it is critical to speak with a Vermont immigration attorney who has extensive specialized knowledge and experience in immigration law.
This post was provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.