2009 immigration marches get tea party-level turnout (actually even less)

The 2009 marches in support of illegal immigration are getting a turn-out roughly equivalent to that of the tea parties or less. For the high side of figures, turn to the Fair Immigration Reform Movement at fairimmigration.wordpress.com

* Chicago: "estimated five to seven thousand" (FIRM); this says "only about 2,000"; UPDATE 2: the Preston link says "about 5000".
* Boston: "upwards of 400" (FIRM)
* Newark, New Jersey: "as many as 700" (FIRM)
* New York City: UPDATE: "hundreds" per Jesse Solomon of CNN (link). He also quotes a supposed counter-protester who supports legalization, he just wants to deport criminal aliens.
* Washington DC: unspecified, but maybe a hundred; UPDATE 2: that was based on the photo from FIRM; as it turns out there were "more than 2000" per this. See also video here. The signs in that video say "Immigrant Roots Immigrant Rights".
* Charlotte, North Carolina: "dozens" per this
* Los Angeles: "thousands" per this; (UPDATE: "several thousands" per Amy Taxin of the Associated Press, link); UPDATE 2: Julia Preston and Kirk Semple of the New York Times say one of the L.A. marches had 'about 1,000 people carrying Mexican flags and wearing T-shirts saying “Legalize America now"' (link).
* Milwaukee: "It’s estimated that between three and five thousand people showed up Friday, versus the 30,000 people who participated last year" (link). Organized by Voces de la Frontera.
* Orange County: organizers were "hoping for a couple hundred people" (link)

UPDATE:
* San Francisco: "hundreds" (Taxin link above)
* Salt Lake City: "more than 500" (link)
* Oregon: "perhaps 2000" in Salem and "more than 1500" in Portland (link). Janie Har of The Oregonian also falsely refers to "[i]n 2006, at the height of anti-immigration rhetoric coming from Congress". It also includes Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt telling the crowd - many or most foreign citizens - "Welcome to your State Capitol." Their Capitols are in other countries, but no doubt he wouldn't care. And, some speakers were restaurant and nursery industry lobbyists.

UPDATE 2:
While the protesters might have outdrawn the tea parties in a few localities, overall a very, very generous upper estimate would be less than 100,000. They did even worse than loons waving "John Galt" signs.
*Miami: "more than 300" per Laura Wides Munoz of the AP (link).
* Bloomington, Illinois: "about 100" (link)
* Las Vegas: video here.
* Washington: "thousands" in the state as a whole including "several thousand" in Seattle. One of the few cities to have an increase in numbers over 2008 was... Yakima. (link). First Yakima, then Wenatchee!
* Houston: "about 50" (link)

Fri, 05/01/2009 - 14:20 · · Importance: 4