Los Angeles: thousands march for illegal immigration, literally demanding "amnesty"

Peter Prengaman of the Associated Press offers this about a rally which thousands of illegal immigration supporters held in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, April 7. According to one audio recording I heard, someone led the crowd in a chant of "What do we want? Amnesty!" I am not making that up, and I'll be trying to find that recording because it helps (further) reveal the charade of those who claim that "comprehensive immigration reform" is not amnesty.

While the AP report informs us that they were carrying signs saying "Amnesty Now", it fails to note that at least some of the organizers were extremists. And, they attempt to portray the march as anti-Bush, when it was almost certainly simply pro-amnesty:

Organizers said many illegal immigrants were angry about a White House plan that would grant them work visas but require them to return home and pay thousands to become legal U.S. residents... [a protester says:] "Charging that much, Bush is going to be even more expensive than the coyotes"... ...Advocates say many illegal immigrants feel betrayed by Bush, who they had considered an ally.

I'm sure the organizers said that, and I'm sure a few people there were familiar with Bush's scheme. However, since it's new and it hasn't been demagogued - and since this appears to have been originally scheduled for February 24 (well before Bush's plan was released), I'm going to have to call BS.

One version of the AP report quoted Juan Jose Gutierrez of Latino Movement USA as an organizer (see his video message about the march here: youtube.com/watch?v=PZOPP0n9h7s), but did not disclose that another organizer was the ANSWER Coalition (cache), a group with which he has worked before. Another organizer was Nativo Lopez' Hermandad Mexicana Nacional.

Immigration2007a · Sun, 04/08/2007 - 10:28 · · Importance: 1