Get Ready for Marches and Rallies

Spring immigration marches and rallies are being planned across the naiton. Sophia Tareen reports for the Associated Press:

Immigration activists and civil rights leaders are gearing up for rallies and marches in cities across the nation, hoping to revive the stagnant immigration debate in time for the presidential election.

Activists predict turnout for the more than 200 events planned Thursday from Seattle to Miami will be far less than in years past. But they say efforts demanding comprehensive immigration legislation — including pathways to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. — have extended beyond the streets.

“While the breadth of activities will be significant, most eyes are turned toward the November election,” said Rich Stolz, a coordinator with Fair Immigration Reform Movement, which oversees activist groups across the country. “We’ve been calling on the candidates to prioritize immigration.”

In Texas, where some of the largest immigration rallies have taken place in recent years, marches were planned in Dallas, Houston and El Paso. None were expected to be as big as the massive protests that snaked through Texas cities in previous years, such as the 2006 rally in Dallas that clogged downtown with tens of thousands of people. Click here for the whole story.

bh