Utahns join protest of punitive immigration reform

Intermountain Catholic

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The crowd (left) in Salt Lake City April 9 calling for humane immigration reform numbers 25,000. The May family (above, left) marched for the future of their children. IC photos by Barbara S. Lee

SALT LAKE CITY — With 25,000 people in downtown Salt Lake City April 9 for the Dignity March for immigration rights, organizers, the Salt Lake City Police, and Salt Lake City Mayor "Rocky" Anderson expressed surprise at the turn-out. City officials are calling the march, which began with an invocation by Father James E. Flynn of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Park City, the largest demonstration in the city’s history since the Vietnam War.

Salt Lake City’s State Street, designed by Brigham Young to be wide enough in which to turn around a wagon pulled by six oxen, was a sea of humane immigration reform advocates, most wearing white, the color of peace, and carrying American flags from the gigantic to the pocket-sized. "Sí, se puede!" they chanted, "Yes, it can be done!"

The Utah Minuteman organization and others, numbering about 200, made their way up State Street ahead of the immigration advocates, with a healthy distance kept between the groups by the police and a phalanx of Hispanic volunteers wearing black shirts with "Peace" printed in white. Representatives of a number of Hispanic groups were there to assist the police in holding the crowd in check and to stand between members of the opposing groups to counsel peace.

Most of the anti-immigration representatives spoke either of sending all people in the United States illegally back to their home countries immediately or simply insisting that current immigration laws be enforced. A few carried signs calling for the closing of all U.S. borders now.

Police delayed the March’s start, slated for 1:30 p.m., until almost 2:15 p.m., when Mayor Anderson arrived. Wearing a white shirt, he locked arms with March organizers, and led the thousands from the Salt Lake City-County Building up to the State Capitol Building, where they listened to rallying speeches.

Throughout the Sunday rally and March, people expressed their displeasure with House Resolution 4437, proposed legislation that would make entering and staying in the United States illegally a federal crime, and could make aiding undocumented people a criminal offense. The resolution would clash with Catholic teaching, which calls for welcoming the immigrant and the stranger and ministering to those in need, regardless of their legal status. Catholic leaders, including Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, have stated that passage of the resolution will not keep them from aiding the poor and the marginalized.

"We work, produce, and pay taxes," one sign being carried by a Hispanic marcher read. "We are not criminals."

Dee Rowland, government liaison for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, marched with her family in the huge crowd.

"Walking with that throng of families with my family was one of the happiest afternoons of my life," she said.

Signs carried mostly by children reflected one of the more troubling aspects of the resolution – the breakup of families of undocumented workers whose children were born in the United States: "Don’t break my family up."

The University of Utah Asian Student Association marched along in the mostly Hispanic crowd. Their signs called for fair immigration reform for all.

Steven May and his wife, Leslie, of Mapleton, marched with their two children and nieces and nephews. "We’re here for our children," said May, a native of Mexico. "We want them to have the best future possible, and they can’t have that if immigrants are not treated fairly or are constantly suspect."

Teenagers Carlos Delgado, Diana Favela, and Alex Favela of Kearns carried a sign calling for dignity and respect for Latinos. "Latino workers are not terrorists," Delgado said. "Our families work hard and pay taxes."