Coast to coast, Americans joined together to march for and on behalf of immigrant rights on May 1, 2017. Though the groups marching represented many causes and organizations, they were united in their respect for immigrants and their families.
In Los Angeles, more than 50,000 took to the streets. Some of the groups marched down Broadway from Olympic. These marches were separated into sections, forming multiple parades. Organizers of a march starting from MacArthur Park and joining the others near City Hall stated that in MacArthur Park alone there were 30,000 participants.
Among the groups participating were March and Rally L.A., Black Lives Matter, the ACLU, the SEIU, the UFCW, the Teamsters, the IBEW, the Steelworkers, the Green Party, the Socialist Party, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, and people of various races and backgrounds. Leading two of the marches were Native American dancers, representing the various original occupants of North America. Though the Democratic Party did not formally march through Los Angeles, they provided some of the signs people carried. Many who marched were from the Democratic Party and will be delegates to the May 19-21 Convention in Sacramento. Many Republicans marched as well. Support for immigrants is not a partisan issue among grassroots members of the major parties in spite of how the political leaders try to play it. For most Americans, it is a moral issue. America is a land of immigrants.
Some of the marchers had been separated from their families as a result of I.C.E. raids. Signs calling for an end to these raids were present throughout the march. California Senate President pro-Tem Kevin de Leon's SB 54, making California a Sanctuary State, appears headed for passage. The current federal budget proposal includes no money for a border wall. With America marching for immigrants' rights, anyone up for election in 2018 who stands against immigrants could be out of a job in 2019.
