Student Walk Out and March for Immigrant Rights

Probably most of you know that immigrant workers, their families, and allies are standing up for the rights of immigrants all across the United States. Because of the huge outpouring of people in the streets, the Senate moved away from the repressive legislation that had already passed in the House, known as the Sensenbrenner Bill. It appears that a new civil rights movement is developing and Oregon is part of it!

Organizers estimate that up to 20,000 people marched in Salem this past Sunday, April 9th, and 8,000 people marched and rallied in Portland the next day. A large portion of the people marching on Monday in Portland were students who were joined by their families. The mood at both events was buoyant, peaceful and hopeful.

Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO spoke at the Salem rally. "To have Oregonians come together like this, I think it will really carry some weight." On Monday, labor and religious leaders joined in a delegation that went to Senator Smith's office to ask him to stand up for all people's civil and labor rights. Watch for a more extensive report on the Immigrants' Rights Movement.