Immigration reform rally April 10

At noon Saturday, April 10, thousands will mass at Seattle’s Occidental Park to call for comprehensive reform of our country’s unjust and ineffective immigration laws.

Sponsored by the Washington Immigration Reform Coalition for America (WIRC4America), the demonstration is one of many across the U.S. with a common theme: We’ve waited long enough! Reform immigration laws now!

As part of the coalition, the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans is urging its members to swell the throng at the Occidental Park rally.

The April 10 rallies follow a giant mobilization on the same issue at the nation’s capital on March 21. With marchers massed the full length of the Mall, from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, crowd estimates ranged from 200,000 to 500,000. A delegation from Washington State represented diverse countries of origin, faiths and native languages, coming from Mount Vernon, Mattawa, Yakima, Vancouver, Issaquah, Tacoma and Seattle.

Speaking at that event, Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) voiced the crowd’s demand for action.

“We’ve listened quietly. We’ve asked politely,” Gutierrez said. “We’ve turned the other cheek so many times our heads are spinning.”

Gutierrez has introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act. It addresses security issues, protecting fundamental rights for all, a rational and humane approach to undocumented immigrants, ensuring appropriate ways for workers to enter the U.S. legally, allocating sufficient visas, keeping families together and reducing immigrant backlogs.

In the Senate, Democrat Charles E. Schumer of New York and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are jointly crafting an immigration reform bill.

The legislation would include a path toward citizenship for the 10.8 million people living in the U.S. without papers. Undocumented workers would have to register, pay taxes and meet other requirements.

President Obama has pledged support for comprehensive reform, but until now has been involved with the long struggle over health care. Advocates are urging him to make a similar commitment to the cause of the nation’s immigrant families.

Among the bill’s supporters in Congress, there is consensus that the legislation must move by April or early May, before attention shifts to the November elections, to have a chance of passage this year.