Activists Take Immigration Reform to the Streets

May 1, 2007 — -- Activists demanding immigration reform and a citizenship path for the country's 12 million illegal immigrants rallied nationwide, hoping to jumpstart Congressional action and make their collective voice heard in the din of the 2008 presidential landscape.

Though thousands are expected to take to the streets for the cause, turnout is not likely to match last year's historic count.

Cecilia Muñoz, Senior Vice President of the National Council of La Raza, the country's largest Civil Rights and Advocacy non-profit, isn't concerned about the numbers, citing the political aftershocks of the rallies as an important indicator that the movement is not losing steam.

"You don't make history every year," Muñoz said, "[Last year's rallies] had a launching effect in a variety of different kinds of ways to engage and saw the impact of that across the country."

The Maturation of the Movement

While last year she says millions were engaged in the actual marches "since then local organizations have developed multiple ways for people to be engaged."

The role Spanish-language media's role played in galvanizing the community around the cause was an important one, though Muñoz points out "it's not the first time we've seen ethnic media have that impact -- but it did it in a way the rest of the country could see."

Referencing the welfare and immigration reform issues that plagued the 1996 elections, Muñoz says then "the ethnic press played an enormous role: in generating the message and communicating the outrage."

Of the 2006 immigration marches, Muñoz says, "I think one of the things that last year shone a spotlight on was the engagement of young people in these communities and in this movement."

Youth Engagement

The student walk-outs that dominated press coverage in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco were not an organized part of last year's rallies that engaged young people in community activism.

The grassroots efforts that followed -- voter mobilization campaigns, citizenship drives and sanctuary movements among them -- made their mark politically, influencing the tone and rhetoric of national campaigns.

The Politics of Immigration

In a commencement address last weekend at Miami Dade College, President Bush referenced Washington's ongoing immigration debate and said, "Our current immigration system is in need of reform. It is not working."

Bush praised the immigrant roots of Miami Dade's student body, highlighted his support of a comprehensive immigration reform and charged the graduates: "We must address all elements of this problem together, or none of them will be solved at all. And we must do it in a way that learns from the mistakes that caused previous reforms to fail."

Bush isn't the only politician using the timeliness of the marches to reignite an old debate: Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani and Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean are both expected to make remarks today on immigration reform.

Looking Beyond Immigration Reform

Muñoz says the immigration reform bill, expected to leave its 2007 footprints in Congress at the end of May, is only the first step.

"It doesn't end with an immigration reform bill, it's part of a larger reform bill about what happens with low wage workers in this country," Muñoz says, "Step two is focused on wages and healthcare, the things that effect us in common."

"The clear message to both parties," Muñoz says, "is that the power of the ethnic media is very strong and the power of the community's engagement is very strong."

"The first party to reach our community on a number of issues and to engage their hunger for involvement, the first party that figures that out is going to have a distinct advantage."

In Washington D.C., Asian American advocacy groups from around the country gathered near the Capitol building toting signs that read "Keep Families Together", rallying to reform an immigration system they say is dividing their families.

Emphasizing unity with the other diaspora communities in attendance, one of the event's speakers Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., said "We're in it together, we're in the same boat..If there's a hole in the front part of the boat, the boat sinks."

At the rally, Rep. Luiz Gutierrez, D-Ill., called for an end to immigration raids and spoke in support of legalizing the country's undocumented illegal immigrants calling it a point "we cannot negotiate on."

For rally participants like Carlos Perdomo, the march was about awareness and said a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants benefits the entire country.

"Without legalization, there is complete chaos and disorder. We are living in a disaster right now."

"Immigration is about real people, real communities," said organizer Sookyung Oh, "That's why we're here."

ABC News' Nitza Perez contributed to this report.