DALLAS - Tens of thousands of people banged drums, waved U-S flags and marched in a protest today urging federal lawmakers to pass immigration reform that would legalize an estimated eleven (m) million undocumented workers.
Shouting ``Si Se Puede!'' -- Spanish for ``Yes, we can!'' -- the marchers crammed into the downtown streets in Dallas. They included families pushing strollers with their children and ice cream vendors who placed American flags on their carts. Many wore white clothing to symbolize peace.
Police estimated the crowd at 350-thousand to 500-thousand. There were no reports of violence.
It was among several protests staged today in New Mexico, Minnesota, Alabama and California.
In Birmingham, Alabama, demonstrators marched along the same streets where civil rights activists clashed with police during the 1960s and rallied at a park where a statue of Martin Luther King Junior stands as a reminder of the fight for equal rights and the violence that once plagued the city.
Today's demonstrations come ahead of nationwide protests set weeks ago for tomorrow, a signal that what began as a string of disparate events -- attracting tens and even hundreds of thousands of people --as become more coordinated.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Wednesday
July 16th, 2025
10:23AM
