http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/washington/03rally.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=sloginThousands Rally for Changes to Immigration Bill in Congress
By NEELA BANERJEE
Published: June 3, 2007
WASHINGTON, June 2 — Thousands of immigrants and their supporters gathered on the west lawn of the Capitol on Saturday to urge the Senate to adopt legislation that would make it easier for illegal immigrants to become legal residents of the United States.
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“I don’t expect to get a perfect bill, but the current legislation has serious flaws we think need to be fixed,” said Jaime Contreras, president of the immigration coalition’s board. “If Congress doesn’t take action this year, they are misreading the public. The immigrant community is paying close attention and knows who is on our side and who isn’t.”
Most of the speakers addressed the crowd in Spanish and organizers encouraged demonstrators to sign postcards to members of Congress and to call their senators. Some of those interviewed said they were naturalized citizens or legal residents who were closely following the debate and considered much of the pending bill unnecessarily punitive.
Others worried about the part of the bill that would award legal status to highly skilled immigrants more easily than to those with family here, saying it would split up families.
Alvaro Llanos, 34, of Washington, a citizen who emigrated from Chile, said, “If you want to gain residency, you get a certain number of points based on your skills, but in our community we do work Americans don’t want to do.”