After Arizona, 100,000 Expected for LA's May Day March
Huge numbers are expected to descend upon LA's Downtown for the annual May Day march, an event that’s expected to serve as a rallying point for immigration reform.
May 1, 2010 |
Editor's Note: Marches for immigrants' rights are being planned across the country. Here’s a map plotting planned marches (via reformimmigrationforamerica.org) across the United States; you can also see their running list here. Here’s another working list (via immigrantsolidarity.org) of rallies and meetings points across the nation.
LOS ANGELES--Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officials are preparing for as many as 100,000 demonstrators to descend upon Downtown for the annual May Day march, an event that’s expected to serve as a rallying point for immigration reform.
The demonstrators are likely to issue loud complaints about a law that recently passed in Arizona, allowing law-enforcement officers there to question suspected illegal immigrants and arrest anyone who cannot prove citizenship or legal residency.
Representatives of pro-immigrant advocacy groups, labor unions and other organizations from across Southern California have announced plans to march together, with the event set to begin at approximately 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 1, at Olympic Boulevard and Broadway. The route of the march is expected to proceed north and west to the area around City Hall, and street closures and changes to bus service in the Downtown area will likely be in effect for much of the day.
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LAPD officials made similar projections on crowd counts prior to marches that drew an estimated 500,000 participants in 2006, with upward revisions coming right as late as the night before the events.
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http://www.alternet.org/immigration/146696/after_arizona%2C_100%2C000_expected_for_la%27s_may_day_march?page=entire