The chants and drum beats Tuesday were familiar, and so was the sight of an estimated 150,000 demonstrators marching shoulder to shoulder through Chicago’s Loop, a sweaty, tightly packed throng waving American flags and hoisting signs as downtown traffic stood still.
But after a year of stalemate over immigration reform, the tone of this year’s first major demonstration took a harder edge in Chicago, with defiance and frustration driving the largest of the marches held across the country.
Last May, when 400,000 turned out in the city to show immigrant pride, there was a festival-like atmosphere. This time, the mood was set by speakers and signs insisting that illegal immigrants are here to stay, and challenging the federal government to deal with them. Many speakers blasted the raids at workplaces across the nation in recent months.
“We have done nothing against the law, except that we came without papers,” said Celia Martinez, 49, who was among several in the crowd who freely admitted to reporters their illegal status, shouting to be heard over the din. “We’re very proud of our lives here.”
With congressional leaders — and many of the march’s organizers — wrangling over competing immigration-reform proposals, activists decided to push for a simple call for legalization of the country’s 12 million undocumented immigrants, and an end to federal raids.
In Chicago and its suburbs, marchers took buses, trains and cars toward the city’s center. By midday, feeder marches that began in Pilsen and Humboldt Park added to the growing crowd in Union Park, where spontaneous speeches, drumming and loud cheers created a cacophony.
As office workers peered out windows above, demonstrators marched through the Loop to the main rally in Grant Park.
There, Mayor Daley urged the crowd that filled Lower Hutchinson Field to look no farther than the nearby downtown skyline for proof of immigrants’ impact.
“This skyline was built by immigrants in the past, present and future, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Daley said, as the crowd cheered and pumped American flags into the air.
“It’s not a Democrat message, it’s not a Republican message. It’s the people’s message that we want common-sense reforms.”
As with past demonstrations in the city, most of those who delivered that message Tuesday were Mexican, with some European, Muslim and African organizers taking the podium to explain the plight of their communities. A group of gay and lesbian activists also were on hand.
With signs and speeches in Spanish, it was clear who gave Tuesday’s march its momentum. Though fear of a backlash caused by recent deportations kept many people away from marches in Chicago and elsewhere, a last-minute surge by the city’s Mexican community led police to divert the march from Daley Plaza, and ultimately filled much of Grant Park.
Several marchers cited anger over a federal bust of an alleged fake-ID ring in Little Village last week — where agents toting rifles stopped shoppers and workers at random before arresting 12 suspects — as a reason for coming out.
“People must realize that there’s nothing to be afraid of or that type of disrespect will continue,” said Samuel Salgado, 46, a legal immigrant who lives in Elgin.
Kevin Houseworth, 43, was among others who were impressed by the crowd’s passion.
As marchers walked by shouting “U.S.A.,” banging drums or blowing whistles, “My first reaction was: ‘Go back to Mexico,’ ” Houseworth said.
“But seeing their resolve and their unity kind of reminds me that every community has had its struggles,” said Houseworth, of Addison.
“Chinese-Americans, African-Americans, Italian-American, we’ve all been through it. This could be the beginning of something bigger and, if I were the powers that be, I’d take notice.
“The city is becoming more Mexican whether we like it or not.”
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BY THE NUMBERS
400,000
Unauthorized immigrants in Chicago, the Urban Institute reported in March.
5%
Approximate percentage of the Chicago metro-area labor market that undocumented immigrants account for, according to a University of Illinois-Chicago study released in 2002.
30%
Approximate percentage of those immigrants who work in restaurant-related jobs, hand-packing and assembly, and janitorial and cleaning jobs, the study said.
$7
The median hourly wage earned by undocumented workers in the Chicago area, the study said.
70%
Approximate percentage of undocumented workers who pay taxes, survey data indicates.
$5.45 billion
Amount undocumented immigrants add annually to the gross regional product, the study said.
