2,500 rally for immigrant rights in Charlotte, N.C.

At least 2,500 people, mainly Latin@s, gathered in Charlotte, N.C.’s uptown Marshall Park May 28 to rally for immigrant rights.

The main demands were passage of NC House Bill 1183, which would allow immigrant students with good grades to pay lower in-state college tuition fees instead of much higher out-of-state fees, and of U.S. Senate Bill 1033, the “McCain Ken nedy Secure American and Orderly Immigration Act”; and defeat of the Bush administration’s “REAL I.D.” plan.

At the very spirited rally, there were talks by representatives of the Latin@ community, including the Colombian United Group, and solidarity messages from the NAACP and Crises Assistance Ministries, a social service organization.

German Di Castro of the Latin Amer ica Coalition gave the keynote speech. He said: “The United States has been built by immigrants since its birth. The English came first, and by the way, they did not learn to speak Native American languages. They imported the Africans against their will.”

Di Castro emphasized the strong Latino participation in the military over the years and reminded the crowd that the first U.S. soldier to die in Iraq was a Mexican immigrant. He said this should be reason enough to pass NC House Bill 1183 and other pro-immigrant reforms.

Throughout the rally there were many chants of “Latin@s, unidos, jamas seran vencidos”—Latin@s, united, will never be defeated. In addition to the speakers, musi cians also livened up the crowd with songs.