Lifting their voices

Thousands of pro-immigrant demonstrators, many condemning legislation stiffening penalties for being here illegally, rally in lower Manhattan

BY HERBERT LOWE | Newsday Staff Writer

April 2, 2006

Hoisting the flags of their homelands and shouting "¡Sí se puede!" - "Yes, it can be done!" - thousands of people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday to rally about federal immigration reform.

At least 10,000 people converged outside the federal office building in lower Manhattan, making it the largest mass protest in New York since demonstrations held during the 2004 Republican National Convention.

"We want to say that we're here to work, to be positive for the economy, for families, for children," said Eduardo Giraldo, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Queens and one of the rally organizers. "We want to be a part of the American system."

For more than two and a half hours, marchers carrying flags from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Ecuador, among other countries, walked across the bridge.

Giraldo said organizers included the bridge as part of the demonstration because the "Brooklyn Bridge was built by immigrants," including nearly 30 of whom died during its construction in the 1870s.

Many marchers carried protest signs signaling their displeasure with legislation pending in Congress that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally.

A man who spoke no English carried a sign that read: "Somos Trabajadors. No Somos Terroristas. Ni Criminales. We Are Workers. Not Criminals. Not Terrorists." Other signs read "No one is illegal," "Do not kill the American dream" and "What would you do without us?"

An estimated 12 million unauthorized immigrants live in the United States, including about 500,000 in New York City and 100,000 on Long Island.

Billed as the "Solidarity March for Legalization," the march and rally gave New Yorkers the chance to echo massive pro-immigrant protests that have spread across the country over the last two weeks.

As with similar demonstrations elsewhere, the size of the march exceeded expectations of many, including the Police Department, which at least until Friday was prepared for between 1,500 and 5,000 people, according to police officials assigned to monitor the crowd.

Starting at 11 a.m. at Cadman Plaza in Downtown Brooklyn, the first wave brought 5,000 marchers to Foley Square, across from the regional offices of two federal agencies key to immigrants: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Social Security Administration.

Upon reaching the square about noon, they joined 2,000 people waiting there for the rally to begin. By 1:30 p.m., several more waves brought thousands more who had trekked across the bridge.

Among the speakers was Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful.

"I love the United States of America. Do you love the United States of America?" Suozzi bellowed. The crowd roared affirmatively.

"If you go to work every day, if you live by the rules of our community, you deserve to live the American dream," he added, again drawing a huge cheer.

Listening in the crowd was Eduardo Torres, 28, of Washington Heights. He is a permanent resident who immigrated with his family 12 years ago from the Dominican Republic.

"I just came to help them because the United States really needs them," Torres said, referring to undocumented immigrants.