Ken Ruinard Anderson Independent-Mail Jose Garozon of Greenville, left, walks with Peepsi, a male 6-month-old Chinese Crested, who wears a sign written in Spanish saying "Si — se puede," meaning "yes we can." The two were part of an immigration rally Monday in Greenville.

By Megan Nichols
Anderson Independent-Mail
April 10, 2006

Scores of flags waved in time with "The Star Spangled Banner" at an immigration reform rally at Greenville’s City Hall Plaza on Monday.

Most of the flags were U.S. flags, but others, like Mexican and Colombian flags — even a burnt-orange University of Texas flag — could be spotted as well.

Maria Hernandez, 20, of Seneca, waving both a green-white-and-red Mexican flag and a U.S. flag, said immigrants are proud of their homelands, but they want to make a life in America.

"Everyone who has come to this country was an immigrant," she said as she slowly waved the two large flags from her perch on the wall surrounding the plaza. "We want to make everyone know we aren’t bad."

Tens of thousands of people — overwhelmingly Hispanic — gathered in the streets of America’s cities on Monday, in peaceful protests to urge federal lawmakers to pass immigration reform.

Event organizers estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 people showed up at Greenville’s demonstration. Several thousand more attended rallies in Charleston and Columbia on Monday.

South Carolina protesters were concerned about state immigration issues as well as federal. Last week, the state Senate approved a resolution asking Republican Gov. Mark Sanford to stop illegal immigrants from getting social services.

Similar legislation is awaiting Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s signature. Atlanta police estimated that at least 50,000 people joined a two-mile march from a largely immigrant neighborhood Monday morning in protest of federal and state immigration issues.

Monica Rodriguez, of Anderson, attended the Greenville protest rally with her two children, Samantha, 11, and Edward, 9. Ms. Rodriguez said the family moved to the United States from Ecuador seven years ago.

"The main thing we want is to get the respect," she said, as the crowd chanted "We can do it," in Spanish. "We want them to be fair with the immigration."

Samantha agreed.

"I think it is very important for people to understand that we are not criminals; we are looking for jobs," she said.
Many people carried signs to that effect Monday.

Some said simply, "We are not criminals," while others said, "We contribute to the American economy."

Wilfredo Leon, who organized the Greenville demonstration, said the high numbers of people protesting showed that Hispanics were serious about these issues.

"Basically, it says that people are willing to make whatever sacrifices they need to get what they want," he said. "A lot of people did not go to work today to be here. A lot of employers closed their businesses today so they could participate."

Mr. Leon, who moved to Greenville from Puerto Rico in 1985, said immigrants would continue to protest until they are heard.

"I think that a sleeping giant has finally awakened," he said. "Twelve million is a lot of people. So far we have been very quiet, but something has finally touched the fiber of a lot of people. They just came forward."

The demonstrations were in response to federal legislation being considered by lawmakers. A house bill, passed in December, would make all illegal immigrants felons. Immigration reform talks stalled last week in the U.S. Senate, when disagreements halted a Republican and Democratic compromise that looked likely mid-week.

The Senate bill would have allowed most illegal immigrants to become citizens after they paid a fine and learned English. A guest-worker program would also have been created.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Megan Nichols can be reached at (800) 859-6397 or by e-mail at nicholsmg@IndependentMail.com.

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