The spirited and confident crowd was mostly working class and predominantly Latino. A significant number of Asians participated as well. As they marched through working-class neighborhoods, passersby, residents, and people in cars waved in support. Many signs and the speeches at the march were in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

The action was sponsored by the Labor Immigrant Organizing Network (LION) and endorsed by the Asian Immigrant Women Advocates, Chinese for Affirmative Action, California Labor Federation, the Central Labor Councils of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Health Care Workers Local 250, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Local 2850, HERE Local 2, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 7, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, St. Elizabeth Church, San Francisco Labor Council, San Mateo County Central Labor Council, SEIU Local 1877, United Auto Workers, United Farm Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 428, and Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns--Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Some of the chants during the march included, "Sin papeles, no hay paz" (No papers, no peace) and "Aqui estamos y no nos vamos" (Here we are and we're not going). Signs included, "Legalization para todos" (Legalization for all) by the Justice for Janitors campaign of SEIU Local 1877 and "Justice for immigrant workers. Amnesty now" in English, Spanish, and Chinese by LION of the Central Labor Council of Alameda County.

"Everyone needs papers," said Maria Imelda Gomez. "Without papers, you can't work. It's not right that only people who have papers can earn a good wage. My husband works in a restaurant in San Francisco for $6.25 an hour. We have three young children and I don't work. Five of us live in a studio apartment where we pay $435 per month plus more for bills. Now my husband only has one job."

Martín Barrientos came to the demonstration on one of three buses organized by UFCW Local 428 in San Jose. He works in a nonunion automobile transmission shop. "I make $14 an hour as a mechanic. Others make $20 an hour. They don't pay you as much when you're an immigrant and don't speak English. It's important that people are uniting more."

Torm Nompraseurt attended the action with a few others from the Laotian Organizing Project of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. "About 10,000 Laotians live in West Contra Costa County," he said. "Living near chemical and oil companies affects everyone there especially lower income and people of color. MBA, a plastics company, had a fire and didn't warn any of the residents until the next day. Last year we fought for the emergency warning system to be in different languages. Many in our community don't have English skills. Most work for minimum wage, and work two jobs plus overtime. The bosses treat you badly, ask you to do things that are unsafe, and they harass you."

Twelve students came from the Santa Clara University chapter of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan (MEChA). Alejandra Lizardo,18, heard about the demonstration in her parish. "I think people that come here and work have the right and privilege to become citizens," Lizardo said. "We're very inspired by the demonstration. We didn't know it would be this big. I think our MEChA chapter should become more political."

Deborah Liatos is a meat packer and member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 120.  
 
 
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