Hundreds more marched in cities statewide. In San Francisco’s Mission district, a working-class Latino neighborhood, a handful of protesters in a cold drizzle grew to hundreds at a spirited rally waving Mexican flags and singing. People grabbed cardboard boxes off the street, ripping them up to make signs demanding driver’s licenses. Many drivers, including bus and sanitation truck drivers, honked their horns in support.

In Oakland, 500 marched throughout the day along a 10-block stretch of International Avenue, between Fruitvale and High Streets. Most of the stores in this usually busy commercial district in the Latino community were closed for the day. Some closed in solidarity and put up signs of support in their windows. Others were forced to close because of lack of workers and business. “Honk your horn if you support the drivers license bill,” were among signs in shop windows drawing a favorable response from passing vehicles. Other slogans included, “We demand licenses. Why? Because we deserve it!” Another in Spanish read, “Aquí estamos y no nos vamos. ¡Licencias demandamos!” “Here we are and we’re not going. We demand licenses!”

Despite pressure from bosses and school officials, thousands participated in the protest to coincide with the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint. Maricella Rosas, one of the organizers, from Clinica de la Raza, said, “The school sent me a letter to tell me not to keep my child out of school today. We are planning an economic protest every month leading up to a another big work stoppage on Cinco de Mayo. They thought we were asleep. We won’t get anything if we don’t fight. Many people fought to get what we have now so we have to continue the struggle.”

Arturo Solís, a young machine shop worker, said, “I told the boss that I was taking off for this and he said, ‘okay.’”

Concepción Solís, a student at Life Academy High School, said there has been a lot of debate in her school on whether immigrants deserve driver’s licenses. “The principal” she reported, “told the teachers to tell us not to take off school, but my teacher told me do what you think is right. Most Latinos didn’t go to school.”

Other demonstrations included 400 in Los Angeles, more than 3,000 in Santa Barbara, and 400 in Redwood City; 1,000 marched to the San Jose Department of Motor Vehicles, 500 marched from the DMV to City Hall in Santa Rosa, hundreds marched in Fresno, 400 at Richmond city hall, 300 mainly students in Berkeley, 100 in Fremont, and others in San Rafael and Ukiah. Large numbers of students stayed home from school. Some districts, particularly those with largely Latino populations, reported anywhere from 50 to 90 percent absent. In San Francisco, as many as 60 percent of the students stayed out of several public schools that have large Latino populations. The Stockton Unified school district reported over 13,000 absent. Pedro Nanranjo, a life skills teacher at Frick Middle School in Oakland said, “I went to teach but only 6 out of 25-30 students were in class. Two were Latino and four Vietnamese.” Contra Costa Times reports, “In Oakland’s Latino Fruitvale district, teacher Rosa Aguirre led about 45 students out of her Manzanita Elementary School classroom Friday while chanting and holding signs.”

The boycott was called by several Latino and immigrant rights organization, among them the Mexican American Political Association and Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, in response to the repeal of a law that would have given immigrants the right to obtain driver’s licenses. Bowing to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Democratic Party-controlled State Assembly voted 64-9, December 1 to repeal Senate Bill 60. Schwarzenegger had campaigned vocally against the bill, which had been signed into law a few months before his election.

Opponents of the law charge that it undermined national security. In the wake of the boycott and demonstrations, Schwarzenegger said that he might reconsider the bill if it includes background checks on applicants and other “security” measures.

Deborah Liatos and Mark Gilsdorf contributed to this article.  
 
 
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