DALLAS — Thousands joined the “2025 Mega March” for immigration reform organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens here March 30. The spirited protest marched from the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe through downtown Dallas to City Hall. Other participating organizations included Families United, Dallas AFL-CIO, Líderos comunitarios y activistas de Dallas (Community Leaders and Activists of Dallas), and the Socialist Workers Party.
The Regional Hispanic Contractors Association organized a bus that brought 50 workers in three trips to the march. The march was mostly Latinos, but also Black and Caucasian workers, who brought their families with them as well. ¡Sí se puede! (yes we can) was a prominent chant during the march.
“Building the unity of the working class is a key question for the Socialist Workers Party,” this Militant reporter told Brenda Daeb, a four-year member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Carmen Mejia, a LULAC volunteer. “That’s why we support amnesty for all those in the U.S. without papers. We are all part of the working class, and the unions must organize us all.”
Elena Hoffman from El Salvador, who now lives in Houston, came with her husband, one of the march organizers. “People from all over are affected by what is happening in their countries,” she said.
Alicia Isaar was just walking in downtown Dallas when she saw the march and joined it. Isaar, who is part Jewish, said she agreed with the SWP’s support for Israel’s right to defend itself as a refuge from Jew-hatred and pogroms.
“I think it is very important to be experiencing this march and it is meaningful for me to be here,” Nicholas Castillo, a college student and aspiring journalist from nearby Carrollton, told the Militant.
Wearing a “Todos somos America” (We are all America) sign pinned to her dress, Yolanda Russell told the Dallas News she decided she had to come regardless of the fact she has Parkinson’s disease and sometimes has difficulty walking. She said she was happy to see the diverse crowd, including many Caucasians. “We need to raise our voice, and maybe the government can hear,” she said.
She added she was particularly upset by the government sending asylum-seekers to detention in other countries, like El Salvador and Panama. It’s just not right, she said.
Many marchers stopped to take pictures of Hilda Cuzco, the SWP candidate for City Council District 11 in Fort Worth. She held a sign in Spanish saying, “¡Amnistía para trabajadoras inmigrantes! ¡No deportaciones! Socialist Workers Party.” (Amnesty for immigrant workers! No deportations!)
Next up are May Day events for “legalization for all” being scheduled across the country, including in both Dallas and Fort Worth.