Las Vegas May Day march expected to draw crowd; no traffic issues expected

Hundreds of people in Las Vegas are expected to take to the streets Friday as May Day marches unfold across the country, local organizers said Wednesday.

No road closures are planned and no traffic issues are expected, according to Las Vegas police.

The main local message during this year’s annual march will be aimed at Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, said Liz Hernandez, an organizer with United Coalition for Im/migrant Rights in Las Vegas. Nevada in January joined a lawsuit with more than two dozen states challenging President Barack Obama’s executive action that would protect 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.

“A lot of us felt that was a direct attack to our community,” she said Wednesday.

Protesters will start to gather at 4:30 p.m. at the Sahara Commercial Center, 953 E. Sahara Ave., and the march is expected to begin at 5 p.m. Demonstrators will march west on Sahara Avenue and turn right onto Las Vegas Boulevard until arriving at the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas. About 100 to 250 people are expected to participate.

Families are in limbo now because the benefits under the executive action have stalled, Hernandez said.

An estimated 145,000 undocumented immigrants live in Nevada, according to the Washington, D.C. -based Migration Policy Institute, which provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies. An estimated 49,000 undocumented immigrants in the Silver State would be eligible for the new deferred action program for parents, which is the program currently blocked by the ongoing litigation.

Protesters will also call for improvements to workers’ rights, Hernandez said.

Undocumented immigrants in Nevada account for 10.2 percent of the state’s workforce, according to a 2014 study from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C.

“These marches are very important because it means that we are not going to stop,” Hernandez said of a permanent immigration reform.

The Metropolitan Police Department is aware of the march and the route protesters will take to get to their destination, said Metro spokesman Michael Rodriguez.

“As far as the traffic goes, we are not expecting any issues, and no (road) closures are planned at this moment,” he said Wednesday.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440. Find her on Twitter:@YeseniaAmaro.