Keep families together, marchers say

Heber Lopez, wearing a white tank top, jeans and a "Made in Mexico" tattoo, marched Tuesday evening for his two American-born children.

"I'm afraid of being deported," the 31-year-old construction worker and undocumented immigrant said in Spanish as he made his way north on Las Vegas Boulevard just after 7 p.m. "My wife and children are from here."

Keeping families of mixed citizenship and immigration status together was a major theme at the two-hour rally and subsequent march in downtown Las Vegas in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

"What happens to children when their mamas are taken back to Mexico?" asked 15-year-old Polo Gonzalez, who attended the rally with his mother.

A crowd thousands strong gathered for the May 1 anniversary event at Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse. They wore ball caps and sombreros, carried Mexican and American flags, hoisted signs written in Spanish and English, and chanted phrases such as "Si se puede!" and "Aqui estamos y no nos vamos!" -- "Yes we can!" and "We're here and we're not leaving!"

Similar demonstrations took place in cities nationwide.

Gonzalez, a Rancho High School student whose T-shirt read "Amnestia -- Full rights for all immigrants," said he participated in a student walkout and protest earlier in the day.

About 700 Clark County School District students ditched classes Tuesday to demonstrate.

Last year, a crowd estimated by police at 8,000 to 10,000 took to the Strip in one of the largest protest marches in Las Vegas history.

Students of every age also skipped school that day. Businesses closed, and workers stayed home, as part of the national A Day Without Immigrants boycott to illustrate how important immigrants are to the U.S. economy.

This year's local events were smaller in scale.

About 150 students gathered at Freedom Park on Tuesday morning, and about 400 had congregated at Jaycee Park by noon.

Police estimates for the crowd at the evening gathering ranged from 1,000 to 4,700.

But those in attendance said their passion is just as strong as it was last year.

"We are ready to fight," said Evelyn Flores, a member of the United Coalition for Immigrant Rights, which organized the evening event.

"There are people who say, 'Don't march again,' but we are still fighting for our respect, for our dignity and for them to recognize our humanity. People are still being deported."

Organizers of the evening rally and march presented a list of demands that included stopping deportations, providing a clear path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the United States and ending "separate and unequal educational opportunities."

Activists and Hispanic leaders have criticized a bill before the Legislature that would deny Millennium Scholarships, student loans and other benefits to noncitizens attending state colleges and universities.

Organizers passed around voter registration sheets.

"We clearly have the numbers to change the political realm in this country," said Delfina Anchondo, another member of the coalition. "In 2008, when the political scene comes around, we will be the ones making the next presidential election."

The courthouse demonstration drew about a dozen people protesting against illegal immigration.

They stood across the street from the main rally, carrying signs that read "Stop the Invasion -- Deport Illegals" and yelling "No you can't!" in response to the "Si se puede!" chant of those at the rally.

After the rally, the crowd marched up Las Vegas Boulevard to Stewart Avenue, west on Stewart to Main Street, south on Main to Bridger Avenue, then east on Bridger back to Las Vegas Boulevard.

Along the way, tourists, downtown workers and business owners lined the sidewalks to watch.

Most cheered on the marchers.

"Damn right!" shouted one apparently intoxicated man on the corner of Fremont Street at Las Vegas Boulevard.

He then asked, "What are they marching for?"

Others jeered. Some downtown drivers stalled by the marchers yelled, "Go home!"

One apparently homeless woman sitting in Frank Wright Plaza, next to City Hall, heckled some of the marchers.

"Couldn't you make it in Mexico?" she said.

Many of those who last year supported immigration rallies have said they instead are focusing on increasing the Hispanic vote. They no longer support large-scale marches or boycotts, especially among students.

"Students should be in school," said Pilar Weiss, the Culinary union's political director. "We all want comprehensive immigration reform, but skipping out on school doesn't bring us any closer to that."

The Culinary union last year sponsored the May 1 immigration rights rally at Fremont Street Experience that preceded the large Strip march.

Miguel Barrientos, president of United Immigrant Families of Nevada, said the local immigration reform movement has evolved from marches.

"We don't think a march is necessary just to say, 'It's the year anniversary,'" he said. "We think we should be sending letters and making phone calls to Congress and the Senate to push immigration reform instead of doing a march that really doesn't help much at this point."

District officials said students played hooky from Desert Pines, Rancho, Clark and Canyon Springs high schools. Some Cram Middle School students also participated in the walkout, officials said.

Superintendent Walt Rulffes said students who skipped class Tuesday would be given unexcused absences.

"If they are going to protest, they should do so on their own time after school or on the weekends," he said.

Some said the students who walked out of school on Tuesday did not really understand the issues surrounding the national debate on immigration.

"The majority of the kids that were out today seem to have no purpose," said Lt. Ken Young, a school district police spokesman. "It's really a tragedy that kids would jeopardize their education for something they have no idea about."

But many students at Jaycee Park on Tuesday said they are concerned about the possibility of their parents or loved ones being deported.

They also said they want a clear path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and are concerned that some students who are in the country illegally might not receive the Millennium Scholarship.

"We have to show people we like America, and we want to stay here," said Hazel Ortega, a 15-year-old Canyon Springs High School student who was draped in an American flag.