Suburban protesters call for immigration reform

Hundreds of suburbanites took to the streets at home and in Chicago on Saturday to call for comprehensive immigration reform, a cause that protesters called a civil rights issue.

Protesters this year said they felt galvanized by the new law in Arizona that gives local police officers the responsibility to check suspected illegal immigrants for proof of legal residency.

"The law in Arizona is an affront to all workers," Wheaton resident Cristóbal Cavazos said. "But it gives us a new sense of purpose. We have a historic opportunity now to begin the sprouting of a new civil rights movement in this country."

Cavazos, head of the activist group Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, spoke at a short rally at the Glen Ellyn train station Saturday morning, after which he and about 20 protesters took the train into Chicago to attend the march there. Other rallies took place in Aurora, Palatine and Naperville.

The protesters delivered a common message at the various rallies. They said millions of immigrants are already contributing to the local and national economies through their labor, and they deserve a chance to attain legal status in the U.S.

The suburban rallies took place without much in the way of counterprotests, though one man did attend the Naperville event to make his feelings known.

Jim Barna of Naperville said he has no problem with immigrants living in the U.S., as long as they don't break the law to get here. He held up a sign at the rally that said: "My dad came here legally; why can't you?"

"He came here from Germany in the 1920s," Barna said. "And he did it the right way. He came here legally and considered himself an American from then on. I don't see why it should be any different today."

Several hundred people attended the "Day of the Immigrant" event in Naperville. The crowd marched through the downtown area on Saturday before gathering in Central Park for a rally.

The march proceeded with no problems. A few onlookers rolled their eyes, while some passing motorists beeped their horns and raised their fists in support.

"I think this is a matter of social justice," said Woodridge resident Colleen Heflin, who participated in the march. "We are all immigrants, and we should recognize each other's rights."

Bolingbrook resident Walter Bohorquez, pastor of a Spanish-speaking church in Chicago, had trouble controlling his emotions as he told the crowd that he's currently facing deportation because of a nonviolent crime he committed 18 years ago, and for which he served a year-and-a-half in jail.

Since then, he's gotten married, had two children and devoted his life to his Christian faith, he said. But six months ago, authorities stopped him as he returned from a visit to Colombia and ordered him to face deportation proceedings because of that conviction. He's fighting the case.

"I made a dumb mistake and I paid for it," Bohorquez said. "Since then, I've lived my life on a straight line. But now they want to throw me out. And it's because we have a broken system."

Matthew Soerens, a specialist with Wheaton-based World Relief who works with area churches on immigration issues, said many people who support immigration reform don't believe in offering blanket amnesty to people who entered the country illegally.

"I've even talked to immigrants who say they'd be willing to pay a reasonable penalty if it meant that they could come out of the shadows and be full members of the community," he said. "We just need to find a system that's fair."

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<li><a href="/story/?id=377641">Suburban protesters call for immigration reform <span class="date">[05/02/2010]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=377651">Immigration reformers march through Palatine <span class="date">[05/01/2010]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=377620">Activists rally in Chicago, across country <span class="date">[05/01/2010]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=377628">How Arizona became center of immigration debate <span class="date">[05/02/2010]</span></a></li>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=377630">Palatine immigration rally</a></li>

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