On May Day, Los Angeles broke out the largest immigrant protests and demonstrations of the recent three years. Those immigrants rallied to protest against the Arizona approving of the nation's most stringent immigration laws. And they also criticized the Obama administration not promoting immigration reform till now. The organizers claimed that at least 5 million people took part in the protest march.
A week ago, California's neighboring state of Arizona officially adopted a new anti-illegal immigration bill, which is by far the nation's most stringent anti-illegal immigration law. The new law enforcement offers officers greater authority. The police can interrogate, examine and even arrest suspicious persons in circumstances without warrant. People with no valid documents to prove legal status will be charged with crime of "illegal immigrant".
Arizona's new law has triggered a strong reaction in Los Angeles. On May Day, many Latino groups and civil rights organizations called on people to the streets in protest against the "draconian laws". And they appealed for the Obama Government launching a comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible. Latino is the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles area, accounting for about half of the total population. Among them, Mexican-American population is as high as one third of the total population.
At 10 a.m. today, the procession began to march in parade to the downtown of Los Angeles. The protesters shouted "shame to Arizona," "against racial discrimination", "immigration reform" and other slogans. Some protesters held smear Obama’s portrait, accusing him of breaking a campaign promise to delay immigration reform. The people participate in the procession gathered more and more. At noon, the procession has stretched more than 1000 meters at Broadway.
Mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa appeared at the plot of Mexican parade. He told the protestors the story of his grandfather emigrating to the U.S. from Mexico. And he expressed that it is each immigrant’s right to pursue American dream. And he was unequivocally opposed to Arizona's new immigration laws, and called the federal government to speed up immigration reform.
According to parade organizers’ saying, there were at least 5 million people taking part in the protest march today. And it was the largest Los Angeles protest march since 2008.