 "Photo: Courtesy of Edgard Echegaray")
The cries of protesters rang through the streets of Downtown San Diego on Friday.
With the support of San Diego State's Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlán members and other SDSU organizations, an estimated 2,000 high school students rallied against the most recent immigration law proposal.
MEChA members supervised the high school students at Chicano Park in Barrio Logan before the demonstrators made their way downtown to protest the proposed legislation bill HR4437 - which would make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant - and other proposed immigration bills.
"We are not there to tell them what to do, but to support their protest and help give it structure because a lot of these students have never been to a protest," said MEChA President Edmundo Garcia, who helped to guide the peaceful demonstrations. "We just want to make sure they exercise their first amendment right without getting in trouble."
Police officers closed down intersections and controlled traffic to make sure there was order while the young protesters filled the streets.
The MEChA members were able to provide a "buffer zone" between the students and the police to avoid arrests that resulted in a similar high school student protests last week.
"Everyone here knows that this is a peaceful demonstration," said Luis Fuentes, a social science senior. "We wanted to make sure there weren't any similar confrontations with the police and the students as there were in Escondido on Monday."
Members of SDSU's Association of Chicana Activists, an organization dedicated to educating Latina women about their rights and protests, were also present to support the demonstration and to secure the safety of students.
A newer SDSU organization, the Immigrant Rights Coalition, also joined the protest. IRC is dedicated to educating people about immigrants and their rights.
In the center of all of this, the young protesters were also celebrating the legacy of Cesar E. Chavez, who successfully led the first farm workers' union in America by promoting peaceful and nonviolent demonstrations.
"It's like we are protesting for two purposes," said Delia Pimentel, who is a member of both AChA and MEChA, "to commemorate Cesar Chavez and to show people that we are not violent and that we are just trying to fight for our rights, which proves to everyone that we are not criminals, like HR447 says."
Several students chanted in unison and said, "We are not terrorists, we are workers! If Chavez lived, with us he would be! Si se puede! (Yes, you can!)"
Even though countless Mexican flags waved through the air, protesters also chanted for the sake of every country of Latin America and held posters with Spanish messages such as, "Immigrants are not criminals" and "United communities will never give up."
The students began marching through Barrio Logan neighborhoods at about 10 a.m., where local business employees and residents watched or shouted messages of support. Students later flooded the streets of Downtown until they reached San Diego City College at 1 p.m. and returned to Chicano Park.
IRC President Gisel Munguia said she encourages everyone to become educated about this movement because it not only affects Latino/as, but immigrants in general.
"As students, we are an educated force, and in our generation, immigrant issues can be big," Munguia said. "It helps if we are all informed about it and look at both sides to come to a compromise over this issue."
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