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Marchers Flood Mall With Passion, Pride
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Today, we march; tomorrow, we vote.
As the rally dispersed, the loudspeakers blared what circumstance transformed into something of an anthem: a Spanish version of Gloria Estefan's "Coming Out of the Dark."
"This is just the beginning," said Elmer Palmer, 30, of Woodbridge, a real estate agent originally from El Salvador. "If we don't have a fair response to this, we'll continue, greater and greater."
Palmer pumped a sign above his head that read, in Spanish, "If you deport me, who will build the wall?" -- a reference to proposed legislation that calls for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Most of the construction work is done by immigrants. We do the hard work here," Palmer said. "If we get deported, who will build the houses?"
The crowd numbered in the tens of thousands, at least 100,000 by the estimate of one police official who spoke on condition that he not be named. Closer to 500,000, according to Germonique R. Jones, a spokeswoman for the organizers.
Along the route, as protesters marched from a staging area at Meridian Hill Park, spectator support seemed overwhelming. Office workers leaned out of windows and piled onto the sidewalks to shout encouragement. About 150 members of the National Education Association took administrative leave to cheer on the demonstrators, NEA President Reg Weaver said.
"This issue is of such magnitude to America that we can't stand by and watch from the sidelines," he said.
Only a few counter-demonstrators were visible. A handful appeared on the east side of Seventh Street NW, across from the back of the rally stage. One held a sign that read, "Protect Our Border." Another sign read "Back You Go to Mexico."
At 16th and Church streets NW, Erin Carrington accepted the boos from passersby as she held a sign that read, "Keep walking -- Just 1,800 miles till you're home." Carrington, a 22-year-old graduate student, said she is concerned that the taxes she pays will increase if immigrants receive benefits.
But the opponents' numbers were minuscule compared with the marchers', who arrived at the staging area from throughout the region in buses provided by the National Capital Immigration Coalition, the umbrella group coordinating the event. Vendors there sold small American, Salvadoran and Mexican flags for $5 and $10.
Charles Vela, a naturalized citizen from El Salvador who lives in Potomac, was among the first in line.
