By Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
It was the first day of spring break, and normally 18-year-old Jose Cortez would be anyplace except at Albert Einstein High School.
Yet there he was, accompanied by his dad no less, waiting to cram into a school bus leaving the Kensington campus. He could have been bowling with friends or listening to his favorite reggaeton tunes. Yesterday, however, was not just about him.
"I really want to support immigrants," said Cortez, an Einstein senior who was born in El Salvador and immigrated to Montgomery County at 4 to join his father, Mario. "Without them, this country wouldn't be anything. Immigrants aren't here to fight; they're here to work.''
The elder Cortez, who had the day off from his job at Whole Foods, smiled at his son's words.
Father and son were among dozens of people who rode a caravan of buses, which also left Montgomery Blair and Watkins Mill high schools, en route to the Mall for yesterday's immigrant rights rally. Large contingents of students from the District and Virginia joined their Maryland counterparts for the mass demonstration.
For most, it was their first taste of political activism. Until now, several students said, they hadn't connected with a cause that felt so personal.
Heading to the Mall, 10-year-old Stephanie Lemus-Ortiz marched confidently down 16th Street NW, hand in hand with her uncle, who said he is an illegal immigrant. Stephanie, on spring break from a Fairfax County elementary school, said she couldn't wait for school to start again so she could tell her classmates what she did on vacation.
"I'm not sure they'll know about this," she said of her classmates who are not immigrants, "but I'm going tell them that I made a difference. They know me and expect that from me."
Stephanie Archila 15, a sophomore at Einstein, rode in one of the school buses with her father, mother, aunt and little sister. Her father, Frank, a roofer, took a half day off from work.
"I've never really done anything like this," Stephanie said, "but this issue is an attention-grabber."
The Montgomery school system came under fire in recent days for allowing students to earn community service credit for participating in the rally. Many students interviewed yesterday weren't aware of that controversy -- or even that they could earn school credit.
Instead, they were focused on designing posters ("Immigrants are not criminals," one read) and trying to get their voices heard.
As their bus chugged down Georgia Avenue, 17-year-old Randy Ruano and his Einstein classmates engaged in an impromptu debate about the pros and cons of immigration policy.
Should all immigrants be allowed to come to the United States? Should they be required to learn English as a condition of earning citizenship?
The students said they opposed any move by Congress to make criminals out of immigrants who came to the United States illegally. Many were struggling, though, with how the immigration system could be changed in ways that would make it fair for everyone.
"Give them all papers," one boy shouted.
"Immigrants should be working and learning English to be able to stay," a girl yelled.
"Why do they have to learn English?" another girl challenged.
"See? It's not as clear-cut as you might think," Elizabeth Alex, a community organizer from CASA of Maryland, told the students. CASA, a nonprofit immigrant rights group, organized the bus caravan.
Mario Cortez watched in amusement as his son Jose shouted out the bus window and waved a miniature American flag. By the time the bus crossed the District line, Mario was beginning to get into the spirit of things. As his son looked on, he stood up and led students in a robust cheer: " El pueblo unido jamás será vencido " -- a village united will never be divided.
Staff writer Ian Shapira contributed to this report.
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