An immigrant poured my coffee Monday morning at Tampa International Airport. Another checked my boarding pass at security. Another shuttled me to my parked car at DIA.
Millions of immigrants went to work, and still the streets of Denver and cities across the country were throbbing with the chants “Si se puede” (Yes we can) and “USA, USA, USA” from tens of thousands of immigrant-rights activists.
They said they came to the rallies for many reasons.
“To stand up for my family members who came here illegally and to help them work without having to lie,” said Carolina Olivas, a U.S. citizen who works as a receptionist at a health center in Denver.
“To help our friends get citizenship,” said Arturo Valenzuela, a U.S. citizen and foreman for a construction company.
“To support the people who work and pay taxes and defend this country,” said Juan Manuel Cruz, a U.S. citizen, construction company superintendent and veteran of Desert Storm.
“To stand together,” said truck driver Jorge Chavez. “We’re citizens, so we can actually do something about the situation for people here illegally.”
Their sheer numbers delivered an even more powerful message: The immigrant rights movement is too big to ignore.
Former Denver Mayor Federico Peña called the mass of humanity sprawling across several blocks surrounding the Capitol “an ocean of beauty.”
He spoke of his ancestors who defended the country going back to the Civil War and of the millions of immigrants who are “cleaning our buildings, building houses, mowing lawns, digging ditches and fighting today in Iraq.”
Then he outlined his immigration reform plan.
CEOs should be required to verify that their companies are hiring workers legally, and if they can’t, they should receive heavy penalties, he said. “The demand for immigrant labor is the issue, not the supply.”
The federal government should create a guest-worker program that guarantees decent wages, safe working conditions and access to health care, he said. “If Congress has the courage and wisdom to do this, we will not need to build any fences.
“Amigos, amigas, we are one America united by a just cause. Together we have a powerful voice,” Peña said.
As the giant lunch-hour rally dispersed, a small contingent of counterprotesters gathered at Civic Center shouting at the immigrant-rights activists wandering by on their way home.
Volunteer security guards from the immigrant-rights event put on red T-shirts and formed a line to separate the crowds.
Demonstrators carried signs saying: “Repel the illegal invaders,” “Remember the Alamo,” “What part of illegal do you not understand?” and “How many people is enough?”
One demonstrator yelled, “How many of you have insurance on your vehicles?” Another chanted, “More ICE, more ICE, more ICE,” apparently referring to the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
When the crowds drowned out the demonstrators with chants of “Si se puede” (Yes we can), an angry participant approached a police officer. “How come we have to put up with their heckling?” he said.
“Sir,” the officer responded, “this is America. Here we have the First Amendment.”
Clearly outraged, the demonstrator demanded to know the policeman’s name.
“Here’s my card,” the officer said calmly, reaching for his pocket.
The demonstrator stormed away without taking it. “I’ll remember your name,” he said. “I won’t forget.”
There on his uniform was the ID of the officer working to keep tempers cool under the hot sun.
It was “T. Lopez.”
“We need a full moral gut-check,” said Peña. Immigrants who come here to work are not terrorists, he said. “We are making our country stronger. We are America.”
The crowd roared.
“USA, USA, USA.”
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
