ATLANTA-
Several thousand immigrants rallied Saturday on one side of the Georgia Capitol, calling for laws that would allow them to stay in the United States legally, while two dozen people who want them to go home were kept a few blocks away.
Six months after 50,000 immigrants and their supporters marched in downtown Atlanta to protest legislation to crack down on illegal immigration, the same organizers rallied with a much smaller but similarly vocal crowd.
Their demands were the same but their hopes dimmer–Congress has made no progress toward a path to legalization for illegal immigrants, Georgia has passed strict immigration measures, and authorities have arrested dozens of immigrants in recent raids across the state.
“We want to open the door,” said one of the pro-immigration rally organizers, Teodoro Maus, the former Mexican consul in Atlanta. “How they do it is a matter of negotiation.”
There was no official crowd estimate. Police said it appeared to be roughly 3,000 people, while Maus said he expected as many as 7,000 by the end of the day.
Maus had harsh words for the small group of protesters, kept several blocks away by police, who called for the immigrants to get out of the U.S.
“I think they are xenophobic,” Maus said. “They are racists and they are hiding their racism in ‘legal or not legal.'”
One of the protesters, hot sauce company owner Jerry Gualtieri, insisted he is not a racist.
“I have very good Mexican friends,” said Gualtieri, wearing a belt buckle emblazoned with a Confederate flag.
Gualtieri picked up his bullhorn and yelled down the street: “We are going to fire the politicians who are letting you stay here illegally.”
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