MAJOR Rallies scheduled TODAY in 70 cities to FIGHT AGAINST the unjust, un-constitutional new Arizona Law LEGALIZING RACISM, racial profiling and detainment.

Organizers Expect up to 100,000 in L.A. Protest

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to take to downtown streets Saturday to call for immigration reform and protest Arizona's new immigration rules.

Immigrant rights activists hope the controversial law, which requires law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally, will draw record-breaking crowds.

Organizers are predicting that 100,000 people will turn out but police estimate the crowd will be more like 60,000.

The message of the rally "is a collective and resounding 'No' to Arizona's law," said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, one of the event's 45 sponsors.

Activists fear that without federal legislation in place to address the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., other states will follow Arizona's lead and pass similar legislation.

For the first time, organizers paid to advertise in Spanish-language media, he said. They also printed 500 red and yellow signs that read, "Todos Somos Arizona," which means, "We are all Arizona."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa backed a boycott of Arizona and has urged Southern Californians to join the march. California legislators have mulled canceling contracts with Arizona in protest.

In 2007 at an immigration march in MacArthur Park, police officers pummeled marchers and reporters with batons and shot rubber bullets into the crowd. Dozens of protesters and journalists were injured as officers cleared the park.

Police experts blamed poor communication and a command meltdown for the embarrassing incident that cost the city more than $13 million in lawsuits.

A department report also found officers let agitators who were throwing rocks and bottles remain in the crowd before declaring the entire demonstration unlawful and clearing the area.

Police were retrained on crowd control, forming skirmish lines, using batons in a crowd, and using extraction teams to identify and arrest violent demonstrators.

May Day rallies are scheduled for Westwood, MacArthur Park and downtown where the marches will end at City Hall and Pershing Square.

Several streets will be closed and bus lines are expected to be disrupted for most of the day. Closures include:

* Broadway between First and Temple streets closed by 5:45 a.m., expected to reopen by 6 p.m.
* Street closures expected in the area bounded by Cesar Chavez Avenue and Pico Boulevard, between Alameda and Hoover Streets
* DASH service to be disrupted
* Metro bus lines to be disrupted include: 2, 4, 10, 16, 18, 20, 26, 28, 30, 31, 40, 42, 45, 48, 51, 52, 53, 55, 60, 62, 66, 68, 70, 71, 76, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84, 90, 91, 92, 94, 96, 439, 445, 460, 485, 487, 720, 740, 745, 760, 770, 794 and 910
* A rally in Westwood will also impact bus lines 2, 20, 720 and 761 between 6 and 10 p.m.
(L.A. News)

RELATED ARTICLE:
Guide to Anti-Arizona Racist Law Protests...where-what time

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