I attended the biggest march in Los Angeles in 1994 in the fight to overturn proposition 187. 70,000 immigrant rights supporters marched through the garment district. Many of the garment workers in the district were standing on the balconies of the shops joining the marchers in chants as they passed. I was reminded of this as the march passed by the front of the Marriott Hotel on State Street. Chefs with their tall hats on and maids in their black and white uniforms were chanting along with the marchers “SI se puede”.
I loved the signs such as “We are workers not criminals”,”We are here to stay and we aren’t going back” and “You need our work, we want to be legalized”.
I was absolutely astonished at the number of marchers that turned up for the rally. This has to have been the biggest political demonstration in Utah History.
I had to work after the march but I ended up being late for work. This demonstration was so big that I couldn't’t get to my car on time. When I arrived at work the smelter was shut down. The "invisible" people who had attended the rally took the day off. The dust system backed up and there was nobody to take care of this very necessary problem.