Thousands march to mark May Day

Commuters stood stranded at bus stops and traffic backed up on side streets as hundreds of immigrants and their supporters, waving flags and signs and hoisting banners, marched through downtown Seattle Thursday.

Turnout for the May Day rally, which celebrates workers and the economic achievements of the labor movement, was smaller than in years past — fewer than 2,000 people by some estimates — but marchers seemed no less fired up.

Seattle police reported no arrests and no problems with demonstrators.

The march was one of several immigration marches in cities from Chicago to Los Angeles, Portland to Yakima. With a heated presidential election taking center stage this year and no relief for immigrants in Congress, organizers wanted to shift the focus to the crucial role immigrants play in the U.S. labor force.

"It's important people know we are here," Juan Montiel said as he pushed his two young children in a stroller down South Jackson Street, while his wife and a third child walked alongside him. The couple, who live on Beacon Hill, operate a restaurant and a janitorial business.

"People come to this country to work, and we work hard. It's what makes America great."

The May Day celebration began with a rally in the Central Area, where Seattle Archbishop Alex Brunett offered the support of the Catholic Church for immigrant workers, saying, "You are welcome in our parishes, our schools, our hospitals and our social services. Our hospitality does not require documents."

Even before the march reached downtown, one man approaching the demonstrators carried a sign that read: "I want my U.S.A." Otherwise, counter-protesters weren't obviously present.

Aztec dancers wearing pheasant-feather headdresses led the march, which also included an Asian drum group and about a dozen construction workers in yellow hard hats who, together, carried a massive American flag.

Based on estimates from organizers, Seattle police expected around 3,000 marchers and the turnout seemed a bit down from that, drastically smaller than in 2006, when about 20,000 people marched through the streets.

Thursday's march in Seattle drew a diverse crowd — young and old of all races — moved by a variety of causes; anti-war, pro-environment. Some participants flew the Mexican flag; many more flew American flags. Parents pushed babies in strollers and teenagers snapped pictures with their cellphones.

In Yakima, a few hundred people turned out, most of them U.S. citizens, said Marcos Silva, a fruit-warehouse worker and U.S. resident for 12 years. "The people who really need the help, they're not here," he said.

The scene was more tense in Olympia, where anti-war and immigration-rights demonstrators broke windows in a pair of downtown banks and left graffiti in some of the marble halls at the domed Legislative Building, the state Capitol. Six people were arrested.

A crowd of about 1,000 gathered on the steps of the Oregon Capitol in Salem to call for changes in immigration and workplace laws within the first 100 days of the next congressional session. Many demanded that Oregon reverse a decision, imposed by the Legislature in February, to require proof of legal residence to get a driver's license.

Escorted by Seattle police, marchers here wound their way from the Central Area, through the International District, into downtown and Belltown, surging as people joined from side streets and alleyways, before ending with a rally at Seattle Center.

From windows and overhangs, in front of buildings and at bus stops, downtown workers and pedestrians watched as marchers proceeded.

Some stood stone-faced, their arms folded tight across their chests. Others cheered, clapping and pumping fists into the air as they joined the marchers in chanting "USA, USA!"

Suzanne Watson of Seattle joined the group as it passed by the main downtown library and teared up as she talked about how moved she was by the sight of young people marching for their rights.

"We are all immigrants in this country," she said. "Europeans are not indigenous to the U.S. My experience has been that many of these folks just want to work, and they're good workers. You can see they are families," she said, pointing to adults pushing strollers ahead of her. "We shouldn't criminalize that."

Andrew Moravec, 26, stood on the Yesler overpass as the marchers rounded Fourth Avenue South from South Jackson Street just before 5:30 p.m.

"It looks beautiful — humanity in action," he said. "The way to legal immigration should be open wide. We're all the children of immigrants, and opportunities shouldn't be any different just because they aren't white immigrants."

Chris Mobley, a 22-year-old Seattle baker, beat a frying pan with a wooden spoon as he walked the demonstration route.

The federal government's raids and the deportation of illegal immigrants needs to stop, he said.

As for those who argue that illegal immigrants broke the law by coming here, he countered: "The people who sat at the lunch counters in the '60s were breaking the law. ... Some laws are meant to be broken because they're unjust."

Outside the Cinerama movie theater at Fourth Avenue and Lenora Street, Nick Cummings was waiting in line for tickets as marchers passed.

"Pay your way, stop crying," said Cummings, 28. While he acknowledged that immigrants contribute to American society, the Tacoma engineer said illegal workers need to prove those contributions outweigh their burden on social programs and the education system.

"Immigration is a great thing, it's what made America. But they just need to sign the book on the way in. There needs to be something legitimate, where the benefits are well-documented.

"I don't have a popular view around here," Cummings said. "If we were in Dallas, I'd be right."

Nearby, a woman who would identify herself only as Isabel pulled the American flag around her shoulders while her husband next to her was draped in the Mexican flag.

"We're all one; that's what this shows," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com.

Sara Jean Green: sgreen@seattletimes.com or 206-515-5654.